00:00What is this?
00:02Stephen, maybe I can help explain.
00:04Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:06And today, we'll be discussing the potential future of Stephen Colbert
00:10and the late-night talk show industry following the cancellation of The Late Show.
00:14Have a good show. Thanks for being here.
00:17And let's do it, y'all.
00:20On May 21st, 2026, Stephen Colbert signed off on The Late Show for the last time.
00:26Thus ended a late-night talk show franchise that David Letterman began in 1993.
00:38With his predecessors' unstoppable success as a media personality and political activist,
00:43this is surely not the end for Colbert.
00:45But the satirical commentator has always made it clear that the situation is bigger than himself.
00:50This whole thing is the latest and boldest action in a long campaign against media critics.
00:58Trump has personally sued ABC, CBS, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal,
01:04The Des Moines Register, and his bathroom scale.
01:06Plus, he defunded PBS and NPR and has already found his next target.
01:13The Late Show's cancellation coincided with a legal battle
01:16between parent company Paramount Global and U.S. President Donald Trump, whom Colbert frequently lampooned.
01:23The subsequent controversy sparked debate about whether political censorship
01:26is worsening American talk show's greater industry crisis.
01:30Whether Colbert is a martyr, he's being met with many prospects that his chops can back up.
01:35Who knows? Maybe CBS saved my life.
01:39Because it takes a lot of bone marrow to do the show every day.
01:42Now I'll be stepping down with enough time, enough energy to do other things that I want to do.
01:47Colbert's qualifications.
01:49It took a lot to earn the Late Show seat after David Letterman ended an almost 22-year run.
01:55Stephen Colbert began his career working with the improv comedy troupe The Second City from 1987 to 1994.
02:02He then wrote and acted on several sketch TV shows
02:05before becoming a correspondent on Comedy Central's satirical news program The Daily Show.
02:10Colbert was such a fan favorite that he hosted the spin-off The Colbert Rapport,
02:14which specifically spoofed conservative-leaning infotainment.
02:17What Lincoln said at Gettysburg was, 87 years ago, we said that all men are created equal.
02:24As long as they're equal to me, of course I'll give them equal rights.
02:27But right now, they're choosing to not be equal.
02:29All in all, his 17-year tenure with the franchise won him nine Emmys.
02:33So after the end of The Colbert Rapport, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert premiered on CBS on September 8,
02:392015.
02:40I'm so excited to be here right now.
02:43The funny man has taken over the Ed Sullivan Theater after months of renovations and anticipation.
02:48And after a two-and-a-half-hour taping, the crowd left energized,
02:52and many were newly-minted Stephen Colbert converts.
02:55The talk show was well-received for the surreal comedy, social commentary,
03:00and natural charisma that the host has long showcased on film and television.
03:05With Colbert foregoing his ironic conservative persona to espouse more serious progressivism,
03:10many criticized him as increasingly partisan.
03:13Still, he exudes the intelligence and talent to land on his feet after 29 years of poking fun at the
03:18system.
03:19We call it the joy machine because to do this many shows, it has to be a machine.
03:24But the thing is, if you choose to do it with joy,
03:27it doesn't hurt as much when your fingers get caught in the gears.
03:30Current and future prospects.
03:33Colbert is likely getting plenty of job offers kept under wraps.
03:37One notable exception is the National Marine Mammal Foundation's public invitation
03:41to join a research team in Colbert's hometown of Charleston, South Carolina.
03:45He did have a childhood dream of becoming a marine biologist, after all.
03:49What we do know is that he's living the dream of a superfan of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth
03:55mythos.
03:56Well, Shelob's mother is ungolient, okay?
03:59And she died by consuming herself in her own webs of darkness.
04:04He's got it!
04:14Colbert suggests that Peter Jackson's adaptations are his favorite film franchise.
04:18And he even had a cameo in The Hobbit, The Desolation of Smaug.
04:22So when he and his screenwriter's son Peter McGee pitched a film based on lesser-known chapters of The Lord
04:27of the Rings,
04:28Jackson applauded the idea.
04:29It took me a few years to scrape my courage into a pile to give you a call,
04:34but about two years ago I did.
04:36You liked it enough to talk to me about it.
04:38And ever since then, the two of us have been working with the brilliant Philippa Boyens on how to develop
04:44this story.
04:45The Lord of the Rings, Shadow of the Past, is currently in development at Warner Brothers.
04:49While we can trust the writers' reverence for the source material,
04:52a high-fantasy epic is pretty different from political comedy.
04:55There's just as much concern about whether Colbert's satire will become a challenge for him.
05:00Ooh, a text for me!
05:04Oh, no biggie.
05:05Just a message from my best Gandalf asking me to save Middle Earth.
05:09Again.
05:11Comments and concerns.
05:13In 2025, President Donald Trump accepted a $16 million settlement
05:18after alleging that a 60 Minutes interview was misleadingly edited in opponent Kamala Harris' favor.
05:23The late show offered its own interpretation on the matter.
05:27Now, I believe this kind of complicated financial settlement with a sitting government official
05:31has a technical name in legal circles.
05:33It's Big Fat Bribe.
05:35Because this all comes as Paramount's owners are trying to get the Trump administration
05:40to approve the sale of our network to a new owner, Skydance.
05:47Paramount then canceled the show officially because of major production cost losses.
05:52Colbert hasn't dismissed this motivation,
05:54but believes there's merit to speculations that his termination was politically motivated.
05:59$40 million is a big number.
06:01I could see us losing $24 million,
06:03but where would Paramount have possibly spent the other $16 million?
06:07Oh, yeah.
06:12Oh, yeah.
06:14Trump himself has embraced this theory,
06:16publicly praising CBS for silencing one of his harshest critics.
06:20Colbert responded by condemning the president's agitation
06:23and intensifying his mockery throughout the late show's final season.
06:26The gloves are off.
06:28I can finally...
06:29Yeah.
06:32I can finally speak unvarnished truth to power
06:36and say what I really think about Donald Trump,
06:39starting right now.
06:41Guests like Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff
06:44bluntly called for an investigation into possible corruption
06:48behind Paramount's controversial deal.
06:50Offset, Colbert has been more hesitant about endorsing these accusations,
06:54but believes that the threat against free speech is very real.
06:58We're clowns.
07:00How much does it diminish
07:02the office of the presidency
07:04to even notice what we say?
07:07You know?
07:09That guy needs to know how to pick his battles.
07:11I mean, metaphorically, I'm literally.
07:13A political debate.
07:15Donald Trump has clashed with mainstream media
07:17since before his first term as POTUS.
07:20His public feuds with left-leaning satirists like Colbert,
07:23Seth Meyers,
07:24and Jimmy Kimmel have been especially heated.
07:27I hope you'll accept my apology.
07:29And I just want to give you the opportunity.
07:30Is there anybody you'd like to apologize to right now yourself?
07:35No.
07:36No?
07:38No one to apologize at all.
07:41Trump has every right to respond to his critics,
07:44including with civil suits.
07:46However, dealing punishment in his capacity
07:48as the U.S. government's chief representative
07:50could violate constitutional protection of speech and press.
07:54Whether he did have a hand in Colbert's downfall,
07:57it's widely believed that his administration
07:58went too far with Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2025.
08:02I give interviews.
08:03I don't do them.
08:03You don't usually take them,
08:05and I appreciate you taking it.
08:06So you found out about...
08:10Like a champ.
08:12I take it like a champ, my friend.
08:14When we're in Guantanamo Bay together.
08:16Trump appointed FCC chairman Brendan Carr
08:19threatened ABC's broadcast licenses
08:21after a monologue made light of the assassination
08:23of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
08:26Disney suspended Kimmel,
08:27only to reinstate him six days later amid backlash.
08:31Trump has since pushed for Kimmel's termination
08:33with the claim that his rhetoric has become dangerous.
08:35Late-night talk shows have indeed been growing
08:38more politically engaged and partisan
08:40since the beginning of Trump's political career.
08:42And this has been a measurable factor
08:44in the comedy format's waning commercial value.
08:47I never even imagined there would ever be a situation
08:49in which the president of our country
08:51was celebrating hundreds of Americans losing their jobs.
08:55But somebody who took pleasure in that,
08:58that to me is the absolute opposite
09:00of what a leader of this country is supposed to be.
09:04What the polls say.
09:06One argument for the political theory
09:08of the late show's cancellation
09:09is that it was the highest rated late night talk show
09:11for nine years.
09:13But is that really saying much?
09:15CBS reported that it was losing
09:17approximately $40 million annually
09:19on the show's production.
09:20Still, that's still a lot of money.
09:22I mean, where does the late show rank?
09:24Jim, what other companies lost
09:25that kind of money last year?
09:27Red lobster?
09:29Damn it, I told them we should stop
09:32offering the audience unlimited shrimp.
09:34Nightly talk shows are becoming a financial burden
09:37as the market trends away from the format
09:39and American network television in general.
09:42Multiple studies have found that the ratings decline
09:44is partly due to rising political satire.
09:46Whether viewers disagree with the rhetoric
09:48or simply crave escapism.
09:50I don't believe in the Republican Party
09:52or the Democratic Party.
09:53I just believe in parties.
09:56Private companies have the right in the U.S.
09:59to fire employees
10:00if their public statements jeopardize business.
10:02But government representatives
10:03do not generally have the right
10:05to directly coerce or order that action.
10:08Disney has shifted to vocal defense
10:09of Jimmy Kimmel Live,
10:11and ratings for that show and the late show
10:13were bolstered by the scandals.
10:15Still, networks may have to take drastic actions
10:17to salvage late night
10:18or keep up the appearance
10:20of defying government pressure.
10:21It looks like it's the end,
10:22and I wish it wasn't.
10:24But that's not for me to decide.
10:26All we have to decide
10:28is what to do with the time that has given us.
10:30Tomorrow for late night.
10:31Since the end of the late show,
10:33CBS's resident late night placeholder
10:35Comics Unleashed has filled the void.
10:37Comedian-turned-billionaire media mogul
10:39Byron Allen has the savviness
10:41to save the network money
10:42while entertaining audiences
10:44with panel discussions about pop culture.
10:46However, Comics Unleashed is notably designed
10:49to be as apolitical as possible.
10:51I don't care who you vote for.
10:53I just don't care.
10:54That's your business.
10:56Go do what you're gonna do.
10:57You know, I'm just here to make you laugh.
11:00Critics fear that this foreshadows
11:01American networks moving away
11:03from political commentary
11:04for fear of backlash.
11:06It could just represent
11:07a politically lucrative renewal
11:08of editorial neutrality and escapism.
11:11Ratings for Comics Unleashed improved
11:13after it's moved to an earlier time slot,
11:15but CBS has fallen from the top
11:17of the late night block to the bottom.
11:18A projected profit off of the show
11:21is still a huge upside
11:22compared to the losses reported
11:23with the late show.
11:24Allen says he will lease the time
11:26from CBS and sell the ad revenue himself.
11:30I'm putting a lot of money
11:32in their cash register.
11:33I am a gift from the money gods
11:35and the comedy gods.
11:37Politically charged talk shows
11:38could be great for business
11:39if networks can properly restructure
11:41their investment in that industry.
11:43If the threat becomes undeniably
11:45more political than financial,
11:46then there is a greater issue
11:48in the U.S.
11:49than the survival of talk shows.
11:50Don't worry so much
11:51about Colbert's career.
11:53He has a fantastical adventure
11:54ahead of him.
11:55The real concern has always been
11:57what's next for late night.
11:59As we all understand,
12:00you can take a man's show,
12:01you can't take a man's voice.
12:03So that's the good news of me.
12:08Cheers, cheers.
12:10What do you think is next
12:11for the hosts and institution
12:12of late night talk shows?
12:14Chat it up in the comments below.
12:17cop theomoxic.com
12:17Bye.
12:18I love you.
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