Mayday mayday — we are now down to the final three weeks ever of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert gracing our nighttime screens. BOO! When the show was canceled last July, network CBS cited budgetary issues as the reason. Yes, it’s true that the late night format is expensive and losing its footing in the age of streaming. It’s also true that last summer, CBS’ parent company Paramount was trying to get the Trump administration to sign off on their merger with David Ellison’s Skydance. Part of that buttering up involved CBS/Paramount settling with Trump over an inane lawsuit he filed about something something 60 Minutes favored Kamala! (I mean, did Dementia Don forget that he won the election?) And amidst all that, it is definitely true that Stephen Colbert was connecting the dots for the nation on camera every night, making us laugh while delivering news that inside made us cry. And now we’re left weeping as Stephen marches towards his final show on May 21. The New York Times interviewed him to mark the sober occasion. Some highlights:
It’s been nine months since you learned that you were canceled. CBS obviously claims that the show was canceled for financial reasons. Others are skeptical.
I do not dispute their rationale. I do make jokes about it. But I also completely understand why people would say (A) that doesn’t make sense to me and (B) that seems fishy to me, because the network did it to themselves by bending the knee to the Trump administration over a $20 billion, settled for $16 million, completely frivolous lawsuit.It’s possible that two things can be true. Broadcast can be in trouble. They cannot monetize because of things like YouTube, because of the competition of streaming. They’ve got the books, and I do not have any desire to debate them over what they say their business model is and how it does not work for them anymore. But less than two years before they called to say it’s over, they were very eager for me to be signed for a long time. So, something changed.
Why do you think the F.C.C. and the Trump administration are so focused on you?
Authoritarians don’t like anybody who doesn’t give them undue dignity. Comedians are anti-authoritarian by nature. And authoritarians are never going to like anybody to laugh at them. The number of newspeople who have said to me or Jon Stewart or any of the guys who do this, “God, I wish I could say what you say on air.” And we can. I think that upsets them. I think it might be upsetting that we really do not live in their world of principalities and powers.Given that you and other late-night hosts have become political targets, and given how partisan late night has become, do you have any regrets that it’s gotten to this point?
I don’t have any problem with Trump being a Republican. I have a problem with Trump being a complete narcissist who is only working for his own interest and does not appear to care if the entire world burns. That’s not a partisan position. I have eyeballs and ears, and I think calling late night partisan is just roughing the ref. And we don’t even want to be refs, but they perceive us as refs. I reject the partisan description. Partisan means you’re never, ever going to make a joke about a Democrat, and that’s just not true. There’s just no comparison of how fertile the fields are.
“But less than two years before they called to say it’s over, they were very eager for me to be signed for a long time. So, something changed.” Earlier in the piece Stephen shared that in 2023, CBS had wanted him to sign a five-year contract, but Stephen countered with three years instead. As Stephen himself says, it’s all rather fishy. Ugh, what a loss. I know he’ll be fine, but I’ll miss the erudite commentary on hugely consequential world issues that he neatly packaged in a bundle of humor, sprinkled with absurdism on top. And yeah, now that David Ellison got his grubby little hands on Warner Bros., parent company of HBO, I’m pretty much scared sh-tless about the fate of Last Week Tonight. John Oliver takes anti-authoritarian to the nth degree! Also, I love how it’s the comedians who are pointing out the obvious insecurity of fascists. Which, again, is why we need all of them now more than ever.
In the meantime, light a candle for Stephen that he gets his dream guest for the final episode: Chicago Pope Bob.
Photos credit: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon, Getty Images
I loved First Drafts he and Evie did. Especially their loving interactions.
SIGH. Silent scream of frustration.
I’m glad he called out that partisan nonsense. That’s buying into a false narrative. He will be missed on air. His presence and commentary is needed now more than ever.
He’s just a class act. He never punches down. Which is why, when he punches, it really lands.
Watching Colbert’s show has been a truly essential part of my coping strategy as the manic monsters just down the street gleefully destroy the hard-won gains of the civil rights movements. I will miss his insightful brilliance and humor, and I don’t really have a backup plan yet. Colbert got screwed by his paymasters, and the country will very much be poorer for it. I’m delighted, though, that he’ll be going from one dream job to another. I’m hoping to see Jon Batiste on at least one more show before it ends, and I’m also really hoping for Pope Bob to be a very very special guest.