Staff ReportsImagine a scene, if you will, right out of an old black-and-white movie, but instead of a dashing leading man, you have a 100-strong crowd of grumpy, gray-haired folks outside a TV studio. These folks, bless their souls, are rallying against the cancellation of their favorite late-night chuckle-fest, as if their protest might somehow conjure a miracle that saves the show. The man at the center of this peculiar drama? Stephen Colbert, erstwhile king of late-night comedy, whose kingdom recently crumbled under the harsh reality of financial woes. His show was losing a staggering amount annually. Surprise!
You have to wonder: how did such a costly spectacle manage to stumble on for so long? Ten seasons of throwing comedic barbs anyone with a rightward tilt would find tiresome, and now the show’s grand finale comes not with a bang but a financial whimper. In a media landscape where plenty of online content creators are producing more laughs with much tighter purse strings, the downfall of such a behemoth could only await its awkward curtain call. Taxpayers aren’t into subsidizing a one-sided comedy gig.
Despite Colbert’s best (or worst) efforts—pushing punchlines as sharp as a butter knife—he was often outflanked by online comedians working tirelessly from their modestly equipped studios. Platforms abound with voices as varied as the hues of a Fall tree, more in tune with audiences hungry for genuine laughs that don’t require a political decoder ring.
When Colbert’s ultimate response to being unceremoniously kicked to the curb is a torrent of unimaginative expletives, well, it looks as if the emperor has no funny clothes. It’s no surprise when his industry pals rally round with the same kind of creatively bankrupt defenses. They lob a few jokes, which land with the grace of an elephant on roller skates, all the while managing to ignore the irony that their medium is running on fumes.
There was a time when late-night comedy lived and thrived on neutral ground, offering a much-needed escape rather than a soapbox sermon. Let’s hear it for those halcyon days when critically acclaimed comedic legends delivered humor that didn’t clutch so tightly to the jugular of controversy. But, as Colbert and his pals have learned the hard way, today’s audiences crave variety, authenticity, and—most of all—a laugh that doesn’t come attached to a soapbox.
So, as we bid farewell to yet another relic of a bygone era, let’s raise a glass to the democratization of entertainment. The stage is now open to fresher faces and fresher jokes, fit to entertain and unite rather than divide. As they say in the entertainment world: the focus is on keeping the laughs genuine, and maybe, just maybe, we’ll find something worth chuckling at.
