CBS has announced it will replace The Late Show with Stephen Colbert with the roundtable comedy talk show Comics Unleashed, hosted by media mogul-turned-comedian Byron Allen. The change takes effect on May 22, 2026.
“The world can never have enough laughter,” said Byron Allen.
Currently airing in the 12:35 AM slot as a single half-hour episode nightly, Comics Unleashed will now feature two back-to-back half-hour episodes each night. The show has been in first-run syndication since 2006 and airs on CBS-owned stations in 14 markets.
Allen, founder of the Allen Media Group, sued McDonald’s in 2021 for $10 billion, alleging the fast-food chain discriminated against black-owned media companies when allocating its advertising budget. The lawsuit was settled out of court in 2025.
Allen also previously sued Comcast and Charter Communications, claiming they engaged in racial discrimination by excluding his television properties from their cable bundles. Both cases were resolved without a trial after the U.S. Supreme Court intervened in the Comcast case, requiring Allen to prove race was the sole factor in their decisions.
CBS’s decision follows the network’s cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in July of last year, amid parent company Paramount’s proposed merger with Skydance Media.
