TV viewers can still catch David Letterman on sporadic episodes of his Netflix talk show, Jay Leno on the stand up circuit, and Conan O’Brien on his critically acclaimed Max series Conan O’Brien Must Go, but it’s clear we’re quite far-flung from the late night talk show wars of yesteryear. (In as much as Leno’s feuds with Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel may never fully subside.) Master of satire Stephen Colbert acknowledged the burgeoning camaraderie among nightly talk show hosts, but couldn’t help taking an amusing shot at his former Daily Show colleague John Oliver.
Colbert took the stage at the 2024 PaleyFest for its annual TV festival, where he had an insightful conversation with Sonic the Hedgehog and The Afterparty star Ben Schwartz (via THR). There, he talked about possibly returning to the world of acting, which paid his bills for the majority of his career before he shifted into Late Show mode in 2015. He also addressed his personal thoughts about late night talk show competition, saying that while he doesn’t take issue with the way hosts butted heads in the past, he doesn’t see it as a necessary evil these days. According to Colbert:
Everybody has their own reasons for how they feel about their job and competition, stuff like that. I don’t blame anybody, their feelings are valid; they’re their feelings, but I’ve always thought so few people know what it’s like to do this, wouldn’t I much rather meet Fallon at that secret back room that we know in Midtown and go have a drink? Which is what we do instead. I’m lucky enough to have that with Jon Stewart, but I have that with any of them, except [John] Oliver.
While there are no doubt TV viewers out there who thrive on cross-network ratings battles in late night the same way they do for primetime series, modern audiences just don't consume television or talk shows in the same way anymore, with more people likely to watch an episode clip on social media or YouTube instead of viewing an entire episode. So the audience pieces that hosts like Jimmy Kimmy and Seth Meyers are fighting for are quite smaller than they used to be, so why fight over them at all?
Stephen Colbert freely admitted he'd rather hang out and drink in a non-descript watering hole with his biggest competitor, The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon, rather than constantly enter into the grind of trying to achieve ratings supremacy. Definitely not a sentiment that can be applied to every kind of industry, but certainly fitting here.
And also fitting is the amusing shot fired at Last Week Tonight's John Oliver, whom Colbert jokingly says he doesn't have a friendly relationship with. It's malarkey, of course, with John Oliver joining The Daily Show in the year after the former's shift to The Colbert Report. Of course, Oliver went on to join the HBO family with Last Week Tonight, which has won out at the Emmys each year since 2016, which has been a source of jokey contention among other late night hosts. As well, the two joined up with Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers for the strike-focused podcast Strike Force Five in 2023, so there's no bad blood.
The way Stephen Colbert sees it, being a late night talk show host is a rare privilege in the entertainment industry, and he sees no reason to waste anytime being antagonistic about it instead of just celebrating his time in the limelight. And he does indeed mean celebrating, even if they don't get to break out the good stuff that often. In his words:
I love that idea that I’m throwing a party for people and I want to be the host, I want them to be comfortable. I have a bar back there, I rarely use it but I have a bar if somebody wants a cocktail.
Unfortunately for fans hoping to see new episodes of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the week following PaleyFest is filled with repeats, though with guests worthy of rewatching, as noted below:
- 4/23: Matt Damon, Hannah Waddingham (Originally aired 4/1/24)
- 4/24: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Tyla (Originally aired 4/8/24)
- 4/25: Carol Burnett, Waxahatchee featuring MJ Lenderman (Originally aired 3/26/24)
- 4/26: Steve Buscemi, Henry Louis Gates Jr. (Originally aired 4/4/24)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airs every weeknight at 11:35 p.m., and episodes can be streamed the next day with a Paramount+ subscription. Head to our 2024 TV schedule to see what else is heading to the small screen soon.
