A few weeks ago, CBS viewers Late show with Stephen Colbert A wise from the host was surprised to return from the holiday with black and white mustache. Like many people, I initially thought that it could be a props until the host otherwise said. “That’s right, it is under this salt and pepper cookie-pushar,” Colbert took a pinch. “For tonight, my upper lip house is that many people in the beauty industry are saying ‘technically mustache’.
Later in the same episode, Colbert criticized CBS’s original company Paramount to prosecute President Donald Trump for $ 16 million, called it “a big fat bribe”. Trump had alleged that CBS “ly edited “an interview with Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris, a claim that paramount stated that he had” completely without merit “. Nevertheless, he coughing $ 16 million anyway. Colbert mocked and said about the paramount that even if it decides to close the network The late show To demolish Trump, he could “always enter the building with this mustache”.
Three nights later, Colbert announced in the show that the possibility of cancellation was real; In May 2026, Paramount decided to shut down the show for “financial reasons”. He is not being replaced by a separate host – whole Late show The franchise (David Letterman was on the hull from 1993-2015) would simply be closed to stay in existence.
John Stewart, a former associate and fellow satirist of Collbert, described another important piece of the puzzle. “The fact is that CBS will not save its own number-one-lined network late night franchise,” Stewart said, “It has been in the air for more than three decades, is everyone wondering that it was purely financial? Or was it perhaps the least resistance to your 8-Billion-Dall merger?” Stewart Paramount’s adjacent $ 8 billion merged firm was referring to Skydance – a deal that Trump earlier indicated that he would block as a peback for his alleged complaint about the Harris interview.
A person participates in protest after CBS/Paramount is canceled Late show with Stephen Colbert
Photo Credit: AFP
What happens to satire?
As one of the most liked and one of the talk show hosts and political satirists, Colbert was definitely entitled to a better farewell-to go out on his terms rather than becoming a political football between Donald Trump and Donald Trump. But Late showThe late-night talk keeps another question mark on the future of the show format.
Stephen Colbert | Photo Credit: AFP
In the ongoing streaming era, where “watching appointments” is rapidly dominating live sports, the late-night talk show is one of the last living templates of TV’s original Golden Era (1950 and 60s). Some reports, some topical jokes, some interviews with some interviews, and a live performance or two-this original outline served serial generations of the American TV host, which began with Ed Sulivan (which began in the late 1940s and was in the air until the early 70s).
At the end of a long day in the office, you can often enter a position of ‘decision paralysis’ while feeding with TV remote – can you see trash funny things or more sophisticated, cerebral fare? The late night show took inspiration from his cousin, ‘Variety Show’, and excluded this induction from the equation. There is something for all in this format, celebs with a celeb-aobsed gossip-kom reader as well as consumers with ‘hard news’ and political satire. However, in the streaming era, the competitive profit introduced by this format has decreased significantly. Today, no matter how specific or eccentric to ask, there is a possibility that you will prepare a streammer to complete it.
End of an era
In the last two to three years, we are looking at many manifestations of this programming deadlock. In 2023, it was reported that James Cordon The let late show CBS was losing $ 20 million annually before its cancellation. Earlier, in 2022, Trevor Noah left The daily show Seven years later on the hull. Among the survivors in this circuit, Jimmy Follen has been reduced to a kind of parody of itself, which is rapidly resorting to over-the-top gags.
Jimmy Kimmel is second in the rating behind Colbert, but his jokes are definitely thinner in recent years. Post-Calbert, Seth Mayors’ show is probably now Go-to Venue for Smart Political Comedy and Off-Cilter Humor.
Showed late night to meet the challenges of this new era? One thing they are doing is inviting more gene-Z guests, especially people who are popular on the Internet.
For example, in India, Kapil Sharma’s Netflix Show (nearest equivalent, format-wise) recently had a group of young podcasters and affected as guests. Of course, this step does not always work easily; Colbert himself conducted a very strange interview with 22 -year -old actor Jenna Ortga (from) Wednesday And this Scream Horror-movie franchise) earlier this year where it was quite clear that none of the two knew or cared more about the other.
Other options, of course, have to go to the “glove of”, as Collbert declared in his show last week. It is likely that until May 2026, we are for more aggressive, scary, no-quarter-diyas of Stephen Collbert-not bad for the first storm.
Writers and journalists are working on their first book of non-story.
Published – 02 August, 2025 08:08 AM IST
