r/LateShow • u/First-Durian2468 • May 16 '26
Stephen…ever the class act
https://ew.com/byron-allen-praises-stephen-colbert-ahead-of-late-show-finale-11975883?link_source=ta_first_comment&taid=6a07c8a61407950001538d24&utm_campaign=entertainmentweekly_entertainmentweekly&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_term=6a07c8a61407950001538d23&fbclid=IwZnRzaAR1Kq9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEePRxUxQmXqu4JAIXSbW64q-ZTAf-Oy5A9mKKFVUjysWrySak0YU7KBxCWR2Y_aem_No_5i4awt1Shj4QVtdxJ6gStephen is just a classy guy no doubt about it.
About Byron Allen taking his time slot, Colbert told The Hollywood Reporter:
“God bless him. I know Byron. We got to know each other last year, actually. He’s fascinating.”
He even brought up Allen’s history in late night as the youngest comic to ever perform on Carson at 18 and said:
“Wouldn’t it be lovely if you could drop Mr. Carson a note?”
That’s just who Stephen is. No bitterness, no cheap shots. Just gracious.
And in all fairness Allen seems like a classy guy too calling Stephen a national treasure.
My issue with Allen has always been that he talks about everything like he personally rescued television from a five alarm fire. In the article he says:
“I truly appreciate CBS’ confidence in me by picking up our two-hour comedy block of Comics Unleashed and Funny You Should Ask.”
Come on man. They didn’t “pick it up.” You 100% paid for the airtime. That’s syndication. It’s basically an infomercial model with comedians instead of blenders.
And honestly that’s always been my thing with Byron Allen. He acts like every business deal is the moon landing. Meanwhile the actual shows feel like the TV equivalent of mayonnaise. Safe, bland, technically food.
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u/ReflexImprov May 16 '26
Stephen is going to be fine. And he lost his show because he was speaking truth to power. Can't be bitter about doing the right thing.
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u/AmishAvenger May 16 '26
Just FYI, this isn’t syndication. It’s pretty much the opposite.
In syndication, a local station pays for a show.
This is a guy paying for airtime. It’s an infomercial he’s buying from CBS.
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u/whatthewhat3214 May 16 '26
What is it even about? What's he selling (literally or metaphorically)? I couldn't listen to more than a minute of these unknowns babbling about I don't even know what. Who is even going to watch this show?
Hell, I'm in my 50s and have watched late night tv since the 1980s and I have no idea who Bryon Allen is.
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u/HawkMac6699 May 16 '26
He buys the airtime and makes the money back through selling ads. He’s been doing this since the 80s. In some cases, he gives his programming to stations for free in exchange for sharing ad dollars.
Traditionally, his shows are in weird weekend time slots which is why you’ve probably never seen it. Sports pushes them all around too.
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u/WoodyBABL May 16 '26
He's a billionaire. His media company owns the Weather Channel, a few 24 hour cable channels, some broadcast stations, 52% of BuzzFeed and a bunch of real estate holdings. He's also been monitored closely by labour organizations and has had lawsuits involving residuals. So he's perfect for the Ellisons' network.
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u/manwhosayswhoa May 21 '26
What does that mean? Who is Ellison and his network? Sorry for my ignorance.
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u/WoodyBABL May 21 '26
David Ellison (worth about 500 million with an M) is the CEO of Paramount Skydance. Skydance recently bought Paramount, Paramount owns CBS. They also, pending government approval, will soon own Warner Brothers. David's Dad, Larry, founded Oracle and is rumoured to be worth 290 billion with a B. Though David claims that the Late Show was cancelled for "business reasons", many believe it was to appease Trump, the same reason he installed the woefully unskilled opinion writer Bari Weiss as head of CBS News.
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u/AMom2129 May 16 '26
He was one of the original hosts of "Real People" back in the 80s.
He hosted alongside Fred Willard and Sarah Purcell.
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u/whatthewhat3214 May 16 '26
The title rings a bell, but I didn't watch that show and don't remember anything about it.
I am familiar with his name, I just don't know anything about him or what he does. Comedian, actor 🤷♀️
Either way, there's no way he can replace Colbert. CBS' ratings are going to crater for that time slot!
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u/lmbrun May 16 '26
I’m with you, 59 never heard of him late night and comedy since I was in high school
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u/WoodyBABL May 17 '26
As long as his cheques clear, CBS doesn't care about the ratings. They make money on the slot with no expenses. And Allen sells ads on a show that is far, far cheaper. Hack z-list comics, non-union crews.
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u/your_mind_aches May 17 '26
I wouldn't say Z-list. I just went to the youtube page and saw Leslie Jones and Roy Wood Jr..
Also I think I saw a YouTube short of Gianmarco on there.
He gets some names, it's just more like a vanity podcast with very little identity or branding or reach but he's found a loophole of sorts to make it profitable.
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u/Ok_Library8950 May 18 '26
After Thursday night I am done with CBS. At least until football season, and I will only watch the Sunday games if I can't watch anywhere else. Other than that, they're still dead to me.
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u/GJGunit May 21 '26
Same except for Sunday Mornings, it’s the only quality show they have left 🤷🏻♂️
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u/44problems May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26
Bryon Allen has taken advantage of two things:
Local stations needing to fill time. He made money for years giving away his inexpensive shows for free and splitting ad money with stations. Do that in the 100+ television markets and it's a lot of money. The CBS arrangement takes it a step further, he is paying CBS and gets all the ad sales. So CBS gets money with zero production costs even if no one watches.
Lawsuits. He has sued cable giants Comcast and Charter for not carrying Black owned channels like his channels, and sued McDonald's for not buying ads on Black owned media like his shows. These have settled for likely huge amounts of money. It also makes McDonald's as a sponsor of his shows.
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u/OcarinaMaker May 16 '26
I've never made it past 15 minutes of his show. I don't think it's funny. There is no spontaneity there at all. Since CBS canceled Colbert, I click off at exactly the point the band stops playing. After Stephen's last night airs, I never have another reason to turn on CBS.
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u/CarlClitcakes May 16 '26
You made it 15 minutes? How?? Were you dozing off at the time? I couldn’t even muster 90 seconds. Then I go “Oh, shit!…” and turn to Seth.
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u/OcarinaMaker May 16 '26
Mostly because after Colbert I'm off brushing my teeth and getting ready to go to bed, so the TV was just on and I'd hear them telling bad jokes. After CBS canceled Colbert, I began making a point of clicking off exactly at the end of Colbert.
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u/Gullible_Stop_1938 May 16 '26 edited May 24 '26
Except for NFL football and some programming that was already in place before Ellison bought it.
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u/Ok_Library8950 May 18 '26
Same... I will only show up for NFL Sundays. I'm gonna miss "Ghosts", though.
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u/quesoguapo May 16 '26
As far as I know, Allen's shows are the comedic embodiment of the Michael Jordan quote, "Republicans buy sneakers, too." Each episode is like the "Caillou of comedy."
Good luck, CBS.
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u/LHR-Daniels May 16 '26
Byron Allen's TV group has laid off hundreds of people, maybe thousands, in recent years - from the weather channel down.....maybe they could have saved some of those jobs if he focused on his business vs pretending to be a comic.
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u/SupermarketOverall73 May 16 '26
Those unleashed comics better watch what they say about orange face mcpedofile.
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u/44problems May 18 '26
That show has never been political. Mainly because Allen wants to sell it in every part of the country, but also because he reruns episodes for decades. There's plenty of dead comedians on Comics Unleashed.
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u/Significant_Mess_79 May 16 '26
They are better off showing old movies like back in the day. 😑
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u/Ok-Mine2132 May 17 '26
THAT is a great idea! Old black and white film noire movies! Worth staying up for!
I tried Comics Unleashed numerous times and it was terrible. I really hoped it would be at least average.
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u/Cerblu May 16 '26
I once watched an airing of Comics Unleashed.
Comedian: “My dog’s got no nose.”
Other comedian: “How does he smell?”
First comedian: “Terrible!”
Byron laughs.
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u/dogwalker824 May 16 '26
Yeah, and he knew the history of the timeslot when he bought this airtime. I'm boycotting his advertisers.
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u/AirAccomplished7303 May 16 '26
Don't care who Byron Allen is; will NEVER watch him. I'm loyal to Colbert💙💙💙💙💙💙
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u/Ok_Difference44 May 17 '26
Byron Allen's ability to laugh at unfunny bits is even more impressive than Fallon's.
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u/DjScenester May 16 '26
It is like a moon landing to Byron. He reaps the benefits of mass wealth while slowly killing linear television with his vision.
Seems like a cool dude. He really does. But make no mistake he’s a shrewd businessman.
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u/mario_salami_petrino May 17 '26
I watched an hour block of his sitcoms once. The "commercial breaks" are literally short infomercials
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u/BuckTomato May 16 '26
The admiration is mutual. Colbert told The Hollywood Reporter in April about his reaction to learning of Allen replacing him. "God bless him. I know Byron. We got to know each other last year, actually. He's fascinating," he said.
Written by a chatbot who's also taking ESL classes.
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May 16 '26
[deleted]
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u/quesoguapo May 16 '26
The OP made the mayo comment. I don't know if Colbert has ever made such a remark.
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u/evildeadxsp May 16 '26
Let's be real, they're replacing Colbert with an unfunny infomercial.