CBS to replace Stephen Colbert’s ‘Late Show’ with Byron Allen comedy
CBS has announced “Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen” as a replacement for “The Late Show” starting May 22, following the departure of Stephen Colbert.
Strike Force Five reunited on Monday’s “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
Stephen Colbert joined “Late Night” host Seth Meyers, “Last Week Tonight” host John Oliver and “Live!” Host Jimmy Kimmel and “The Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon, also known as the late-night podcast crew Strike Force Five, will appear for the last time before Colbert’s final show on May 21.
Colbert introduced his staff as “four of my best TV friends and award-defying podcast co-hosts,” and they immediately started having a blast on stage. Kimmel sat on a couch and explained the origins of the organization’s 2023 Writers Guild of America strike.
“Strike Force Five is, and always will be, a group of five people who went on strike with writers and paid writers,” Kimmel said. “So we did a podcast that paid a fraction of that. We did 12 episodes.”
Colbert declared that the podcast group would do an “emergency episode” immediately after the show ended.
Kimmel jokingly wonders why no one canceled Paramount+ over Colbert’s cancellation
Colbert led a discussion about the future of late-night TV, asking hosts to make a case for the sacred but beleaguered show in 2026.
“Look at the numbers. Actually, more people are watching late-night TV now than when Johnny Carson was on the show, and I know people are hooked,” Kimmel said.
Kimmel said numbers from sources such as television and YouTube “add up.” As a sign of strength, Kimmel pointed out that in 2025, when ABC’s parent company Walt Disney removed him from the air for his comments about Charlie Kirk’s murder, “people canceled Disney+” in protest.
This led Kimmel to jokingly wonder why fans aren’t canceling their Paramount+ subscriptions in protest of the cancellation of “The Late Show” as well. “Why don’t you guys cancel Paramount+? Because we never had it in the first place?” he joked.
“Late nights are one of those things that is always present in our lives. It’s a part of our lives,” Fallon said. “People want to go to sleep with a big laugh and go to sleep feeling happy.”
Late-night host faces President Trump’s wrath on Kimmel’s Melania Trump controversy
All organizers agreed that they did not expect it to attract the president’s attention. President Donald Trump is a regular hate watcher and social media commentator, frequently calling for the firing of all major late-night TV hosts.
“You know what’s weirder? We’re in a job that his wife feels very strongly about,” Kimmel said. Last month, first lady Melania Trump criticized Kimmel for jokingly calling him a “pregnant widow” on her show.
“Most of us have avoided that part,” Myers quipped to Kimmel, while Oliver, referring to the Strike Force Five text message chain, said, “It’s amazing to get a group text from[Kimmel]saying, ‘Oh my gosh,’ followed by a picture of Melania mad at him.”
Myers noted that President Trump is one of the remaining holdouts who tune in to late-night shows before taking to social media to condemn them.
“We’re thankful he’s watching linear television,” Myers said. “If I make a point late at night, it’s that the leaders of the free world are watching this show when it airs.”
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Kimmel jokingly told Colbert that even after midnight, “there’s a whole world out there,” something he learned during his brief suspension last year. He also expressed “angry” that Colbert was “thrown out of the air” and said, “I’m waiting for an angry Stephen to come out. I want to see you go crazy!”
When Colbert pointed out that “The Late Show” started after other shows and was the first to be canceled, Kimmel made a surprising comparison.
“It’s like when my young wife died,” Kimmel said. “It’s sad. I mean, it’s very tragic.”
Fallon said, “It’s a shame because I wanted to do more together.” But Colbert said he could always be a guest on other hosts’ shows, and Kimmel went a step further and said, “You can host my show!”
Who are the late night hosts flirting with their guests?
The show ended with a Strike Force Five confessional game, which included admitting which host had an affair with one of the guests.
Kimmel admitted to kissing Regis Philbin. “Not only did I kiss Regis, he chewed my gum,” he said.
Colbert admitted to contacting numerous people, including Helen Mirren, Sally Field, Allison Janney, Jeff Daniels, and Andrew Garfield. “Jane Fonda and I didn’t make out, but she stuck her tongue in my ear,” Colbert said.
As Strike Force Five moved to Colbert’s desk for a final group hug, the departed host announced that a new video episode of the podcast would be released on Wednesday, May 13th.
