How Late Night Television Killed Itself

Editor's Note: The working title of the article was Stephan Colbert Got What He Deserved

My personal opinion is that CBS/Paramount purposely screwed Stephan Colbert.

But I don't care, late night died about 5 years ago and let me explain.

Back in the year 2021, a bunch of tools and sheep descended upon Washington D.C. and tried to set the Capitol afire. Some people said it was an insurrection, some said it was nothing, it was something right in the middle. 5 years later, my opinion has not shifted at all.

How can I say that? Between the years 2020 and 2022, there were about a thousand serious riots. About 999 from the Left in the form of the Defunding the Police movement and 1 from the Right. In a vacuum, the Capitol Riot would have freaked me the hell out. In the context of time, however, I remember watching the news and thinking, "wow, the Left only likes riots when THEIR team riots."

A week later, all late night talk show hosts got together and decided there was something more important than comedy....and that's rioting. "Apparently Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephan Colbert, and James Corden, all needed to unburden their souls and needed to get serious for a minute. The Capitol Riots were bad. Really bad." So they banded together and created "profound messages" on all their shows. (Video Above)

The problem is, no 5 comedians should EVER have the same message.

Since the 1970's, the gold standard of late night comedy has always been Johnny Carson.

Johnny wasn't apolitical, but took G-rated, jabs at both parties. And because he didn't have an agenda, not all of his jokes hit their marks, but, at heart, Johnny was a comedian. At the turn of the past decade, all late night TV hosts had either come from the Johnny Carson Comedy Tree, or the Jon Stewart Comedy Tree. What was Stewart's Philosophy at the Daily Show? Left Leaning Commentary with Comedy.

I have no problem whatsoever with Jon Stewart's style, but his comedy is easily pigeonholed as digestible to the Liberal Elite.

This analysis was from the year 2020: "Let's go around the horn and describe each Late Night host as either a descendent of Johnny or Stewart

NBC - Jimmy Fallon: Comedian

Seth Meyers: Commentary/Comedian

ABC - Jimmy Kimmel: Commentary/Comedian

CBS - Stephan Colbert: Commentary/Comedian

James Corden: Commentary/Comedian

TBS - Samantha Bee: Commentary/Comedian

Conan O'Brien: Comedian"

Since I made the list 5 years ago, TBS' lineup has disappeared, as has Corden's Show. But the rest of 'em have really beaten the Stewart format into the ground.

What was my solution back when the Comedians Against Riots video came out?

You know what? "Jimmy Fallon, you can keep your job. I believe that if Johnny Carson was alive today, your brand of comedy would have been the closest to what many would consider as an heir apparent.

Seth Meyers, you're fired. Replaced by Lilly Singh.

Jimmy Kimmel, you're fired. Replaced by Eric Andre.

Stephan Colbert, you're fired. Replaced by Tim Allen.

James Corden, you're fired. Replaced by John Leguizamo.

There we go. One comedian to carry on the tradition of White, Corporate Left-Wing comedy, and 4 different voices. I'm confident that all of the above comedians would also condemn the Capitol Riots, but I guarantee you that all 4 wouldn't set aside their "differences" to get preachy and record Public Service Announcements."

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I feel bad for the mostly cut and paste article, but in the world of corporate comedy, all I hear is echoes of Jon Stewart. Everything in the top half of my article was regurgitated like the stale state of comedy on Network Television. Back in 1993, the Simpsons were prophetic when Krusty blurted out "if this is anyone but Steve Allen, you're stealing my bit."

You know Arsenio Hall is still alive, right? He was an original voice in late night comedy and was seemingly driven from existence.

Your remember the Leno/Letterman Wars? Leno disappeared, Letterman went to Netflix, once a month, and mostly disappeared. Leno and Letterman, though also still alive, are seen as relics instead of standard bearers.

SNL, when it started, was a bunch of punks and kids. Since NBC fired Norm MacDonald, the show continued to get older and older and safer and safer.

Now I really like Kenan Thompson, but he just finished his 22nd year on SNL. When Laraine Newman joined the Not Ready for Prime Time Players, she was 23. Thompson, when hired, had already starred in feature films and had over a decade of experience as a child actor.

But thanks to alternate platforms like YouTube and Netflix, Network TV is devolving from the top of the food chain. Cable TV? That may not even exist in 5 years. Jon Stewart himself? It is feasible that his show survives, but his cable channel folds. Could the Daily Show end up on Paramount+? Maybe?

Network Television made a certain type of comedy safe for public consumption-

In the year 2025, what does public consumption mean?

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