CBS cancels The Late Show

[TheBigA]

We’re past the point of no return in terms of almost everything being separated by political fault lines. The restaurants we eat at. The cars we drive. The movies we see. Everything has a subtext. Of course there are exceptions, but it’s hard to escape the way the lines have generally hardened.

The president has already announced that he will host the Kennedy Center Honors TV show later this year. You can bet he won't play it down the middle or attempt to appeal to both sides.

 

[michael hagerty]

That however can’t be separated from what was happening in technology and the ever expanding amount of content available on multiple devices. And as noted above, the big tent idea is almost a unicorn.

You can either entirely ignore politics, but the odds you get a lot of people in that tent here in 2025 are low. Or you can try to both-sides it, which just irks both groups. We’re past the point of no return in terms of almost everything being separated by political fault lines. The restaurants we eat at. The cars we drive. The movies we see. Everything has a subtext. Of course there are exceptions, but it’s hard to escape the way the lines have generally hardened.

Exactly. If you believe that not every American has the same rights and protections that you do, and that the ones that exist are at further, increasing and immediate risk, and that that's wrong--- some guy saying "Boy, it was hot today ("how hot was it?")" and "How 'bout them Dodgers?" ain't gonna cut it.

If big-tent were the answer, Jimmy Fallon would have been winning. Instead, he fell to third place and started trying to do something he's not good at.

 

[tall_guy1]

There is no "big tent." If you want to be topical, someone will be offended.

The other way might be considered by some to be "politically correct."

Eh...you kind of can from more of a distance the way South Park has for years and Jay Leno did before that kind of poking fun at the absurdity of it all. Kimmel, Colbert, Maher (who is a fiercely right-wing MAGA-ishDemocrat), Samantha Bee (off the air), Rogan (on the right) and Gutfeld (on the right) are close to being on the political front lines trying to advocate their side to win. It's also a little different than kind of populist comedians who aren't really associated with a particular political party (the TV show The Boondocks was like that.)

Late edit: *seasons before South Park's current season.

 

[michael hagerty]

Eh...you kind of can from more of a distance the way South Park has for years and Jay Leno did before that kind of poking fun at the absurdity of it all.

"So, we were off last week. What happened was ten days ago, I got in the mood for a #19 at Langer's Deli, across the street from MacArthur Park. I got in what I thought was the line to be seated and....well, it took this long for my lawyers to get me sprung from a Salvadoran prison."

 

[davideduardo]

No. The actual quote, transcribed:

“In September of 2015, Spike Jonze stopped by my office and said, ‘Hey, what do you want this show to be about?’” I said, ‘Ah, Spike, I don't know how you could do it, but I'd kind of like to do a late-night comedy show that was about love.’”

“And I don't know if I ever figured that out, but at a certain point, and you can guess what that point was, I realized that in some ways, we were doing a late-night comedy show about loss.”

“That's related to love because sometimes you only truly know how much you love something when you get a sense that you might be losing it. 10 years later, in September of 2025 my friends, I have never loved my country more desperately.”

“God bless America. Stay strong, be brave, and if the elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy and punch a higher floor.”

And to me, that snarky “I have never…” quote dos not say “love” in any form or fashion.

 

[Don CT]

And to me, that snarky “I have never…” quote dos not say “love” in any form or fashion.

So you want love thy neighbor be kind to everyone. Or as Trump would say, I’m not the problem your the problem. I can shoot you on 5th avenue and get away with it love?

 

[michael hagerty]

And to me, that snarky “I have never…” quote dos not say “love” in any form or fashion.

I seriously doubt you watched, David. I did. There was not an ounce of snark in it.

Stephen Colbert loves his country. He just isn't happy about what some people are doing with and to it.

He and I have that in common.

 

[davideduardo]

I seriously doubt you watched, David. I did. There was not an ounce of snark in it.

I watched, and rewound several times on the TiVo. It was very snarky in tone and manner of impression.

Stephen Colbert loves his country. He just isn't happy about what some people are doing with and to it.

Likewise, I don’t like him and never have. His entire tone is the opposite of conciliatory, and invites contrarian responses

 

[TheBigA]

Posted without comment:

Stephen Colbert Addresses Charlie Kirk’s Death on His Show

Stephen Colbert has something important to say regarding Charlie Kirk’s death. He started the recent episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert by paying his sincere condolences to Kirk’s bereaved ...

www.yahoo.com

 

[michael hagerty]

I watched, and rewound several times on the TiVo.

So how’d you get the quote wrong?

It was very snarky in tone and manner of impression.

Looks like we need a tie breaker. Who agrees with David that this is "very snarky in tone and manner of expression"?

 

[Mark Roberts]

Looks like we need a tie breaker. Who agrees with David that this is "very snarky in tone and manner of expression"?

I think it was the very opposite of snark. At the end, his remarks show that he's trying to hold on to hope in an environment that surely must cause him some distress.

 

[tall_guy1]

I watched, and rewound several times on the TiVo. It was very snarky in tone and manner of impression.

Likewise, I don’t like him and never have. His entire tone is the opposite of conciliatory, and invites contrarian responses

Jon Stewart has better commentary each week. Colbert was funnier during the The Colbert Report. Kimmel is pretty mediocre, in my view, but like Seth Meyers and he can be witty. But the only host (including Gutfeld) I actively dislike is Bill Maher.

 

[Don CT]

Jon Stewart has better commentary each week. Colbert was funnier during the The Colbert Report. Kimmel is pretty mediocre, in my view, but like Seth Meyers and he can be witty. But the only host (including Gutfeld) I actively dislike is Bill Maher.

Bill Maher lost his way along the way.

 

[tall_guy1]

Bill Maher lost his way along the way.

Sometimes I have watched to see if he's trying some kind of strategy to convert people on the right over to the left since like 2017....but he actually just genuinely seems to be a mean spirited ass.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

Eh...you kind of can from more of a distance the way South Park has for years and Jay Leno did before that kind of poking fun at the absurdity of it all. Kimmel, Colbert, Maher (who is a fiercely right-wing MAGA-ishDemocrat), Samantha Bee (off the air), Rogan (on the right) and Gutfeld (on the right) are close to being on the political front lines trying to advocate their side to win. It's also a little different than kind of populist comedians who aren't really associated with a particular political party (the TV show The Boondocks was like that.)

Late edit: *seasons before South Park's current season.

While Leno was certainly around for part of the deepening divide, let’s be honest, he got out right before the divide became a gaping canyon.

South Park may be taking stronger shots this year at the hellscape around us, but they don’t spare members of the Democratic Party from ridicule. Likewise, shows such as SNL and the Simpsons, among others, mock all sides. But a weekly, fictional series, or sketch comedy, is different than trying to do something in the traditional late night mold. The “good old days” are gone.

 

[Loverofradio]

Bill Maher lost his way along the way.

If I’m CBS I’m giving him what he wants to host late nights. He’s on the left, but doesn’t mind grilling those on the left. Plus, I think he has the most intelligent conversations with those who he does and doesn’t agree with.

 

[yeoldeschool]

South Park may be taking stronger shots this year at the hellscape around us, but they don’t spare members of the Democratic Party from ridicule. Likewise, shows such as SNL and the Simpsons, among others, mock all sides. But a weekly, fictional series, or sketch comedy, is different than trying to do something in the traditional late night mold. The “good old days” are gone.

Just pour one of these down the hatch and watch the Carson Tonight Show repeats on Antenna TV. You'll think it's still the '80s by the end of the monologue, and all will be fine with the world.



Unless you hated the Reagan years as much our current time, in which case you'll still be screwed, and drunk.

 

[michael hagerty]

Just pour one of these down the hatch and watch the Carson Tonight Show repeats on Antenna TV. You'll think it's still the '80s by the end of the monologue, and all will be fine with the world.

View attachment 10326

Unless you hated the Reagan years as much our current time, in which case you'll still be screwed, and drunk.

And, look, if Reagan fans were honest.....

This bit only works because of a perception that---a little over a year and three months into his first term---Reagan was muddleheaded, easily confused and couldn't remember Arafat's first name.

The difference is that Reagan could take a joke and so (mostly) could his staff.

 

[Don CT]

If I’m CBS I’m giving him what he wants to host late nights. He’s on the left, but doesn’t mind grilling those on the left. Plus, I think he has the most intelligent conversations with those who he does and doesn’t agree with.

One, he’s under contract with HBO for 3 years. And he won’t go back to network TV. His show like the Daily Show needs freedom that you don’t get from broadcast.

ABC fired him for being to controversial.

 

[ted chittenden]

That however can’t be separated from what was happening in technology and the ever expanding amount of content available on multiple devices. And as noted above, the big tent idea is almost a unicorn.

You can either entirely ignore politics, but the odds you get a lot of people in that tent here in 2025 are low. Or you can try to both-sides it, which just irks both groups. We’re past the point of no return in terms of almost everything being separated by political fault lines. The restaurants we eat at. The cars we drive. The movies we see. Everything has a subtext. Of course there are exceptions, but it’s hard to escape the way the lines have generally hardened.

Though I find myself in agreement with it, yours is a very sad commentary on our situation. When compromise is off of the table and one group sees the other group as being perfectly evil, there can be only two possible results: either one group will completely dominate the other group or there will be another U.S. civil war which could ultimately cause WWIII. If Stephen Colbert or John Stewart cannot publicly criticize and make fun of the current President on the air, then we are definitely heading towards a place where we in the U.S. have never been but from which other countries have never been able to flee.