Stephen Colbert was back in headlines Monday after snagging his first prominent gig after CBS & Paramount canceled The Late Show last month after 10 seasons, citing declining late night revenues.
Colbert’s cancellation after a 10-season run drummed up considerable controversy: Some said it was just business as usual, and that Colbert’s left-leaning politics alienated a significant chunk of potential viewers.
Others said that Colbert, 61, was clearly a political martyr amid the changing times under President Donald Trump, who praised the network’s decision to let go of Colbert, a long-running critic of his.
The Washington, D.C.-born entertainer was set to play a late night host in a guest role on the CBS series Elsbeth, Vulture reported Friday, adding that he began filming his art-imitates-life role last week in New York City.
Other stars who have made cameos on the series in the past include Retta, Matthew Broderick, Laurie Metcalf and Jane Krakowski.
Some of the reactions to Colbert’s first major professional move after his cancellation appeared to support it.
Reactions were mixed to Stephen Colbert snagging his first prominent gig in a guest role on the CBS series Elsbeth after CBS & Paramount canceled his late night series The Late Show last month after 10 seasons
A few commenters were supportive of Colbert personally but remained critical of CBS & Paramount, questioning why Colbert would continue to work with a corporation who people think used him as a political football to appease the president amid a politically-sensitive merger.
One user said, ‘I LOVE Elspeth (Carrie Preston!) and Stephen. If true, this could be an EPIC match up! But on NBC!’
Another noted that ‘CBS wasn’t counting the fact that Colbert’s show served as advertising for their shows in their financials.’
Said one user: ‘You can’t put a price on bending a knee.’
Others remained critical of the late night host, with one user writing, ‘Zzz. He is a biased loser.’
Another said of Elsbeth: ‘Oh – another show that doesn’t win its time slot.’
Some pointed out the irony of Colbert’s role on the show, with one person asking, ‘So, is Stephen to play a late night talk show host who, as it turns out, was killed by a network executive?’
Another predicted: ‘The big-name guest star is almost always the murderer, as the episodes show the murder happening first, and then how the detectives solve it, so he’ll probably be the one killing the network executive.’
The veteran late night host was pictured at the 2018 Primetime Emmys in LA
Reactions were varied toward Colbert’s next career move
The initial poster later added, ‘My “question” was more rhetorical based on real world events, but I get the premise you describe.’
Emmy-winning actress Sandra Oh, 54, garnered controversy after making a number of strong comments on the July 22 edition of The Late Show, with one prominent CBS commentator saying her sentiments were misguided.
‘Like probably everyone here and everyone who is so supportive outside wants to say that I am so sorry and saddened and properly outraged for the cancellation of late-night here,’ Oh said.
Oh, a two-time Golden Globe winner, said that the decision made on the corporate level – which many say had political undertones – was a game-changer for standards in the U.S. amid President Donald Trump’s second term.
‘Not only for yourself and for this entire family who are here, but for what it means, of what it means where we are in our culture and what it means for free speech,’ said the Sideways actress.
‘So I just want to say, sorry, and also if I can have your hand,’ she told the host, ‘to CBS and Paramount – a plague on both of your houses.’
Colbert said he was ‘very grateful’ as he wagged his finger, adding, ‘I think they’ve been great partners.’
Tony Dokoupil of CBS Mornings subsequently said Oh had things pegged wrong in blaming Colbert’s show ending on politics, amid a changing economic landscape in late night TV – and culture.
Tony Dokoupil of CBS Mornings said Oh had things pegged wrong in blaming Colbert’s show ending on politics, amid a changing economic landscape in late night TV – and culture
‘The business is broken,’ Dokoupil said. ‘And what no one seems to acknowledge is that the politics also changed.
‘The business changed and so did the politics, and it got way more one-sided than anything Johnny Carson was ever doing.’ (Carson, who died in 2005, famously was one to steer clear of going too far left or right so as not to put off a chunk of his audience.)
Dokoupil added, ‘I think we should reflect on those changes as well – it’s been a big shift culturally in that regard also.’
The move to ax Colbert was a controversial one within some circles of Hollywood, as the late night host has received words of public support from the genre’s elder statesman, David Letterman.
Also critical was the former host of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart, who said Colbert was cancelled to grease through the $8 billion merger between Paramount and Skydance Media.
The huge business transaction needed to be OK’ed by the Federal Communications Commission under Trump’s administration, and it was after The Late Show was cancelled.
Emmy-winning actress Sandra Oh, 54, garnered controversy on the July 22 edition of The Late Show in saying, ‘To CBS and Paramount – a plague on both of your houses!’
‘The shows that you now seek to cancel, censor and control, a not insignificant portion of that $8 billion value came from those f***ing shows,’ Stewart said.
Dokoupil said that while he understood ‘the emotional views’ Stewart expressed, they weren’t square with good business tactics.
‘I don’t have an MBA but he’s not right that the merger, the $8 billion, is based on reruns of a comedy show, no,’ he said. ‘People are buying the movies and the sitcoms and the sports.
‘They’re not based on reruns of [CBS Mornings] either, so I think it’s wrong.’
