CBS Announces Stephen Colbert’s ‘Late Show’ Replacement

The final episode of the Late Show With Stephen Colbert airs on May 21.

On Friday, May 22, CBS will unveil its new late night lineup.

After airing at 12:35AM on CBS since last fall, the long-running Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen will shift up an hour to the 11:35PM time slot formerly held by Colbert’s (and before him, David Letterman’s) talk show. As each episode of Comics Unleashed is only thirty minutes, two episodes will air back to back on CBS. The show will also stream live on Paramount+.

In Comics Unleashed’s former slot, CBS will air a game show called Funny You Should Ask, hosted by Jon Kelley. Again, that show is 30 minutes long, and so two episodes will air each night. Allen’s Allen Media Group also produces Funny You Should Ask.

Per a press release, here was Allen’s comment on the news:

I created and launched COMICS UNLEASHED 20 years ago so my fellow comedians could have a platform to do what we all love – make people laugh. I truly appreciate CBS’ confidence in me by picking up our two-hour comedy block of COMICS UNLEASHED and FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK, because the world can never have enough laughter.

Stephen Colbert hosted his version of the Late Show from the fall of 2015, replacing David Letterman who was the series’ first host. He left NBC’s Late Night show in 1993 to take over the 11:35PM time slot on CBS.

CBS

Allen’s Comics Unleashed debuted 20 years ago as a syndicated program, but it has aired intermittently through the years on CBS as other shows have come on and off the schedule. When the premiere of After Midnight was delayed by the 2023 Hollywood strikes, for example, Comics Unleashed took over the 12:35AM time slot between its debut and the end of The Late Late Show With James Corden.

CBS announced the end of Colbert’s Late Show back in July of last year, claiming it was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.” The Hollywood Reporter notes that “Allen is buying time from the network to air the two shows, with his company, Allen Media Group, selling the available ad spots in the two hours. The change will likely see CBS turn a profit in late night.”