The End of The Late Show: Is America Laughing or Just Tuning Out?
Written by Peter Boykin on July 18, 2025
The End of The Late Show: Is America Laughing or Just Tuning Out?
#GoRightNews Shared by Peter Boykin
American Political Commentator / Citizen Journalist / Activist / Constitutionalist for Liberty
📰 The End of The Late Show: Is America Laughing or Just Tuning Out?
By Peter Boykin | #GoRight Commentary | GoRightNews.com
🎙️ A Quiet Goodbye from the Stage That Once Kept America Up Laughing
It used to be that when the final news anchor signed off and the house fell quiet; the nation would tune in for something lighter. Not empty, but lighter. There, behind the desk, was someone funny, someone who could take the day’s chaos and turn it into a chuckle before bed.
Johnny Carson did it with ease. Jay Leno kept it going. David Letterman added sarcasm. Conan O’Brien brought quirk. Each of them had their style, their politics (quietly), and their loyal fans. But more than anything, they offered something priceless: an escape that didn’t demand allegiance.
That era just ended.
Stephen Colbert stood center stage at the Ed Sullivan Theater, visibly emotional, and told his audience that The Late Show would end in May 2026. Not just his show, the entire franchise. CBS is walking away. No replacement. No rebrand. No reset.
And let’s be honest: for many on the Right, the news was met with a smirk.
After nearly a decade of Colbert using his platform to relentlessly mock Donald Trump, conservatives, populists, and anyone to the right of Nancy Pelosi, it might feel like poetic justice. Some may even cheer.
But we shouldn’t.
Because this isn’t just about Stephen Colbert, this is the death of an American institution, one that once united a nation in laughter, and now vanishes not with a bang, but with corporate silence.
📺 From Carson to Colbert: When Late Night Was for Everyone
Late night didn’t start as a weapon. It started as a mirror, a funhouse mirror maybe, but one that reflected all of us.
Johnny Carson didn’t go easy on politicians, but he didn’t go hard on their voters. Whether you voted for Reagan or McGovern, you could still laugh at the same monologue. That’s what made it work.
David Letterman brought edge and irony. Leno kept it middle-of-the-road. Even Jon Stewart, in his prime, struck a balance; he hit Bush hard, but his interviews were intelligent, often respectful, and sometimes surprising.
But something changed in the 2010s.
When Colbert took over in 2015, he brought the persona from The Colbert Report with him. What began as satire evolved into nightly sermons. His show became less of a lounge and more of a litmus test: if you weren’t laughing at Trump jokes, were you even American?
This wasn’t just Colbert. Jimmy Kimmel did the same. Seth Meyers turned entire segments into MSNBC with a laugh track. Trevor Noah tried and failed to recapture Stewart’s spark, losing both viewers and cultural impact.
Late-night comedy became activism with applause signs. And the audience shrank.
🤡 When the Joke Got Old: The Trump Obsession Backfired
Colbert’s Late Show thrived in Trump’s first term. Ratings soared. The monologue was a nightly roast of the 45th president, and liberal America couldn’t get enough.
But Trump left office. The pandemic changed media consumption. Viewers were tired. And Colbert didn’t adapt. Instead of returning to cultural humor or celebrity fun, he doubled down on the political.
To his credit, Colbert was sharp, consistent, and professional. But late night is supposed to be a release, not a nightly reminder of what half the country hates.
That refusal to evolve became his undoing.
And now, instead of passing the torch to someone new, CBS is putting the torch out.
💸 Why CBS Canceled the Whole Show — And What It Costs Us
The official reason for canceling The Late Show? Money. CBS claims it’s a business decision. Declining ratings. Rising costs. Late night just isn’t pulling ad dollars anymore.
And they’re not wrong. Production is expensive. Hundreds of staffers, writers, designers, editors, and band members. It adds up.
But that doesn’t mean it’s the right move.
Late-night talk shows have been time capsules of American life. Where else could you see a young Barack Obama and a retiring Bob Hope share the same stage? Where else could a first-time comedian become a star overnight?
Losing The Late Show isn’t just about Colbert. It’s about losing one of the last remaining shared cultural spaces we had.
🔄 Can Late Night Survive the Digital Shift?
In a streaming world, where everything is segmented and algorithms decide what we watch, traditional late-night TV seems outdated. But is it?
Look at Conan O’Brien.
After NBC, he moved to TBS. Then he did something no one expected: he downsized. No suits. No desk. No live band. Just Conan, a guest, and a podcast. “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” became a massive digital hit.
He kept it weird, funny, and free from political tirades. Conan proved that authenticity and humor still work, even if the format changes.
Maybe late night isn’t dead. Maybe it just needs to wake up and grow up.
🏛️ Is This Just About Ratings? Or About Power?
Here’s where it gets murky.
Just weeks before the announcement, CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global, paid Donald Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit over a manipulated 60 Minutes interview.
Colbert mocked the payout live on-air, calling it a “big fat bribe.” Days later, CBS pulled the plug on his show. The timing raises eyebrows.
Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Adam Schiff are already demanding answers, suggesting that CBS may have acted under political pressure. The network denies it. But it’s hard to ignore the optics.
When a major network kills a flagship show right after its host criticizes a powerful figure, they just wrote a check to, it doesn’t look clean. It looks corporate.
🎤 The End of an Era, What We’re Losing: #GoRight with Peter Boykin Commentary:
As a Constitutionalist for Liberty, I believe in the power of open dialogue, free speech, and American culture that doesn’t come with a side of censorship.
Stephen Colbert and I don’t see the world the same way. That’s fine. I’ve criticized his show, his tone, and his treatment of Trump supporters. But I’ll still say this clearly: canceling The Late Show altogether is a cultural loss.
We used to have places in American media where people of all viewpoints could share laughs, ideas, and moments that defined a generation.
Now? We have TikTok rants and algorithm-approved outrage.
Late night used to unite us at the end of the day. Not anymore. Because instead of adapting, the networks polarized. And when the numbers didn’t support that division, they walked away.
But what if they chose unity instead?
What if we had a late-night show where the host could roast both sides, talk to guests from every political corner, and welcome the full American spectrum without apology?
We don’t need fewer conversations. We need better conversation.
And we need to remember that freedom of speech only matters when it applies to those we don’t agree with.
Colbert’s show didn’t die because people stopped laughing at Trump. It died because it forgot how to laugh at itself.
#GoRight #PeterBoykin #LateShow #Colbert #CancelCulture #LateNightTV #CBS #Constitutionalist #FreeSpeech #TalkShowLegacy #ComedyCrisis #PoliticalComedy #DigitalShift #TrumpEffect #MediaBias #CulturalLoss #WhatHappenedToFunny
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