CBS is ending ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ next year

[saintpaulguy]

No doubt, all of this can be true, at the same time as the fact, he ran the show into the ground and he just wasn't funny. I think it's safe to say it's a combination of all of these points, on that we most certainly agree.

I have never seen an episode of his show.
I used to like Letterman and Craig Kilborn.

 

[coolhandgopher]

No doubt, all of this can be true, at the same time as the fact, he ran the show into the ground and he just wasn't funny. I think it's safe to say it's a combination of all of these points, on that we most certainly agree.

What's the popular conservative/MAGA saying? Feelings aren't facts? LOL, again, your distaste for Colbert doesn't reside in facts. The fact is, as has been stated by several others on here already, the late night show format is dying and has been for quite awhile, all the numbers bear that out, but what is also a fact that for those still tuning in after the local news, Colbert is tops.

These comparisons to Carson, whether by you or through the tweets you highlight, are akin to comparing how many people attended movie theatres in the '40s versus now. To my recollection, there was no viable competition for Carson at the late night hours (even when Arsenio Hall came along in the late '80s, his impact was minimal) and most of his run was without the onslaught of cable/satellite to compete against. As saintpaulguy pointed out, where else were you seeing celebrity interviews? stand-up comedians? It was Carson and only Carson. His was a time when there was never a need to talk politics because that was left to the still dominant newspaper/periodicals industry. I didn't know his politics or Letterman or Leno, but politics weren't on broadcast TV to my memory. It was cable with CNN and then on hyperdrive conservative bend with Fox News that has brought us to where we are today, where it seemingly can't be escaped.

You mention that Colbert alienated half of his audience through his political bend and while there may be truth there, Colbert was replacing David Letterman from his show on Comedy Central that was a satirical take on conservatives from its first episode. It sounds as if he really extended that path on the Late Show, but I imagine the suits at CBS not only expected this direction, but encouraged it. Did it alienate a large part of his potential audience? Perhaps, but in a competitive environment, during a time when everything is niche, he rode that path to more success than his direct broadcast competition (Kimmel, Fallon) on TV sets.

Finally, the very recent revelation of Colbert's show losing $40 million annually reminds me of the notorious Boston sports media, whenever an athlete was shipped out via trade/waived, a couple days later columns would appear on how that player was a locker room cancer, a reluctant participant in practices, or some other issue. Management feeds their one-sided take to a reporter/columnist who is more than happy to have a column written for them. As I've read through the internet on the $40 million figure, which has been reported far and wide, it all stems from a reporter with Puck News who was fed the info by an "informed source". That figure could very well be true, but it doesn't seem to be looked upon with much scrutiny, just being taken at face value from a point of view that wants to advance the notion that this is purely economics and not political.

 

[Ogie Ogilthorpe]

What's the popular conservative/MAGA saying? Feelings aren't facts? LOL, again, your distaste for Colbert doesn't reside in facts. The fact is, as has been stated by several others on here already, the late night show format is dying and has been for quite awhile, all the numbers bear that out, but what is also a fact that for those still tuning in after the local news, Colbert is tops.

These comparisons to Carson, whether by you or through the tweets you highlight, are akin to comparing how many people attended movie theatres in the '40s versus now. To my recollection, there was no viable competition for Carson at the late night hours (even when Arsenio Hall came along in the late '80s, his impact was minimal) and most of his run was without the onslaught of cable/satellite to compete against. As saintpaulguy pointed out, where else were you seeing celebrity interviews? stand-up comedians? It was Carson and only Carson. His was a time when there was never a need to talk politics because that was left to the still dominant newspaper/periodicals industry. I didn't know his politics or Letterman or Leno, but politics weren't on broadcast TV to my memory. It was cable with CNN and then on hyperdrive conservative bend with Fox News that has brought us to where we are today, where it seemingly can't be escaped.

You mention that Colbert alienated half of his audience through his political bend and while there may be truth there, Colbert was replacing David Letterman from his show on Comedy Central that was a satirical take on conservatives from its first episode. It sounds as if he really extended that path on the Late Show, but I imagine the suits at CBS not only expected this direction, but encouraged it. Did it alienate a large part of his potential audience? Perhaps, but in a competitive environment, during a time when everything is niche, he rode that path to more success than his direct broadcast competition (Kimmel, Fallon) on TV sets.

Finally, the very recent revelation of Colbert's show losing $40 million annually reminds me of the notorious Boston sports media, whenever an athlete was shipped out via trade/waived, a couple days later columns would appear on how that player was a locker room cancer, a reluctant participant in practices, or some other issue. Management feeds their one-sided take to a reporter/columnist who is more than happy to have a column written for them. As I've read through the internet on the $40 million figure, which has been reported far and wide, it all stems from a reporter with Puck News who was fed the info by an "informed source". That figure could very well be true, but it doesn't seem to be looked upon with much scrutiny, just being taken at face value from a point of view that wants to advance the notion that this is purely economics and not political.

It's not really worth beating this to death but I will say, if you think the Colbert we saw on Comedy Central is the same as the one we've seen the last 6-8 years on The Late Show, I really truly don't know what to tell you.

At Comedy Central, he made jokes and poked and prodded people, as he should. Since then? He's a grown man that essentially wept on national tv, more than once, over election results and he spent most of his time on The Late Show telling half the country they were evil rotten people who were stupid.

Like I said, from a business standpoint, it's stupid business. We disagree, I can accept that, I have more respect for you than just about anyone on the board. The man basically turned himself into one of the things he likely railed against and hated the most when he was funny and making a name for himself.