Stephen Colbert’s Late Show getting cancelled sucks ass (and not in a fun way). I won’t pretend that late-night television is a foolproof money maker, but I’m also not going to pretend that Paramount doesn’t regularly throw money around on losing ventures. I’m also not going to act like the motivation for them to cancel the show didn’t have a political bend to it. That political aspect points to a larger issue involving the current administration trying to silence critical voices in the media, which is absolutely happening.
Trying to find a rationale in Paramount’s cancellation of the show is a losing game, because it helps normalize something that is terrifyingly abnormal. We must call out corruption when we see it, even if the company has a slightly viable excuse for indulging in said corruption. A landlord doesn’t get a pass for burning down a building they own for the insurance money simply because it had become financially unviable for them. There is more at stake here, as John Oliver recently pointed out.
Oliver has found himself in a unique position during the slow death of late-night talk shows. It’s not a traditional show in that space, but he still runs in those circles. However, he lacks the burden of network standards, which include having to appeal to advertisers. HBO Max can do whatever it wants (including changing its name ad nauseum), and that includes employing a man who constantly calls them out for their shenanigans, spends their money on insane things like minor league baseball teams and rat erotica, and has political leanings that I can safely assume are to the left of those held by David Zaslav.
Oliver was recently asked about the cancellation of Colbert’s show and, like the rest of us, is sad but wants to see Stephen blow some shit up (as Oliver often does). “I love Stephen, I love his staff. I love that show,” he explained. “It’s incredibly sad. I am partly excited to see what they’re going to do for the next 10 months.” As I have noted before, Conan O’Brien went on a rampage against NBC when his iteration of The Tonight Show was prematurely cancelled. Colbert has an opportunity to go out similarly, as his show won’t end until next May.
Then, Oliver went on to further lament the cancellation. “It’s terrible, terrible news for the world of comedy. Late-night shows mean a lot to me, not just because I work in them, but because even growing up in England, I would watch [David] Letterman’s show, which of course was Stephen’s show, and think about what a glamorous world that was,” he noted. “So, to have got to be on Letterman’s show and Stephen’s show has been always one of the most fun things, so it’s very, very, very sad news. I look forward to seeing what he’s going to do next because that man will not stop.”
Colbert’s cancellation could be the pebble that starts a rockslide. Other networks might become more comfortable killing these institutions, even if they don’t have the same political motivations. I think Oliver will be safe for a while, as he has a suit of armor made of Emmys, but that doesn’t mean the current administration won’t find a problem with him and try to get him off the board more quickly. Then, I’m sure, some CHUDS will start explaining how his show didn’t make any money, and all of this will keep getting worse.
The one-sided feud will not be squashed before ‘WTF’ with Marc Maron ends.
Dustin Rowles |
News |
July 21, 2025 |
