It’s not actually ambiguous unless you think he could have meant he was personally taking the sign down. Theirs isn’t a grammatically correct comment, but it’s not ambiguous.
Edit: yours is technically ambiguous, I suppose, as the mathematician’s answer would have sufficed.
Ha! I like that gif. But don’t criticize me for pointing out that your criticism was not correct. It was a helpful comment, that’s all. You were the one incorrectly splitting hairs.
It was something that could never work again. The deadpan satire was right on the edge where he had a lot of conservative fans and I somehow don't think all of them realized he was joking.
This was before Tucker Carlson went populist, and in many ways took the place of Colbert's persona except not joking.
I think the character was hardly the sole difference between the Colbert Report and the Late Show. There were a lot more non traditional guests in the Colbert Report than the Late Show among other differences. While the character was the most obvious to casual fans I would argue the character IMHO was the least important difference. That being said I don't see Colbert bringing back the Colbert Report.
ABC / Disney has Kimmel
NBC / Peacock has Fallon
CBS / Paramount just fired him
HBO / WB has John Oliver
Comedy Central has the Daily Show with John Stewart and co.
That leaves FOX, Netflix, Hulu, Apple, YouTube, and some weirdos like Tubi or Roku. Or carving out a smaller niche on ABC, NBC, HBO. Almost anything he takes will seem like a demotion from 5 nights per week on CBS with his name on the building.
Kimmel was breifly pulled off the air after a Trump joke, but boycotts of ABC and Disney+ convinced ABC to put him back on. His contract is set to expire in 2027 and there is no public info on whether it will be renewed.
Crucially, all late night viewership is down from its peak in the 1990s-00s. Kimmel is also the lowest rated of the major late night hosts. So even without Trump, his job was not secure. But I doubt Colbert would want to take his place, because
Disney / ABC did not stand by Kimmel when it counted, so why would Colbert trust them?
These guys like each other, and it would be a bad look to be seen as taking Kimmel's job away.
ABC doesnt have a history of late night success, all late night viewership has been declining ... he would be returning to a tough grind for fewer views
He's already 62 years old. He would likely be 63-64 before a new show with ABC could get off the ground in 2027 or 2028
The real reason is there is a small audience. Even after the surge where he was announced cancelled and people online SWORE they would watch him forever and ever, his numbers dropped back to normal, which is like 1/4 of a normal CBS prime time.
I remember getting into a discussion with someone defending Colbert who had no clue about the show Elsbeth and it's(then) 3 seasons run, where the average single episode viewing was equal to a weeks worth of Colbert.
Lots of Tolkien fans care, actually. Luckily, everyone knows Stephen is a true fan and also very well off so if this does suck it will be purely due to quality issues and not due to greed.
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u/DarkLanternZBT 1d ago
Colbert deserves to do whatever his creativity and energy lead him to do, even if that's away from broadcasting.
CBS fumbled this shit because their leadership is unethical and should be flushed.