“THIS WON’T BE ANOTHER COLBERT SHOW” — BYRON ALLEN’S BIG LATE-NIGHT PLAN SPARKS MAJOR REACTION

Stephen Colbert on ‘Late Show’; Byron Allen

Stephen Colbert on ‘The Late Show’ in February; Byron Allen in Atlanta last December.Credit: 

Paras Griffin/Getty;Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty

Byron Allen’s replacement series for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert will look to keep the same laughs, just without the politics.

Colbert’s last episode is set to air on Thursday, and then the Late Show time slot will be taken over by Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen, a roundtable talk show of comedians that Allen first launched in 2006. But while Colbert and the Late Show became inseparable from the political climate, Allen is determined to avoid that territory altogether.

“No politics,” he declared on CBS Mornings. “You come, you laugh… We’ve had on a thousand comedians — every shape and size, you name it. I want to bring people together using comedy.”

Allen’s mandate to focus on comedy and avoid politics isn’t surprising given the optics surrounding The Late Show‘s end. Last summer, CBS announced the cancelation of Colbert’s incarnation of the series, marking the end of The Late Show‘s historic 33-year run. “We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire The Late Show franchise at that time,” the network said in a statement, adding that the surprising move was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.”

Reports have suggested the network was losing upwards of $40 million a year on the production. Many skeptics, however, have pointed to Skydance Media’s acquisition of Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, as a cause, speculating that the new leadership wanted to stay out of the crosshairs of President Donald Trump, a frequent target of Colbert.

Former Late Show host David Letterman recently made headlines with his claim that Colbert was “dumped” so that he didn’t make any more “trouble” for CBS. “I’m just going to go on record as saying: They’re lying,” Letterman declared. “Let me just add one other thing… They’re lying weasels.”

The placement of Comics Unleashed on the CBS schedule is a unique one, as Allen is buying the airtime from the network, and, in exchange, his company Allen Media Group gets to sell any available advertising spots.

Colbert and Allen have spoken highly of each other in the wake of Colbert’s exit and Allen’s arrival, with Colbert even sending a note of congratulations.

“He is a wonderful human being,” Allen said. “I think he’s an American treasure. I hope that he continues to come into our homes. He deserves to be there.”