Colbert's Exit Marks the Final Curtain for What Late Night Used to Be
Sunrise Show Prep July 18
Colbert's Exit Marks the Final Curtain for What Late Night Used to Be
By Larry O’Connor
After a decade of smug monologues and clapter standing in for comedy, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will air its final episode in May 2026. CBS blames budgets and shifting viewer habits. But let’s not kid ourselves—this is about more than finances. It’s the inevitable end of a format that forgot its purpose: to entertain.
I say this not as a distant observer, but as someone who worked in showbiz—real showbiz, the Broadway stage—where the job was to earn every laugh, every tear, every standing ovation. You knew your audience, and you respected them. You didn’t use the footlights as a soapbox to tell them how to vote or how enlightened you are. That’s not entertainment. That’s activism in costume jewelry.
That’s what late-night comedy became. Colbert was just the most committed zealot. What began as a clever satire on Comedy Central turned into a nightly sermon from the Ed Sullivan Theater, where the gospel according to MSNBC was preached with choir-like affirmation from a studio audience desperate to be told they were on the right side of history.
But let’s not pretend Colbert started the fire. Even Letterman—the master of cool detachment, the guy who could cut through phoniness with one raised eyebrow—eventually fell into the same trap. Somewhere near the end of his run, Letterman stopped being the guy who skewered everyone and started acting like Rachel Maddow was some sort of oracle. He let his cynicism curdle into sanctimony. The jokes stopped being funny because they stopped being fair. It wasn’t the establishment getting roasted anymore—it was just half the country.
That was the shift. Late-night used to be the one place where it didn’t matter who you voted for. Carson understood that. He joked about politicians, sure—but he joked about all of them. The only ideology was absurdity. And everyone, Republican or Democrat, celebrity or schlub, got taken down a peg with a smile.
But today? Fallon, Kimmel, Meyers, Saturday Night Live—they all marched in lockstep with the same tired monologue: Trump is evil, conservatives are dumb, Republicans are dangerous. Every show became a progressive pep rally with cue cards. The comedy was gone, replaced by applause lines for the Resistance. If you disagreed? Don’t worry. You just weren’t invited to laugh.
Well now, the audience has returned the favor. They’ve tuned out. And CBS has noticed.
So here we are, watching the curtain fall on Colbert’s version of The Late Show. Not with a punchline, but with a quiet acknowledgment that the show outlived its purpose—and its appeal.
The sad part? It didn’t have to be this way. Americans are desperate to laugh again, together. But they’ve been told for too long that unless they nod along with Rachel Maddow first, they don’t deserve a seat in the theater.
I used to work in a business that knew better. Let’s hope someone in Hollywood remembers that before they dim the lights on the whole genre.
Larry O’Connor is a radio host, columnist, and recovering Broadway executive who still believes the audience deserves a laugh—not a lecture.
🎙️ GUESTS ON TODAY’S SHOW
🧨 6:35 AM – Tim Graham
Guest: Tim Graham – Media Research Center
Reaction to Stephen Colbert losing his job and a breakdown of the NPR/PBS funding fight as rescissions move forward.
🕵️ 7:05 AM – Byron York
Guest: Byron York – Chief Political Correspondent, Washington Examiner
Analysis on the latest developments surrounding the Epstein files and what investigators may be hiding.
🏛️ 8:05 AM – Gov. Glenn Youngkin
Guest: Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin
A wide-ranging conversation on new business investments in Virginia, Lt. Gov. Sears’ political future, response to regional flooding, and more.
💵 8:35 AM – Rep. Jason Smith
Guest: Rep. Jason Smith – Chairman, House Ways and Means Committee
Discussing the House vote to pass the rescissions package and what’s next in the fight to cut wasteful government spending.
📚 LARRY’S SHOW PREP
📰 WSJ ‘Blockbuster’ on Trump/Epstein Birthday Card
ALX 🇺🇸 on X: "The 'Birthday Card' the WSJ says Trump wrote doesn’t match his writing style… This whole thing sounds made up."
James Fishback on X: "6 questions for the idiots at the Wall Street Journal..."
ALX 🇺🇸 on X: "Has @WSJ ever published Ashley Biden’s diary entry, or just birthday cards with cartoonish claims?"
Eric Daugherty on X: "President Trump is SUING the WSJ for their Epstein hitpiece. GET READY TO PAY MILLIONS."
🎤 Colbert Cancelled
Variety on X: CBS to cancel 'Late Show With Stephen Colbert' citing 'financial decision'.
Western Lensman on X: “This looks… like capitulation to the President of the United States!”
Steve Krakauer on X: Mock transcript on why Colbert got canned — spoiler: Adam Schiff was the guest.
📻 NPR is Toast
Jennifer Van Laar on X: "MAGIC MIKE DELIVERS AGAIN – $9B Rescissions Package passes."
T. Becket Adams on X: "NPR quit Twitter because the 'government-funded media' label was unfair. Now they say losing the funding is an existential threat."
Rep. Brandon Gill on X: "After tonight, your tax dollars will no longer fund this lunatic’s salary @krmaher @NPR."
📞 Voice of America Employee Indicted
Charlie Kirk on X: "US Attorney announces longtime Voice of America employee indicted for threats to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene."
🧠 CBS Reporter Claims PTSD Because of Trump Supporters
Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 on X: "CBS News’ Scott MacFarlane claims PTSD not from Trump shooting — but because the crowd blamed the media."
⚖️ Fired FBI Agents’ Lawsuit Thrown Out
Nick Sortor on X: "The lawsuit by leftist FBI agents over J6 and Mar-a-Lago was thrown out — by a Biden judge."
🎸 Coldplay Concert Exposes Workplace Affair
TONI TONE on X: "Internet found out he’s married. She knows. Coldplay exposed the affair."
LARRY on X: "CEO and Head of HR caught. So much for their MeToo training seminars."
🚄 Sec. Sean Duffy Exposes NEPT High-Speed Rail Fiasco
Sean Duffy on X: "California spent 16 years and $15 billion on high-speed rail and didn’t lay a single track."
📚 PATRICE’S SHOW PREP
🏛️ My Senate Testimony
Video: California’s devastating impact on independent contracting
Video: Opening Statement – “No worker should be forced into a traditional 9-to-5 job.”
💸 Rescissions Package Approved: NPR/PBS/Foreign Aid Cut
The Hill: Congress sends bill clawing back $9B in foreign aid & public media to Trump’s desk
Video: NPR CEO Katherine Maher on CNN defends NPR’s objectivity
Video: Karoline Leavitt exposes NPR and PBS as “propaganda voice”
🤦♀️ Stuff Dems Say
🚊 Transportation & Rail Debate
Video: Duffy on California’s $15B rail disaster — “not a single track built.”
Video: “Newsom’s rail boondoggle has gone from $33B to $135B with no completion date — could've flown every SF & LA resident 200 times.”
Craig Ferguson could have saved late night, but they shunted him aside…