CBS wants to ditch late-night talk shows and play games in the morning hours.
CBS will replace its long-running “Late Late Show” after a 28-year run with a reboot of the Comedy Central game show “@Midnight,” according to a person familiar with the matter. This will reduce costs. and also restore the programming concept controlled by the network’s parent company, Paramount Global.
A CBS spokeswoman declined to comment on the network’s plans. Deadline previously reported on the decision.
Using “@midnight” would cut the post-CBS “Late Show” slot to just a half-hour, which another person familiar with the late-night TV business suggested would cost millions of dollars in production costs. will end. The network is looking at its late-night schedule in an era when more fans of the shows are watching them through social media clips and digital extensions, and the field of players is much larger than when David Letterman and Jay Leno had kept his rule. .
According to a third person familiar with the recent discussions, CBS was considering five different concepts with which it could replace Corden’s show. Those pitching CBS’ ideas included Fulwell73, the production company behind Corden’s program, and Ben Winston, one of Fulwell’s senior executives and a top producer on the “Late Late Show.” When plans to cut CBS’s production budget became more publicized, Fulwell removed himself from the discussion. According to one of the people familiar with the matter.
“@Midnight” original host Chris Hardwick is not believed to be in the running to host the new edition, according to one of the people familiar with the discussions. CBS is said to prefer a female host, and is also pushing to ensure that the talent in front of and behind the camera is diverse and comes from a variety of backgrounds. be
The selection of programming is sure to give sleepless viewers something new to watch. In its four-year run on Comedy Central between 2013 and 2017, “@midnight” won notice for its fast pace and use of a rotating crew of comedians who would work on trending social media concepts and memes. Conversations on the same show range from Apple’s latest emoji to YouTube videos of Ted Nugent of a mouse picking up a slice of pizza and a squirrel drinking a milkshake.
Yet the decision also signals the extra scrutiny TV executives are putting on late-night TV ideas. David Letterman’s retirement in 2015 spurred a wave of experimentation in the daytime, with BET, TBS and HBO among those testing new concepts. These days, the traditional late night seems to be shrinking. WarnerMedia did not replace Conan O’Brien when he left the late-night TBS show in 2021. NBC did not replace comedian Lily Singh after two seasons of her 1:30 a.m. program “A Little Late.” Comedy Central, which once boasted three daily late-night shows, now airs just one. As traditional options shrink, however, others are taking a new swing: Fox News Channel has gained some traction with an 11 o’clock panel program headed by Greg Gutfeld.
CBS has been very clear about its desire to replace Corden, known for sketches that were often inserted into his own programs, with somewhat less detail. With its signature musical vignettes like “Crosswalk the Musical” or “Carpool Karaoke,” Corden’s program is more akin to a property that could air before midnight rather than after. Corden and his production company, Fulwell 73, have adapted portions of the program into shows for Apple TV+ and TBS.
In doing so, however, CBS is bringing down the curtain on a well-worn concept. “The Late Late Show” was originally created in the move that brought Letterman from NBC to the network in 1993. As part of the deal, CBS agreed to give the host and his production company, Worldwide Paints, not only ownership of the 11:30 p.m. “late show,” but also the hour that followed. Letterman and his team originally cast Tom Snyder in the role in 1995. Next was Craig Kilbourne and then Craig Ferguson. Interestingly, Ferguson is looking to make a late-night comeback with a syndicated series produced by Sony.
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