After Stephen Colbert's Last Late Show, This Is the Show Taking Over
After last year’s shock cancellation, CBS has tapped Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen to take over Stephen Colbert’s coveted Late Show slot when The Late Show signs off May 21, moving up from its current post–Late Show perch.
So, after months of confusion and a lot of shouting online, we finally know who is sliding into Stephen Colbert's old hour. CBS is handing the Late Show slot to Byron Allen's Comics Unleashed once Colbert signs off on May 21. Not a pivot anyone had on their 2026 bingo card, but here we are.
What CBS is doing now
Starting the night The Late Show ends, CBS will plug in Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen in Colbert's place. If that show sounds familiar, it already runs after The Late Show, and it is followed by Allen's other late-night series, the game show Funny You Should Ask. CBS is basically expanding that combo into a two-hour comedy block up top. Allen, 64, called it a full-circle moment for a series he launched 20 years ago to give stand-ups a place to just do what they do. He also thanked the network for the extra real estate and said, in short, the world can always use more laughs.
Where Colbert's head is at
Colbert, 61, has been surprisingly open about what comes next. On the Monday, April 6 episode of the SmartLess podcast, he brought up Bill Hader's move after SNL — how Hader spent a season writing for South Park — and said that idea stuck with him. Translation: do not be shocked if Colbert disappears into a writers room for a while to cook up the next thing.
How we got here
- July 2025: CBS announces The Late Show will end the following year. The backlash is immediate.
- July 2025 taping: Colbert tells his audience next season will be his last — and makes it clear CBS is ending The Late Show entirely, not replacing him.
- After the uproar: CBS insists the decision is about finances, not ratings, content, or anything else happening at Paramount.
- April 6: Byron Allen says CBS is picking up a two-hour late-night block built around Comics Unleashed and Funny You Should Ask.
- May 21: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert wraps.
'It is not just the end of our show, but it is the end of The Late Show on CBS. I am not being replaced. This is all just going away.'
That... changed fast
Back when Colbert broke the news in July 2025, the message was: CBS is turning out the lights at 11:30. Now the network is keeping them on and giving the hour to Byron Allen, whose shows were already living later in the night. It is a practical move — repurpose existing inventory — but it is still a whiplash moment if you took the original 'we are done here' framing at face value.
The fallout from late-night friends
Other hosts were not subtle about how they felt when CBS pulled the plug last year. Jimmy Kimmel blasted the decision while sending love to Colbert. Jimmy Fallon said he was as blindsided as everyone else and figured he would be sharing the 11:30 landscape with Colbert for years. Andy Cohen called it a sad day for late night and for CBS, praised Colbert as a one-of-one, and said he has no doubt the next chapter will be strong.