The Late Late Show with James Corden came to an end in April, after the host said it was time for him to move back "home" and it was reported that the talk show allegedly lost millions for CBS. While many speculated the network would replace Corden with a new host, the talk show aired its final episode, without an announced replacement. Now, CBS head honcho George Cheeks has confirmed the network's choice for the 12:30 time slot.
In an interview with Variety, Cheecks talked about the current complicated nature of Hollywood, as well as CBS’s upcoming programming schedule. While the situation is still in flux, due to the writers' strike that's paused writing on film and television projects, he did confirm the current plan for The Late Late Show’s replacement. It surprisingly has to do with reviving a Comedy Central game show, as the CBS chief said:
The 12:30 a.m. slot is ripe for reinvention. There aren’t a ton of people watching at that hour, you really do need to think about what is the true cross platform version? What we ended up doing, first of all, it’s Funny or Die and Stephen Colbert, so the auspices couldn’t be any better. But when we sat down and talked about it, we talked about ‘@Midnight,’ and it’s sort of been an irreverent comedy game show with stand-up comics and celebrities as guests. To me, it has a really nice feel coming out of Colbert.
Finding something to follow Stephen Colbert is no easy feat. The Late Show was number one in the 11:30 p.m. slot for a while, surpassing NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in ratings. With Colbert extending his contract for at least three more years, the network needed something funny and tonally similar to keep audiences watching. Bringing back @Midnight is a great choice, as it’s a fun game show that struck a chord with the Comedy Central audience it originally entertained.
For those unfamiliar, @Midnight was hosted by Chris Hardwick between 2013 and 2017. It used information from the internet like memes, trends, and viral posts and then prompted stand-up comedians to comment and scrutinize pop culture. The show was unique and fun, with several celebrity guests and stand-up comedians providing hilarious riffs. It was a modernized version of the game show format, which is constantly evolving. Personally, I can’t wait to see what the new and improved version looks like in this modern era.
While @Midnight may be a great fit for James Corden’s time slot, it may be a while until we see the new iteration of the show. With the WGA on strike, development for the revival has been completely paused. Cheeks stated that he has both a showrunner and head for the writer in mind for the project, however, all negotiations have had to stop. The late-night world was immediately affected by the strike, as all shows are privy to daily written material. Neither The Late Show nor @Midnight can resume development/production until the WGA reaches a contract deal with the studios.
In the meantime, you can check out Comedy Central’s @Midnight with Chris Hardwick by renting episodes of the game show on Amazon. Fans who miss The Late Late Show with James Corden can also revisit the talk show now with a Paramount+ subscription. For more information on other series set to hit the small screen later this year, make sure to consult our 2023 TV premiere schedule.
