Stephen Colbert's Replacement on CBS Is Going to Change What the Time Slot Is For

It's been basically a year since the news first broke that CBS was canceling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and that, consequently, Stephen himself would be out of a job. Because everyone knew The Late Show was ending, there wasn't a ton of speculation about who might replace Stephen.

Although the show is ending, CBS still needs something to fill that time slot, and we now know what that will be.

The Late Show will be replaced by Comics Unleashed, a half-hour comedy talk show hosted by Byron Allen. Because the show is just a half-hour long, CBS will air back-to-back episodes in Stephen's old slot. The show features a panel of comedians who get together to tell stories and make the audience laugh. Notably, it's almost definitely much cheaper to produce than The Late Show has been, and will also be less star-studded.

Notably, though, Comics Unleashed is not a traditional late-night show, which speaks to the reason CBS made this move to begin with. Although politics may have played a role, given CBS owner Paramount's right-wing turn, there were also financial reasons why producing a late-night show at a high budget was unsustainable, given the declining number of people who tuned into the show when it aired.

Although Stephen has occasionally gotten spicy about the cancellation of his show, and specifically hinted at the idea that his attacks on the president might have been part of the reason, he had nothing but nice things to say about Byron Allen.

"God bless him. I know Byron. We got to know each other last year, actually. He’s fascinating," Colbert told The Hollywood Reporter. "You know his history with Carson?"

Stephen was referring to Byron being the youngest comedian to ever appear on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

"Anyway, when I found out, I wrote him the next morning, and I said, “Hey, congrats. I heard you got the time. Good for you. Wouldn’t it be lovely if you could drop Mr. Carson a note?'" he added.

Stephen was also asked how he feels about his show's replacement being a show that isn't traditional late-night.

"It’s none of my business," he said.

Although they are technically competitors, Stephen has developed a close relationship with the other late-night hosts, including Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, and Jimmy Kimmel.

"When I got canceled, the only other people I spoke to for days were those guys," he explained. "I came up to my office [after making the announcement on-air] and flipped open my phone, and we did a quick exchange."

The Late Show is set to end on May 21, and ahead of that date, Stephen has set a lineup of guests that includes the other late night hosts, as well as David Letterman, who was the show's original host before Stephen took the seat from him back in 2015.