{"id":649344,"date":"2026-05-17T23:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T23:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/649344\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T23:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T23:32:10","slug":"byron-allen-says-comics-unleashed-will-avoid-politics-after-taking-over-stephen-colberts-slot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/649344\/","title":{"rendered":"Byron Allen says ‘Comics Unleashed’ will avoid politics after taking over Stephen Colbert’s slot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Byron Allen announced Saturday that his show, \u201cComics Unleashed,\u201d will avoid politics when it moves into\u00a0Stephen Colbert\u2019s\u00a0Friday late-night slot on CBS<\/a> \u2014 arguing the show should focus on laughs rather than partisan commentary.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019m doing with \u2018Comics Unleashed,\u2019 we don\u2019t talk about politics. We don\u2019t talk about anything that\u2019s topical,\u201d Allen told CNN\u2019s Michael Smerconish. \u201cWe don\u2019t do anything that\u2019s racist or sexist or antisemitic or homophobic. Just be funny and don\u2019t offend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smerconish pressed Allen on whether viewers would look for political leanings in the program, which arrives one night after Colbert ends his 11-year run as host of \u201cThe Late Show With Stephen Colbert.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of eyes are going to be on your program to see, well, what are the political leanings? What can they read into it?\u201d Smerconish asked.<\/p>\n

Allen said he wants the show to follow Norman Lear\u2019s example by using\u00a0comedy to bring people together, claiming his goal is to reach viewers regardless of how they vote.<\/p>\n

He compared his approach to an apolitical business model associated with NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care who you vote for. I don\u2019t care,\u201d Allen said. \u201cI\u2019m here to make people laugh. You\u2019re going to vote who you\u2019re going to vote for, no matter what I say. It doesn\u2019t matter. It\u2019s not my business, do what you do. I\u2019m here to make you laugh.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ByronComedian Byron Allen said his show \u201cComics Unleashed\u201d will avoid political jokes when it takes over Stephen Colbert\u2019s time slot on CBS after \u201cThe Late Show\u201d ends this month. Getty Images for Blueprint Capital Advisors<\/p>\n

The comments mark a sharp contrast with Colbert\u2019s run on CBS, where political monologues and criticism of President\u00a0Donald Trump\u00a0became a part of the show\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n

Colbert, who took over the franchise from\u00a0David Letterman i<\/a>n 2015, announced in July 2025 that CBS would end \u201cThe Late Show\u201d after the current season.<\/p>\n

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Colbert\u2019s final show<\/a> will air on May 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

Allen has also praised Colbert while preparing to take over the time period,\u00a0telling Variety<\/a>\u00a0that the late-night host is an \u201cAmerican treasure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"StephenThe final episode of \u201cThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert\u201d will air on May 21, 2026. Scott Kowalchyk \/CBS<\/p>\n

\u201cI really like Stephen Colbert. I think he is a magnificent human being\u2026 He\u2019s a super talent, I believe he is an American treasure.\u201d<\/p>\n

CBS announced April 6\u00a0that \u201cComics Unleashed\u201d will air Monday through Friday with back-to-back half-hour episodes beginning May 22. The network also said Allen\u2019s game show \u201cFunny You Should Ask\u201d will follow.<\/p>\n

Allen said in CBS\u2019 announcement that he created \u201cComics Unleashed\u201d to give stand-up comics a platform.<\/p>\n

\u201cI created and launched \u2018Comics Unleashed\u2019 20 years ago so my fellow comedians could have a platform to do what we all love \u2014 make people laugh,\u201d Allen said. \u201cThe world can never have enough laughter.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Byron Allen announced Saturday that his show, \u201cComics Unleashed,\u201d will avoid politics when it moves into\u00a0Stephen Colbert\u2019s\u00a0Friday late-night…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":649345,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[991,1036,88,13728,10815,10674,92],"class_list":["post-649344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-cbs","tag-comedy","tag-entertainment","tag-late-show-with-stephen-colbert","tag-media","tag-stephen-colbert","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=649344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/649345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=649344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=649344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=649344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}