Kimmel and Fallon Will Go Dark for Colbert’s Last Late Show

by

On May 21st, Stephen Colbert will have the spotlight all to himself as he hosts his final show. Both Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel are canceling their own shows that night to show their support for Colbert – and because trying to compete with such a big event wouldn’t make sense. The main reason, though, is to honor Colbert. It’s still a mystery what Colbert has planned for his last episode, and while he’s always hoped to have Pope Leo XIV as a guest, that might not happen.

Late-night television looks very different than it did in the early 1990s. Back then, hosts fiercely competed for ratings and guests after Johnny Carson retired. Now, while individual shows have smaller audiences, Jimmy Kimmel argues that more people are watching late-night overall. He claims that even though Carson had a huge audience for one show, the combined viewership of today’s many late-night programs, plus views on platforms like YouTube, actually exceeds that number. Kimmel also estimates that a brief removal of his show from the air last year cost Disney billions of dollars in lost advertising revenue and canceled Disney+ subscriptions. He jokingly suggested that he may have cost the company more money than any other employee in its history. He compared the situation to a magician who made a bad choice in hiring an apprentice, implying the decision to hire him was similarly problematic, though ultimately profitable.

Read More

2026-05-13 02:53