Late Show with Stephen Colbert (TV Program)

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    A Brief History of CBS’s Late-Night Eras

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    With the hosts Merv Griffin, Pat Sajak, David Letterman and Stephen Colbert, CBS has taken many runs at late-night TV. Some were more successful than others.For more than five decades, families across the United States have welcomed a slate of CBS late-night shows into their living rooms, bedrooms and — thanks to smartphones and tablets — even bathrooms.But CBS said on Thursday that it was getting out of the late-night television business by canceling “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” when the host’s contract ends in May. Executives at the network said in a joint statement that the decision was “not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”(In March, the network canceled “After Midnight,” a late-night comedy panel game show hosted by Taylor Tomlinson.)During Thursday’s taping of “The Late Show,” when Colbert announced the news, he said that he empathized with the boos from the audience and that he had the pleasure of working on the show for the past 10 years.“And let me tell you, it is a fantastic job,” he said. “I wish somebody else was getting it.”Here is a brief history of CBS’s late-night television eras.‘The Merv Griffin Show’ (1969-72)The host of “The Merv Griffin Show” with Louise Lasser, left, and Liza Minnelli in 1971.Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Why Is Stephen Colbert’s ‘Late Show’ Getting Canceled?

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      Maybe the “Late Show” decision is purely financial. But after Paramount’s cave over “60 Minutes,” it is hard to trust.In 2005, on his satire “The Colbert Report,” Stephen Colbert coined the term “truthiness,” meaning a statement that was not actually true but represented a reality that the speaker wished to inhabit.In 2015, Colbert replaced David Letterman on CBS’s “Late Show,” which under him became one of the biggest and most prolific launchers of satirically guided missiles during the Trump era. In 2024, President Trump — who has repeatedly bemoaned his late-night coverage — said CBS “should terminate his contract.”Now, in 2025, CBS has said that it is canceling Colbert’s show at the end of its season, next May. Executives stressed, in the announcement, that the cut was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”Is that the truth, or merely truthy?There is good reason that CBS would need to offer that assurance. The network’s parent company, Paramount, just this month settled a lawsuit from President Trump, over the editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris, for $16 million. At the same time, Paramount was hoping to close a multibillion-dollar merger with the company Skydance, which required the approval of the Trump administration.Many legal experts said the deal was an unnecessary concession in a frivolous case. At minimum it undermined one of TV journalism’s most accomplished independent voices. Some people called it “a big, fat bribe” — actually, those were Colbert’s words, in a blistering monologue a few days ago, which also mentioned speculation that CBS’s future owners might try to rein him in.Talk show hosts have bitten the hand that signs the contracts before; Letterman needled NBC and its then-parent, General Electric. But back then, the issues did not involve conflicts with a president willing to pull any necessary levers to punish and influence media outlets.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Stephen Colbert Laments the End of ‘The Late Show’ on CBS

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      CBS “will be ending ‘The Late Show’ in May,” Colbert told his audience on Thursday. He kept the announcement brief and light.Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.End of an EraAt the top of Thursday’s “Late Night,” Stephen Colbert announced that CBS will bring the show to an end in May.The network says the cancellation was “purely a financial decision,” but there’s speculation that Colbert’s recent criticism of CBS’s parent company, Paramount, was a factor. Colbert kept the announcement brief and light. When the audience booed the news, he responded with a smile, “Yeah, I share your feelings. It’s not just the end of our show, but it’s the end of ‘The Late Show’ on CBS. I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away.”“I do want to say that the folks at CBS have been great partners. I’m so grateful to the Tiffany network for giving me this chair and this beautiful theater to call home. And of course I’m grateful to you, the audience, who have joined us every night in here, out there, all around the world, Mr. and Mrs. America and all the ships at sea. I’m grateful to share the stage with this band, these artists over here every night. And I am extraordinarily, deeply grateful to the 200 people who work here.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“We get to do this show — we get to do this show for each other every day, all day, and I’ve had the pleasure and the responsibility of sharing what we do every day with you in front of this camera for the last 10 years. And let me tell you, it is a fantastic job. I wish somebody else was getting it. And it’s a job that I’m looking forward to doing with this usual gang of idiots for another 10 months. It’s going to be fun. Y’all ready?” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Punchiest Punchlines (Epstein Edition)“Well, guys, President Trump’s handling of the Epstein files continues to dominate the news. Yeah, I wonder if we’re ever going to see the Epstein files. At this point, our best chance is if Coldplay shows them on the Jumbotron.” — JIMMY FALLON“Yeah, the Epstein files won’t go away. Trump is so stressed, he’s like, ‘I need a vacation. What was the name of that fun island I used to go to?’” — JIMMY FALLON“President Trump said yesterday that he would rather talk about the success of his administration than the Jeffrey Epstein files. Yeah, I’m sure you would. That’s like Diddy saying he’d rather talk about his V.M.A.s — you don’t get to pick.” — SETH MEYERSWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Fans React to Colbert ‘Late Show’ Cancellation With Puzzlement and Anger

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      Many questioned the timing of and motivation for the announcement, noting that Mr. Colbert hosted the most-watched show in late night television.The first people to hear that CBS was canceling “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” reacted to the news loudly, and viscerally, with a chorus of “No!” that turned into a sustained round of boos.They were sitting in the audience in the Ed Sullivan Theater in Midtown Manhattan when an emotional Mr. Colbert announced the decision at the conclusion of the taping of his Thursday night show.Among those who were watching was Claire DeSantis, 29, who lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. After the show concluded, she said, Mr. Colbert told the audience there would be an alternate taping of the cold open.“I thought it was going to be a fun surprise,” she said.Instead, Mr. Colbert stumbled a few times on the opening line — “Oh hey, everybody!” — before delivering the announcement about the cancellation in a single take. Ms. DeSantis, who does not regularly watch the show and wanted to go for the experience, said she cried, but not everyone in the audience was in tears as they left the theater. She called her mother and roommate to tell them what had happened.“I thought this was a legacy show,” Ms. DeSantis said. “I was just really surprised that it’s just going away completely.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ Is Being Canceled by CBS

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      The show will end in May, the network said, calling it “a purely financial decision.”In a decision that shocked the entertainment industry and comedy world, CBS said on Thursday that it was canceling the most-watched show in late night, “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” and ending a franchise that has existed for more than three decades.Mr. Colbert’s run — and “The Late Show” itself — will end in May after his contract expires.CBS executives said in a statement that the cancellation was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.”“It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount,” said the executives, who included George Cheeks, the president of CBS and a co-chief executive of Paramount, CBS’s parent. “Our admiration, affection and respect for the talents of Stephen Colbert and his incredible team made this agonizing decision even more difficult.”Paramount is in the midst of closing a multibillion-dollar merger with the movie studio Skydance, a deal that requires approval from the Trump administration. Paramount recently agreed to pay President Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit over an interview on “60 Minutes,” a move Mr. Colbert criticized on his show as “a big fat bribe.” The merger still requires the approval of the Federal Communications Commission.Mr. Colbert said during the taping of “The Late Show” on Thursday that he was informed of the decision on Wednesday night. When his studio audience unleashed a chorus of boos upon hearing the news, Mr. Colbert said, “Yeah, I share your feelings.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Late Night Fact-Checks Trump on His Uncle and the Unabomber

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      Jordan Klepper and other hosts poked holes in the president’s claim that his uncle had been the future terrorist’s professor at M.I.T. Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.Weird Flex, BroAt an A.I. conference in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, President Trump said his uncle, John Trump, had been the “longest-serving professor in the history of M.I.T.” and held “three degrees in nuclear, chemical, and math.” Trump added that his uncle’s students had included Ted Kaczynski, who he described as being “seriously good.”“Wow, we went from zero to Unabomber like that,” Jordan Klepper said on Wednesday’s “Daily Show,” snapping his fingers.Klepper pointed out that while the president’s uncle had indeed been a well-known M.I.T. professor, he was not the longest-serving one, nor did he have degrees in “nuclear, chemical and math” (he had a Ph.D. in electrical engineering). He said it was also highly unlikely that he had told his nephew Donald a story about teaching the Unabomber, “because nobody knew who Kaczynski was until 1996, and Trump’s uncle died in 1985.”“Kaczynski did not go to M.I.T. He went to Harvard. [imitating Trump] ‘Yes, but sometimes old Ted would take the crosstown bus over to M.I.T, then he would go around correcting people. He’d say, ‘I actually didn’t go to school here, you know, you don’t actually know me. I’m a figment of the imagination of your dumbest nephew.’” — STEPHEN COLBERT“So the whole thing we just heard wasn’t just a small lie, it was like a full hallucination.” — SETH MEYERS“Now, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe Trump just misspoke, made a slip. I mean, who among us hasn’t accidentally told people that our uncle taught the Unabomber?” — JORDAN KLEPPER“What I’m saying is, isn’t it great that we finally have a president whose brain works perfectly?” — JORDAN KLEPPERThe Punchiest Punchlines (Snoozefest Edition)“But the big story today is that Trump lashed out at his own supporters who are criticizing him over the Epstein files, calling them ‘weaklings who have bought into B.S. hook, line and sinker.’ Trump hasn’t been this mad at the people he loved since McDonald’s introduced salads.” — JIMMY FALLON“No, he’s right. The Epstein saga is a total snoozefest. I mean, the most powerful man in the world is blocking information about a cabal of the rich, the famous and the royal befriending a con man, who regularly flies off on his private plane to his private island to do super-illegal sex stuff. Then the con man is arrested, people are afraid he’s going to name names, but before he can, he mysteriously dies right after being taken off of suicide watch in a federal prison during the administration of the guy who is blocking the release of the information. Boring!” — STEPHEN COLBERTWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Jimmy Fallon Fans the Flames of Burning MAGA Hats

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      People torched the hats in videos, apparently upset about the Jeffrey Epstein case. “People in China were like, ‘Oh, come on, we worked so hard making them,’” Fallon said.Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.Burning UpPresident Trump is still getting flak, from longtime supporters and others, for not releasing more information about the Jeffrey Epstein case. Some social media users expressed their feelings by posting videos of burning MAGA hats.“As of now, Trump is keeping the information totally classified, a.k.a. in the bathroom at Mar-a-Lago,” Jimmy Fallon said of the so-called Epstein files.“Yeah, the excuses are getting worse and worse. Today, Trump was, like, ‘A dog ate the Epstein files, then people in Ohio ate the dog.’” — JIMMY FALLON“Yeah, they’re burning the MAGA hats. People in China were like, ‘Oh, come on, we worked so hard making them.’” — JIMMY FALLONThe Punchiest Punchlines (With Friends Like These Edition)“In fact, Epstein’s infamous little black book included 14 different numbers for Trump and his representatives. I mean, he had 14 separate ways to contact Donald Trump. I mean, when I drop my kid off at camp, I give two emergency contact numbers and one of them is fake because I don’t need that hassle.” — JORDAN KLEPPER“Do you know how creepy with women you have to be for Donald Trump to pick up on it? I mean, that’s a real your-drunk-friend-taking-the-car-keys-from-you moment.” — JORDAN KLEPPERThe Bits Worth WatchingThe “Too Much” star Megan Stalter started “a big rumor” on Tuesday’s “Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”What We’re Excited About on Wednesday NightThe country superstar Jelly Roll will guest-host “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”Also, Check This OutAdam Scott, left, and Britt Lower in “Severance,” on Apple TV+. Both were nominated for Emmys.Apple TV+The dystopian Apple TV+ workplace drama “Severance” scored the most Emmy nominations this year. More

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      2025 Emmy Award Nominations: First Nominees Are Announced

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      The nominees for best talk show and reality series were named, with the slates for the other categories set to be announced later this morning at the Television Academy’s Los Angeles headquarters.The Television Academy began unveiling nominations for the 77th Emmy Awards on Tuesday morning, announcing the contenders for best talk show and reality series. The academy will announce the other categories starting at 11:30 a.m. Eastern.Shows hosted by Jon Stewart (“The Daily Show”), Stephen Colbert (“The Late Show”) and Jimmy Kimmel (“Jimmy Kimmel Live”) will compete for best talk series. Only three series were nominated this year, leaving “Late Night With Seth Meyers” and “Everybody’s Live With John Mulaney” out in the cold.Late-night TV talk series are struggling these days, with ratings, advertising revenue and even the number of shows dropping fast. In 2019, there were as many as six nominees for best talk show, but that’s back when there were many more series up for eligibility.For best competition reality series, “The Traitors,” the Alan Cumming-hosted reality show on Peacock, was nominated once again. The show, which won last year, will face off against “RuPaul’s Drag Race” as well as “Survivor,” “Top Chef” and “The Amazing Race.”Some of the scripted shows considered strong contenders for the biggest categories — like best drama, comedy and limited series, to be announced later — include “Severance,” “The Pitt,” “Adolescence” and “The Studio.”TV series eligible for Emmy consideration had to premiere between June 2024 and May 2025. The prime-time Emmys ceremony will be held on Sept. 14.The nominations are being announced at a moment when the entertainment industry is still locked in a contraction. Media companies are investing much less into new programming than they did during the so-called Peak TV era of a few years ago. The industry is also still recovering from a pair of strikes that effectively shut down the American entertainment world for much of 2023.The number of programs that TV studios submitted for Emmy consideration in the best drama, comedy, limited series and TV movie categories declined modestly from last year — at 267 series overall, compared with 271. But that also represents a 33 percent decline from the number of shows submitted in 2022, when the Peak TV era was thriving.Drama submissions showed signs of life during the latest eligibility period, increasing 17 percent compared with the period a year earlier. The number of comedies fell by 5 percent, and limited series submissions fell off a cliff, declining by a third.Nearly 100 Emmys, many of them in technical categories, will be given out at a pair of ceremonies in early September. The biggest awards — including best drama, comedy and limited series, and all of the major acting categories — will be unveiled during the live prime-time ceremony on CBS in September. The ceremony will be hosted by the comedian Nate Bargatze.This is a developing story. Check back for updates and the list of nominees. More

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      Seth Meyers Is Amused by MAGA’s Epstein Infighting

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      President Trump’s most conspiracy-minded supporters can’t believe he wants them to forget about the Jeffrey Epstein conspiracy theories.Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.A MAGA MeltdownSome fans of President Trump have felt betrayed since he dismissed the conspiracy theories about Jeffrey Epstein’s death in a lengthy social media post, basically telling them to move on.On Monday, Seth Meyers called the MAGA infighting “a monster of their own making.”“They made the Epstein conspiracy a center of their worldview, despite the fact that Trump and Epstein were photographed together, and partied together, and Trump called Epstein a terrific guy, and Epstein called Trump his closest friend of 10 years.” — SETH MEYERS“In a post over the weekend on Truth Social, President Trump told his supporters to ‘not waste time and energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about.’ Yeah, nobody cares about him! The guy only had, like, one friend.” — SETH MEYERS, referring to Trump“How dare you fixate on a story from the past, something Donald Trump has never done? He’s focused on the issues of today, not the 2020 election, or the Russia investigation, or Hunter Biden’s laptop, or Hillary Clinton’s email server, Joe Biden’s autopen, or Rosie O’Donnell making fun of him, or his ratings for ‘The Apprentice,’ which ended in 2015, or deceased golfer Arnold Palmer’s unusually large penis, which, by the way, we have yet to see definitive proof of.” — SETH MEYERS“That’s right, President Trump reprimanded his supporters on Truth Social for focusing on the Epstein files — and maybe some other stuff. I only made it through Chapter 1.” — SETH MEYERS“This is the most Trump’s written since Hooters got on Yelp. Look, I don’t know if Jeffrey Epstein killed himself, but I’m sure, after this, some of Trump’s advisers did.” — SETH MEYERSThe Punchiest Punchlines (Flat Earth Edition)“Oh, here’s a sentence I’ve never said: There’s some fun news involving Jeffrey Epstein.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Wait a second. If it was sitting on Pam Bondi’s desk in February and now it doesn’t exist, that can only mean one thing: Someone stole Pam Bondi’s desk.” — STEPHEN COLBERT, referring to Epstein’s supposed client list“Yeah, everyone from Trump supporters to Democrats are asking to see the Epstein files, and everyone who isn’t is definitely in those files.” — JIMMY FALLON“You can’t take this away from your base — that is MAGA’s favorite conspiracy. What are we going to find out next? That immigrants aren’t eating cats? That if you sail to the horizon, you don’t fall off the world?” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Bits Worth WatchingElmo stopped by “The Daily Show” to explain his recent out-of-character X posts to Jon Stewart.What We’re Excited About on Tuesday NightThe “Too Much” star Megan Stalter will appear on “The Late Show.”Also, Check This OutThe famous shower scene from “Psycho.” With so many cuts, you can only see a piece of the action.Peek behind the curtain to see what made Alfred Hitchcock the master of suspense. More