CBS Introduced New Late-Night Show, But Says This One Is -- Hopefully -- Different
Comedian Taylor Tomlinson will replace James Corden to follow “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" during weeknights on CBS, the network announced.
Tomlinson's show will differ from the other late-night programs across CBS, ABC, and NBC.
Instead of continuing on with "The Late Late Show," CBS tasked Tomlinson to helm a new series called "After Midnight" that airs at 12:30 am.
The network says the show is a spinoff of the former Comedy Central game show “@midnight."
It was not financially feasible for the network to replace Corden on the "Late Late Show" with another highly paid host under the same, tiresome format.
Specifically, the Los Angeles Magazine reported in April that “The Late Late Show” with James Corden lost, on average, more than $20 million a year.
“ was simply not sustainable,” one unnamed executive told the outlet.
Nor is the late-night industry at large.
Last year, “Tonight Show,” “Late Night, Late Show,” “Late Late Show,” “The Daily Show,” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live” combined for $342.4 million in ad revenue. In 2018, “Tonight Show” generated $334 million in ad revenue alone.
There was a time when viewers willingly stayed up into the wee hours of the night to see their favorite celebrity speak off the cuff with Jay Leno or David Letterman. But late-night is no longer that destination.
Those interviews have been replaced by social media and podcasts.
The late-night industry has also become increasingly political, waving goodbye to at least half the country.
Literally. NewsBusters earlier this year found that 95% of late-night guests are now liberal.
(Ninety-five percent!)
So, it's wise for CBS to try something new. A trivia-themed game show is at least unique.
That said, viewers will have to enjoy spending their midnights with Tomlinson for the show to prove a success.
Tomlinson is not the household name even Croden was when he moved to late-night in 2015. She is just 29 and best known for Netflix specials “Look At You” and “Quarter-Life Crisis."
Here's a look at her type of humor:
Mehh.
At least she's funnier than Colbert, who serves as executive producer of the series.
“I’ve never had a real job," Tomlinson said of the announcement. "No, I’ve been doing stand-up since I was 16, which is not a job.
“So like this has been a really fun couple of months like I was on TikTok searching like how to nail a job interview — TikTok is Google for children. How do you impress your maybe boss?”
We wish her well, sincerely.
Late-night is an institution of American culture. Yet it hasn't felt that way over the last six years, in large part, because of the personalities hosting late-night
Simply put, Colbert is not funny. Nor are the Jimmys. We hope Taylor Tomlinson can be.