Comedian-turned-media mogul Byron Allen will replace The Late Show with Stephen Colbert beginning next month, CBS announced on Monday (April 6).
Back-to-back episodes of Allen’s Comics Unleashed will air at 11:35 p.m. for the 2026-2027 television season, with CBS having already aired the roundtable-style comedy talk show in the 12:35 a.m. slot recently. The first episode of Comics Unleashed, which first appeared on CBS in September 2006, in its new time slot will air after Colbert, 61, concludes his 11-year tenure as the Late Night host on May 22.
Allen, 64, who is the founder and CEO of Allen Media Group, will also air Funny You Should Ask, a comedic gameshow hosted by Jon Kelley, in the 12:35 a.m. slot currently occupied by Comics Unleashed.
CBS announced plans to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert effective 2026, a move the network claimed was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night” and was “not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount” in a statement released last August. Colbert has served as the host of the Late Show since 2015, replacing the show’s original host, David Letterman, upon his retirement.
Colbert shared the decision with his live studio audience during the taping of The Late Show on the day of the announcement at Ed Sullivan Theater in Manhattan.
“Before we start the show, I want to let you know something I found out just last night,” he said. “Next year will be our last season. The network will be ending ‘The Late Show’ in May,” he said at the time.
Paramount’s decision came days after it agreed to a settlement that could pay President Donald Trump north of $30 million in relation to his election interference lawsuit stemming from its 60 Minutes interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 presidential election, FOX News reported.
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