Before “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” officially ends later this month, Stephen Colbert has reacted to the announcement of his successor. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published on May 6, Colbert revealed that he sent a congratulatory letter to Byron Allen after CBS announced that Allen and Byron Allen’s comic release will take over the 11:35 a.m. time slot after The Late Late Show ends on May 21.
“God bless him. I know Byron. In fact, we met last year. He’s charming. Do you know the history with him and Castlevania?” Colbert told the outlet, according to USA Today.
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CBS said it will air two half-hour episodes of “Comics Unleashed” back-to-back Monday through Friday. Later, two episodes of Funny You Should Ask, also produced by Byron Allen, will air in the 12:37 pm time slot.
Comics Unleashed was first launched in 2006 and features stand-up comedy by various comedians.
Here are five things to know about him:
- Byron Allen was born in Detroit in 1961 and moved to Los Angeles soon after. As a teenager, he began performing stand-up comedy in Los Angeles clubs, where comedian Jimmy “JJ” Walker discovered him and offered him a job as a writer. He later worked with David Letterman and Jay Leno, according to IMDb.
- According to “Forbes” citing the “Hollywood Reporter”, Allen told jokes to Jay Leno and David Letterman at the age of 14 before appearing on “The Tonight Show” in 1979, becoming the youngest comedian to appear on the show at the age of 18.
- In 1993, Allen founded his production company, CF Entertainment, to focus on low-budget television programming. The company, now known as Allen Media Group, has grown steadily over the years and made major acquisitions, including TheGrio in 2016 and Comcast’s Weather Channel in 2018 for $300 million.
- Allen filed a lawsuit against AT&T in 2014, claiming the company discriminated against his business based on race, and the case was settled in 2015, with Allen receiving seven cable channels as part of the deal. He subsequently filed similar lawsuits against Comcast and Charter Communications, settling in 2020 and 2021 respectively. He also sued McDonald’s, claiming they refused to advertise in black-owned media, according to Forbes.
- Unlike The Late Show with Colbert, which is known for its sharp political humor, Ellen has a very different vision for Comics Unleashed. “I told the comedian we were filming ‘I Love Lucy,'” he told the Los Angeles Times. According to USA Today, “Something evergreen. So I don’t want to hear any political humor. Just fun, good for families and good for advertisers.”
Stephen Colbert is gearing up for the May 21 finale, and his next big project is a new “Lord of the Rings” movie, which he will co-write with his son. Byron Allen steps into one of television’s most storied time slots.
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