Latest news with #David Letterman
Washington Post
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
What made ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' special, in six clips
There may be no tougher — and sought-after — gig than hosting a network late-night TV show. Stephen Colbert joined that rarefied list of late-night hosts in 2015, when he took over CBS's 'The Late Show' from David Letterman. Ten years later, on Thursday night, Colbert announced that not only would he be departing the show, but CBS was canceling the entire 'Late Show' enterprise, in a stunning move that some have speculated may have political motives (CBS strongly denied this, saying it was ending the popular program for financial reasons).
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
CBS to Cancel ‘Late Show With Stephen Colbert' Citing ‘Financial Decision'
TV's ongoing problems with late night have come for Stephen Colbert, with CBS announcing Thursday that it plans to end his 'Late Show' after the next TV season, citing a 'financial decision.' The maneuver — which ends years of original late-night programming at CBS that started when the network lured David Letterman from NBC in 1993 — comes as the economics of wee-hours TV have begun to accelerate, with media companies growing wary of the high price tags involved in producing the shows while the young viewers they try to attract watch more of them via digital video. More from Variety CBS Reveals Fall Premiere Dates; 'CIA' Moves to Midseason, Gets New Showrunner Eva Pilgrim Jumps to 'Inside Edition' from ABC News' 'GMA3' Trump Claims '60 Minutes' Settlement Is Worth as Much as $35 Million Including 'Advertising'; Paramount Denies Deal Includes PSAs 'We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire 'The Late Show' franchise' in May of 2026, CBS executives said in a statement. 'We are proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television. This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show's performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.' Colbert, who was informed of the network's decision Wednesday evening, according to a person familiar with the matter, told the audience at the taping for Thursday's broadcast about the matter. 'It is a fantastic job. I wish somebody else was getting it,' he quipped, while offering thanks to CBS executives and the 200 or so staffers who work on his program. Audience members booed. ''Yeah, I share your feelings,' said Colbert. 'It's not just the end of our show, but it's the end of 'The Late Show' on CBS. I'm not being replaced. This is all just going away.' There has been growing speculation that both Colbert and Jon Stewart, who hosts one broadcast of Comedy Central's 'Daily Show' each week, could be under growing scrutiny from executives at Skydance Media, which is slated to acquire Paramount Global, the parent of both CBS and Comedy Central. David Ellison, who leads Skydance, has projected an image of being intrigued by the politics espoused by President Donald Trump, who Colbert and Stewart routinely skewer in monologues and commentary. Indeed, Senator Adam Schiff, the California Democrat, took to social media Thursday after taping a 'Late Show' broadcast and said: 'If Paramount and CBS ended the Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better.' CBS has already been winding down its activity around midnight. The network recently cancelled 'After Midnight,' a companion program that aired after 'Late Show' and featured comedian Taylor Tomlinson. She decided to leave to focus on her own stand-up, even though CBS had sought a third season of the show. It's no secret among staffers and executives associated with late night that the business of the format has been in decline. Young people are the very consumers jumping first to new streaming behaviors that are less tied to watching programs at a specific time and date. Hosts like Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Colbert continue to generate headlines and digital memes and still build sizable live audiences that the networks– and their distributors and advertisers — covet. But less so, and the ranks of the hosts have narrowed in recent years. So too have episodes of the shows. None of the medium's regular hosts holds forth on Fridays any longer, with Fallon's 'Tonight' the last to give up the fifth night of the week. Still, CBS' decision has puzzled others in the industry. The exit of a popular late-night host is the kind of thing that might be announced during 'upfront' meetings with advertisers in May, so as to boost interest in the program for its last year on air. Indeed, Johnny Carson unveiled his decision to leave NBC's 'Tonight Show' at a presentation to advertisers in 1991. David Letterman was celebrated at one of CBS' regular upfront spectacles at Carnegie Hall, a decision that helped whet appetites for his last few months on 'Late Show.' Some networks with a big hand in the late-night game continue to gain support for their shows. NBC wooed Allstate, T-Mobile and several other big-spending advertisers to bolster the recently completed 50th season of 'Saturday Night Live.' The network is trying to do the same thing with a new program featuring 'Tonight Show' host Jimmy Fallon called 'On Brand' that has him trying to help market popular products. Colbert will next year wind up a colorful run. When he took over 'Late Show' in 2015, he had to navigate a new role. He was no longer the bloviating conservative character he portrayed on Comedy Central. He had to instead find ways to be his authentic self, even though he had not revealed such a persona to the public in the past. His first months were riddled with scrutiny, and comparisons to the 'Late Late Show' led by James Corden that reveled in games and skits. But Colbert turned a corner in 2016 when he hosted an Election Night special on Showtime and had to entertain a live New York crowd that stared in disbelief at results showing that Donald Trump would triumph over Hillary Clinton. Colbert found his footing that night, and decided to lean heavily into pointed humor about current events. His ratings surged and 'Late Show' has often been TV's most-watched late night program. Is CBS averse to ratings? Or is the money it costs to get them just too dear at a time when streaming video is taking more of traditional TV's audience away? CBS has opted to fill its now-empty 12:30 a.m. slot with old repeats of a syndicated comedy roundtable from media entrepreneur Byron Allen? What will the network do to replace 'The Late Show'? Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? Final Emmy Predictions: Talk Series and Scripted Variety - New Blood Looks to Tackle Late Night Staples Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Stephen Colbert's 'Late Show' is being canceled by CBS, citing 'financial decision'
After more than three decades on air, CBS announced on Thursday that its famed "Late Show" franchise is coming to a close. "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" will officially come to an end in May 2026, according to the network, which said the decision to end the show was a financial one. "This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night," George Cheeks, the president of CBS and co-chief executive of Paramount, CBS's parent company, wrote in a press release. "It is not related in any way to the show's performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount." MORE: ABC News and Disney+ announce new daily show 'What You Need to Know' "The Late Show" began in 1993 with then-host David Letterman. When Letterman left the show in 2015, he was replaced by Colbert, who has hosted for the last decade. "We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire 'THE LATE SHOW' franchise at that time," Cheeks said in the release, adding, "He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television." Colbert addressed the decision during his Thursday show, saying of the news, "I just found out last night." MORE: Jon Stewart returning to 'The Daily Show' once a week The late-night host's announcement was met with boos from the audience. "Yeah, I share your feelings," Colbert said, going to thank the network and the show's more than 200-person crew for their longstanding commitment to the program. "And I'm grateful to the audience, you, who have joined us every night, in here, out there and all around the world," he added.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Joaquin Phoenix apologises for ‘horrible' David Letterman interview: ‘I'll never do it again'
Joaquin Phoenix has apologised and offered an explanation for his infamous appearance on David Letterman's talk show in 2009. On his recent appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, the Oscar-winner brought up the 2009 interview where he appeared in character from Casey Afleck's mockumentary I'm Still Here. The interview, in his shaggy beard, unruly hair, and sunglasses and following an announcement where the Joker star said he was retiring from acting to pursue a career in rap, led many to believe Phoenix was having a mental breakdown. Portions of the interview along with Letterman's befuddled reaction, with his memorable ending ('Joaquin, I'm sorry you couldn't be here tonight'), were even used in I'm Still Here. The Oscar-winner brought up the 2009 interview with David Letterman where he appeared in character from Casey Afleck's mockumentary I'm Still Here. (Magnolia Pictures) 'When I came on this show with Dave, I originally did the pre-interview in character and I realised that it was just a little silly, so I called them back and I said, 'Listen, this is what I'm doing. I'm coming out here and I'm doing this whole thing,' Phoenix told host Colbert. 'And I just want Dave to like, lacerate me. I just want it to be really dangerous. That was the kind of intention…I just always wanted to get this reaction and see how I would respond to that. So it was beneficial for no one to know, except when needed.' Admitting however, that the interview itself was 'horrible,' Phoenix added: 'It was strange because in some ways, it was a success, and it was also just one of the worst nights of my life. 'It was so uncomfortable. I regret it, I'll never do it again. I'm so sorry.' The actor did end up apologising to Letterman in 2010 when appeared on the late-night talk show again. 'I hope I didn't offend you in any way,' he said at the time. 'You've interviewed many, many people and I assumed that you would know the difference between a character and a real person, but I apologise.' Letterman even jokingly brought up the fact that the interview made it to the film and even asked for a million dollars for his role. 'We've made 75 cents on this movie,' Phoenix had responded at the time. In 2017, during an interview with Howard Stern, Letterman clarified that he was in on the joke. 'I knew what he was doing ahead of time,' he said. 'I did enjoy it because it was, you know, like getting your work in on the heavy bag. It was just easy. It was batting practice.' In 2017, during an interview with Howard Stern, Letterman clarified that he was in on the joke (Letterman/YouTube) Phoenix can be seen next in Midsommar director Ari Aster's Eddington, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival to a massive standing ovation. The film has been described as a state-of-the-nation comedy that riffs on Covid, cults and the white saviour complex. It stars Pedro Pascal and Emma Stone alongside Phoenix. In a four-star review of Eddington for The Independent, critic Sophie Monks Kaufman wrote: 'This is Aster's funniest film to date, and makes use of an ever expanding and shifting cast to dot the 150-minute runtime with well-observed comic details and visual payoffs. These often riff on the deadpan reactions of the Black and Native American characters to Joe and his meathead deputy. 'Aster's enduring preoccupation with the paranoid universes we build in our minds takes on a less sympathetic, more malign aspect when this self-absorption wears a law enforcement badge and carries a rifle.' Eddington is slated for a US theatrical release on 18 July, with a UK date yet to be confirmed.
CTV News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Joaquin Phoenix reflects on ‘horrible' Letterman interview that the actor calls ‘one of the worst nights of my life'
Joaquin Phoenix on "The Late Show with David Letterman" on February 11, 2009. John Paul Filo/CBS/Getty Images via CNN Newsource Joaquin Phoenix used a talk show appearance to apologize for a past talk show appearance. On Tuesday's episode of 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,' Phoenix talked about the famous 2009 interview in which he was interviewed by David Letterman while in character from his mockumentary, 'I'm Still Here.' The Letterman appearance went so badly that some wondered if Phoenix was having a breakdown, and it led to Phoenix apologizing later for the incident, which also ended up in his movie. On Tuesday night, the star said that he originally did the pre-interview in character and 'I realized that it was just a little silly, so I called them back and I said, 'Listen, this is what I'm doing. I'm coming out here and I'm doing this whole thing.'' 'And I just want Dave to like, lacerate me. I just want it to be really dangerous,'' Phoenix said. 'That was the kind of intention… I just always wanted to get this reaction and see how I would respond to that. So it was beneficial for no one to know, except when needed.' The interview ended up being 'horrible' he said. 'It was strange because in some ways, it was a success, and it was also just one of the worst nights of my life,' he added. Colbert wondered if Letterman might be watching and Phoenix noted that if he was, he wanted to say 'I'm sorry.' 'It was so uncomfortable,' the 'Joker' star said. 'I regret it. I'll never do it again. I'm so sorry.' Letterman retired from his show in 2015 and was replaced by Colbert. Phoenix is currently starring in the film 'Eddington.'
