Saturday, July 19, 2025

CBS canceling 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is enough to drive one to drink on National Daiquiri Day

I was planning on continuing my series on the Emmy nominees today with the nominees for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special today, but I'm just not feeling it.* Instead, I'm writing about what happened to another Emmy nominee this week, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. On Tuesday, Stephen's show earned two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Talk Series and Outstanding Directing For A Variety Series. Thursday night, Stephen Colbert Announce[d] The Cancellation Of “The Late Show”.

Stephen Colbert tells his audience that the next season of “The Late Show” will be the last, and that the series will end in May 2026.
I'm reminded of what I wrote in 'You're Not Alone' and 'Now What?' Closer looks at Trump's re-election from Colbert, Meyers, 'The Daily Show,' and Kimmel.
Now I'm wondering if people will protect Jimmy, Stephen, Seth, and the rest of the late-night talk show hosts. If so, it would be another example of the surest way to get Americans to act is to mess with their entertainm­ent. As I first wrote in 2011, "America is quite clear about its screwed up priorities­."
Their audiences would likely protect them against direct government action, but not the parent companies of their networks. Other than boycotts, I don't know how their viewers can pressure the media corporations. Being number one in late night certainly didn't help.

Follow over the jump for reactions for CNN, PBS, and MSNBC, plus an observance of National Daiquiri Day.

I first heard this news when my wife watched the Twitter/X version of CBS is ending ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’, calling it 'a financial decision'.

In a shocking move, CBS is ending “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” next year and potentially exiting the late-night television business altogether.
I agree with Erin Burnett and Brian Stelter; this is not how television normally works. That written, there is a precedent. CBS canceled The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1969 after it had been renewed. This was ostensibly about not submitting the show in time for Standards and Practices (the network's censors) to review the show before airing, but it was almost certainly about the politics of the show. It's even the same network.

PBS NewsHour gave a measured reaction in CBS says Colbert cancelation was financial decision, but timing raises questions.

Broadcast TV’s highest-rated late-night talk show, "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," is being cancelled. Paramount called it a financial decision, but the timing is raising questions. Stephanie Sy discussed the cancellation of the show with NPR television critic Eric Deggans.
Stephanie Sy referred to the 60 Minutes interview over which Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump sued, about which I wrote, "As for sore winner Hoover Cleveland suing CBS over the 60 Minutes interview of Kamala Harris, it earned a News & Doc Emmy nomination for Outstanding Edited Interview. I will take great pleasure in repeating that when I get to the news categories in my coverage of those awards." I never did get around to that, and it lost to the 60 Minutes interview of Pope Francis. 60 Minutes still won.

Also, Hoover Cleveland (un)truthed that "I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next." He wishes! The problem is that Hoover Cleveland was a follower of Norman Vincent Peale, who wrote The Power of Positive Thinking. Politico expanded on this.
Donald Trump is a self-help apostle. He always has tried to create his own reality by saying what he wants to be true. Where many see failure, Trump sees only success, and expresses it out loud, again and again.
His wish might just come true. This works on the social environment, but not the physical and biological environment; it failed to work on the virus during the pandemic. He couldn't bully a virus.

Just the same, late night TV is having financial difficulty, as Eric Deggans reported and the end card showed.


Politics aside, the networks do have profitability problems with late night. Who knows, CBS might return to reruns in late night, just like they were before The Late Show with David Letterman debuted in 1993.

I'm giving the last word to MSNBC, which quoted Lizz Winstead, 'Not a snowball's chance in hell that politics isn't behind this': Trump cheers Colbert firing.

President Trump celebrated CBS' firing of Stephen Colbert, just days after the late night host used his platform to criticize the $16 million settlement between Paramount and the president. The Nightcap reacts on The 11th Hour.
I'm with Charles Coleman Jr.; it's both money and politics.

All this is enough to drive me to drink, so I'm sharing National Daiquiri Day | July 19th - National Day Calendar.



July 19th is National Daiquiri Day!

Count today as an early Sunday entertainment feature because tomorrow is National Moon Day. Holidays and priorities!

*I plan on getting to that post Monday. Stay tuned.

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