Stephen Colbert’s Replacement Byron Allen Sets Record Straight After ‘Late Show’ Ends
What To Know
- Byron Allen, host of Comics Unleashed, said he is not trying to replace Stephen Colbert.
- Allen stated that Comics Unleashed will focus on comedy without politics.
- He clarified that CBS and Paramount have not imposed any content restrictions.
Stephen Colbert‘s replacement, Byron Allen, just set the record straight after The Late Show With Stephen Colbert aired its final episode on May 21.
On May 22, the host of Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen — which is taking over Colbert’s 11:35 p.m. time slot on CBS — set the record straight about his intentions during a conversation with NPR.
“At the end of the day, I’m not trying to replace Colbert,” Allen, 65, explained. “I am not trying to hold on to his audience because Comics Unleashed has been around 20 years and has its own audience.”
Additionally, Allen called Colbert, 62, an “American treasure,” while admitting, “Not everybody’s gonna love me. But there is that one or two percent that would be like ‘hell yeah, I’m rolling with you’ and I learned that at an early age, and by the way, that simple lesson made me a billionaire.”
One major difference between Colbert’s show and Allen’s is the absence of politics.
“No politics,” Allen told CBS Mornings ahead of Colbert’s last episode. “You come, you laugh… We’ve had on a thousand comedians, every shape and size, you name it. And I want to bring people together using comedy.”
Although CBS said its decision to cancel The Late Show was for financial reasons, some have questioned whether it was political. NPR’s Ailsa Chang asked Byron if the network or its parent company, Paramount, has discussed “boundaries not to cross or topics to avoid” for Comics Unleashed.
“I have absolutely not had any conversations with anybody at CBS or Paramount about what to say or not to say,” he answered. “Do you know that I’ve been taping this show here since July or August, and somebody from CBS just came by to say hello and thank us. Visited the set one time, came by to say, ‘We just want to see a taping because we haven’t been here.'”
Byron continued, “As a matter of fact, when we’ve sent the episodes over, they barely give notes… CBS has not given me any notes, any feedback about don’t be political. Remember, I started the show 20 years ago, and we’ve been crushing it for 20 years.”
Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen, weeknights at 11:35 a.m. ET, CBS
Conversation55 Comments
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S
Sad for Byron Allen that he will be featured on CBS as I believe many of us will never tune into CBS again!!
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P
Definitely a lie. Just like it was a lie about conservative boycotting Disney owned TV networks.
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A
I doubt you’ll be missed.
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N
❄️ ❄️ ❄️
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A
Okay, I'll bite, what do those symbols mean?
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B
Nathan is confessing to being a snowflake three times over.
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G
I sense a bit of arrogance here. I guess
It will be up to the public to decide if they will continue on a with CBS.
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A
Well that’s a fair statement. And how it should be.
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A
I'm betting Kimmel will see a ratings rise tonight!
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H
I will not be viewing any Byron Allen efforts in the future. He knew what he was facilitating!
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P
It's his fault Coleburt lost $40M per year?
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O
Has to tell everyone he's a billionaire. Trump will love him. He'll probably be a "comedian like no one has ever seen before."
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P
Byron Allen is a comedy "hack" not funny, not creative and too opportunistick. For me he's a " has been" and CBS is really digging deep at the bottom of the comedy pool. Besides that, please don't call it a replacement, you cannot ever replace what's been lost.
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A
Yeah hard to find enough raw unfiltered Hate these days. 🙄
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N
Just turn on Fox News.
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M
OK, Byron, but we want politics in our comedy. Specifically anti-trump politics. So good luck. We'll be watching Kimmel.
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A
Least you told the truth on this. A rarity for liberal leftists. Truth is kryptonite to them. When You want you’re Hate by gosh you Want you’re Hate and Right Now !! Guess you Will have to watch Kimmel.
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P
are you sure, you can read? since none of what you have written was included in Martin's post. But, again, least you told truth on this. You consider a joke a Hate. You call everybody around snowflakes, while you cannot simple take a joke. as a "great" leader once said: "Sad!"
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S
Never heard of the guy
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L
Good reason for that.
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S
Sounds. Defensive. Couldn’t raise voice higher to speak over her and interrupt. Too eager to express that network has not warned him. A company man. I question the interview.
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L
I couldn’t watch the interview to the end. He’s exhausting! I love Ailsa Chang, and I was happy to see her—I’ve only ever heard her on NPR. I had to click away, because his yelling wore me out.
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T
Safe comedy is for children. In the business you learn to be successful by not stepping on anyone's toes. Byron Allen has been quietly amassing a fortune this way. Now he's one of them.
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A
Safe comedy can be for people with sound moral ethics and a sense of civility to. You don’t have to always be degrading someone to be funny.
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L
Making fun of an inept, amoral POtuS is not hate but observation. Too bad your skills in that department are so lacking.
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W
Nope , burying your head in the sand is weak. Being a billionaire makes me not want to watch even more. You are not one us, in fact it makes you one of them. So you can kick rocks have fun being another orange stain.
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A
😥Boo Hoo.
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S
Allen is a businessman, not a comedian. (Even Wikipedia, written by his own staff or fans, calls him a businessman.) He knows some comedians but you won't see the A-listers on his shows (Comics Unleashed, where he "interviews" comics by giving them setups then they do their comic bits as the answers, and a Hollywood Squares ripoff named "Funny You Should Ask" where he's put himself in one of the seats). And this 11:35 slot is rented/bought, not earned... like the dtars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (which he's also bought himself one of).
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P
He's been a writer and comedian for quite a few decades.
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C
Won't watch late night with Byron Allen because the best comedian has left the building. Kimmel is the best option. Wish you the best with your 20 years of viewers.
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G
Pasteurized comedy for boomers. Hard pass.
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P
Hate doesn't sell like it used to. Sorry for your loss.
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H
If you can't have politics on a talk show which has been going on since the invention of television then I don't want to watch it. Having a comedy show that also doesn't involve any politics is not real. Wake the hell up America you are losing your freedoms including freedom of speech. I will never watch CBS ever again and I will tell everyone else that I know to do the same.
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S
That’s what most comedians do. I enjoy the yearly White House Press Awards especially Barack Obama and Peale and Keys. Every so often I will watch again. Laughing sure is great.
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A
Yeah you tell all One persons you know !!
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E
The Mr. Magoo of late night? Why are his eyes closed all the time? No way. I'm not watching EVER. 20 years? Is that why the episodes seems so old? They're all from 2006? Remember people - HE's paying CBS, not the other way around. It's basically an infomercial situation.
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L
I'm sure the ratings will be pitiful with the replacement show.
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N
I guess the absence of politics means that it’s about sex and religion. Perfect for those with their heads in the sand!
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A
Maybe the liberal left could learn how to distinguish genders from the new show. Course a Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Jackson couldn’t define what a woman is. So maybe it’s a mountain too high for them. 🙄
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C
wont watch CBS evenings with Byron Allen since the best comedian we watched for years has left the building. Wish Mr. Allen the best for his audience but will never find out. Perhaps CBS has earlier summer movies we'll watch.
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G
It’s awful! Tried 3 times to watch but it was inane and hardly funny.
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U
I will never watch CBS again. Kimmel and Fallon are my guys now but I will sure miss Colbert! None of those three ever bragged about being a billionaire and they were and are not afraid to use their platforms to stand up for what is right!
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S
Never heard of the show or him. But now we know he's just another billionaire.
You know CBS and Paramount really didn't have to say anything to him, he saw what happened to Colbert. His lawyer probably had a talk with him
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G
Yeah, and some of the shows ARE from 20 years ago and NO one is telling the audience that. THAT'S a garbage way to run a show.
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M
Apparently you have never watched a show either.
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A
So there's more comments under this article about Stephen Colbert's replacement as there were under stories about Colbert's final show, the president's unflattering comments about him, and Stephen's final ratings combined! Interesting...
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A
Poor wording. Implies that Byron did numbers that set records instead of just talk-talk-talking.
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M
Then how come no one knows of him?
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J
I don't know a lot about the entertainment industry, but I do know it's an industry. I've read multiple reports that Colbert was losing $40 million a year. What business continues if they're losing that much money? Sounds like it was Colberts choice to become more partisan and political. By doing so he basically lost half of his audience. Doesn't sound like a solid business plan to me.
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S
Thank you. Everyone who believes CBS. And Barri Weiss should read this
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A
Amazing what you can do with AI these days.
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S
"People are saying" Colbert was losing $40 million a year....
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D
Here’s the problem with the almost cliche comment now that if you’re clearly on one side of the aisle, you are alienating 1/2 the audience. First, if 100 % of the people in America were staying up that late to watch Colbert, then maybe you could say he lost 20-30% of his audience. Although conservatives criticize Colbert as if they watch it, so maybe disagreeing with someone doesn’t mean you don’t watch it. But the other fact is that only a percentage of Americans watched late night, and because Colbert’s ratings were so good, I assume most of them agreed with his politics, or at least his jokes. If he dropped all criticism of Trump, he actually might have lost ALLof his audience. At no time was half his audience conservative. If he ran a really boring down the middle show, he would have been gone a long time ago. Tv execs are drawn toward controversy and shock tv. Hence all the main character deaths in fictional shows these days. That 40 million lost figure comes from a biased source—the Ellisons who appear to have sacrificed Colbert to settle Trump’s suit and close their deal on CBS. See the article in a post below here for details. It shows that CBS made lots of money off Colbert, which I believe because they would have cancelled him a long time ago. Polls are also showing that way more than 1/2 the American people are frustrated with Trump (about 70%). So let’s retire that false phrase—1/2 the audience did not leave Colbert when he told political jokes.
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M
It was the political jokes that brought me to watch Colbert. They were the funniest!
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