Photo: Erik Voake/CBS
Taylor Tomlinson is offering her clearest account yet of how After Midnight came to an end—and it complicates the narrative that CBS presented when it canceled the post-Colbert late-night show last spring.
In a new Hollywood Reporter interview timed to the release of her fourth Netflix special, Prodigal Daughter, Tomlinson explained that “It wasn’t as simple as, ‘They told us, “You’re being renewed.” And I went, “No, thank you.”’ That’s not what happened.”
“It was sort of a muddy timeline,” she added, “because the decision had been made to be renewed—but I didn’t know about that.”
From the outset, Tomlinson said she hoped to balance hosting duties with her stand-up career, touring while taping the show several nights a week. Over time, however, she said the workload became unsustainable, describing her departure as “the hardest decision I’ve ever made professionally, by far.”
“I was touring, I was doing press for the show, I was doing the show and I had some health stuff going on,” she said. “I just couldn’t do both things anymore.”
When CBS announced in March 2025 that After Midnight would be ending, the network also revealed—unusually—that the series had already been renewed for another season, despite never having publicly announced that renewal.
The announcement created the impression that Tomlinson had turned down a confirmed third season, effectively prompting the show’s cancellation. Her comments now suggest the situation was less clear-cut, with her decision coming before she was aware that a renewal was in place.
After Midnight, which aired after The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and was produced by Colbert, wrapped its run in June 2025 after two seasons. The show’s panel-based format was seen as a lower-cost alternative to traditional late-night talk shows, and had been putting up competitive ratings numbers in the time slot—especially among younger viewers.
In her interview, Tomlinson emphasized that leaving the series was not a reflection of dissatisfaction with the show itself.
“That show was so much fun to do. Our writers room was amazing,” she said. “I really couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to go to work with every day.”
“I so badly wanted them to just hire someone else to host it,” Tomlinson said, noting that many comedians would have been “absolutely amazing” in the role.
CBS ultimately chose not to pursue that option, opting instead to end the franchise.
The show’s cancellation has taken on added significance in hindsight. One month after After Midnight aired its final episode, CBS announced that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert would conclude after its 11th season in May 2026. Network executives have since suggested that the end of After Midnight played a role in prompting a broader reassessment of late night at the network.
In her THR interview, Tomlinson expressed surprise at Colbert’s cancellation and questioned the industry’s prevailing assumptions about audience interest in talk programming.
“Nobody wants to watch people talk,” she said, paraphrasing the common argument. “People are watching hours of people talking on podcasts on YouTube and now Netflix.”
Tomlinson said she viewed After Midnight’s panel format as a workable evolution for late night and a valuable platform for comedians, pointing to the success of similar shows in the U.K.
“It was such a great opportunity for comics to get in front of a new audience and get a TV credit,” she said. “I’m really sad that it doesn’t exist anymore.”
Looking back, she added, the subsequent cancellation of The Late Show only heightened her sense of uncertainty about how long After Midnight might have survived, even if she had stayed.
“When Colbert got canceled, it was like, ‘Holy shit, really?’” she said. “How long would we have been on then if they were going to cancel Colbert?”
Tomlinson made her first appearance on late-night television since After Midnight‘s end Monday night. Notably, it was not on CBS with Colbert—whom she once referred to as her “TV Dad”—but on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!
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