CBS announces a dud Colbert replacement. ALSO: Shrinking jumps the couch
CBS has announced the replacement show for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. And it is possibly the lamest, least-compelling choice CBS could be making.
Colbert’s The Late show will sign off on Thursday May 21. Then, from May 22 every weeknight at 11:35pm CBS will screen Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen. This is a cheapy panel chat show that has been used to fill the 12:35am slot, previously occupied by the anemic After Midnight game show.
I’m not actually against the idea of filling that slot with a cheap panel comedy show… outside of scheduling a repeat of The Daily Show in that timeslot every night, a comedy panel show is probably the smartest move. But Allen’s show has been terrible for twenty years or so now.
The priority for CBS (after getting Colbert off their air) is to not give that timeslot over to the affiliates, so instead the network is renting those two hours to Allen Media Group, which is then selling ad spots across the 11:35pm-1:30am timeslots. The Allen-produced Funny You Should Ask will air after Unleashed.
Bill Carter at Late Nighter reports that the deal is only for 12 months, so it is possible that CBS may reclaim the timeslot with a different show a year from now. That seems like a best-case scenario – I’d suggest that once you lose your audience elsewhere from a broadcast schedule in 2026, you’re never getting them back.
Meanwhile…
The Wall Street Journal reports that Paramount has received signed received signed equity commitments of close to $24 billion from three sovereign-wealth funds led by Saudi Arabia to help back its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.
I’m not sure who is making investments to prop up a Trump supporting news network at a time where his actions have dumped the rest of the world in a financial toilet. But here we are.
The Gulf investors won’t have voting rights in the new Paramount-Warner entity, and the deal isn’t expected to trigger a mandatory review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., or Cfius, people familiar with the matter said. Because each entity will own far less than 25% of the combined company, executives don’t expect the funds’ involvement to spark a review by the Federal Communications Commission either, the people said.
And also…
Paramount Skydance chief David Ellison says that CBS News and CNN (once it falls under his control if the Warner Bros deal goes through) is seeking to target “the 70% of Americans and… really around the world… that identify as center-left, as center-right.”
Jeremy Barr at The Guardian points to a YouGov poll that found only 40% of US adult citizens identify as “center-left”, “center” or “center-right”, not 70%. He then backs this figure up with further polling:
Polling published by Pew that was conducted last year similarly puts the number at 41% (including those who self-identify as “Lean Democrat”, “No Lean/Refused”, “Lean Republican”), while Gallup data puts the percentage of Americans who identify as Republican-leaning independents, non-leaning independents and Democratic-leaning independents at 45%, which the company said was a “new high”.
Whatever the truth is, that supposed 70% of audiences aren’t buying what Ellison and his news chief Bari Weiss are serving up.
Maybe CBS could just outsource the news timeslots to Byron Allen…
Netflix invest in the kids
Netflix has unveiled a new gaming app Netflix Playground, which is designed for kids ages 8 and under. It’s available for all subscribers (ad-free) in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, the Philippines and New Zealand. It rolls out across the rest of the world on April 28.
As per the media release, games include:
Playtime With Peppa Pig - Jump into Peppa’s world with a collection of playful activities. Care for guinea pigs, drive the bus, make a smoothie and more.
Sesame Street - Hang out with Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Oscar and more beloved puppet pals. Practice matching with memory cards or coordination with connect-the-dots.
Dr. Seuss’s Horton! - Explore vibrant jungle environments that encourage creativity through cause-and-effect play with Horton and friends. Try skateboarding and basketball, too!
Storybots - Have fun with these curious and inquisitive critters through colorful sticker book scenes, jigsaw puzzles and more activities.
Dr. Seuss’s The Sneetches - Join Stella Sneetch on interactive adventures through her world, choose shapes to develop pattern recognition and build a one-of-a-kind car.
Bad Dinosaurs - Pick a tiny tyrannosaurus to run on a race track, or jam out with a turntable, keyboard and sound effects to make a fart-filled new song.
Dr. Seuss’s Red Fish, Blue Fish - Tap and drag to reveal delightful surprises in the fishes’ living room and kitchen play zones, or soar through the air in a hot air balloon.
Let’s Color - Unleash your creativity with coloring pages featuring your favorite characters.
This is a good value add from Netflix. My kid is firmly within the demo for this and it’s good to have a space for her to play the occasional game on her iPad (I remember a time when it was my iPad…) in an environment where I know she isn’t being served advertising or needs my credit card for in-game purchases).
Shrinking comments… what does this mean, exactly?
I’m genuinely confused by this.
Ahead of the season three finale on Wednesday this week, Shrinking EP Bill Lawrence confused fans with news that the dramedy will feature “a new story with the same cast.”
Viewers were left to wonder whether this meant that the actors will be back, playing entirely new characters to kick off an entirely new story, or is it more that Lawrence is viewing the season three finale as the end of an arc?
Even his clarifications muddle what he is saying.
When watching the season three finale on my couch, after telling my dog “I’m not crying… you’re crying” (I then asked her politely to leave the room for a spell), I was genuinely questioning what the show does next season to believably continue.
My thoughts on this are pretty comfortably spoiler-free, in case you are concerned…
The characters end season three in a place where it just doesn’t make much sense at all to get them all back into the same rooms without some highly contrived plot developments. that would completely undermine what the show has been about until now. A time jump might work for college student Alice who is off interstate to college, but that seems pretty unworkable for a deteriorating Paul Rhoades (Harrison Ford) as he battles Parkinsons.
And yet, that’s exactly what Lawrence apparently has planned.
In an interview with Variety, Lawrence clarified that:
People shouldn’t be surprised if there’s a time jump and it feels like we’re telling a completely different story.
Right…
News Desk
Samantha Guthrie has returned to co-hosting Today following the abduction of her mother. Read: Deadline
Prime Video has cancelled YA musical drama The Runarounds after one season. Read: Variety
Disney+ is working on a TV series based on the Scholastic Animorphs books that I kind-of remember from when I was a kid. Ryan Coogler’s production company will produce it. Read: Variety
SNL UK ratings continue to shrink. The third week out saw a 36% decline on last week – that’s a drop of 42% from week one. Read: Deadline
HBO Max has added the Alien 3 Assembly Cut for US subscribers. It’s generally seen as considerably better than the Alien 3 theatrical release. Read: THR
Reporter Lesley Goldberg writes in typical The Ankler CTA paywall style to tell us that Amazon have greenlit a TV series based on Robocop. Read: The Ankler
David Satin writes that by changing Netflix’s Apple TV app to use its own video player, vs the Apple TV player, it is stripping Apple TV users of useful functions. Read: The Streamable
This past week saw the 30th anniversary of Primal Fear – a great 90s thriller that doesn’t get enough attention in this cruel world of ours. Read: Polygon
James Marsden will host the Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat reunion special for Prime Video on April 10. Read: thefutoncritic
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie pulled in a pretty impressive $372.5m worldwide over Easter. It’s the biggest opening of 2026 so far. Read: Deadline
The upcoming Masters of The Universe film will have a post-credits sequence that doesn’t have the film ending with Skeletor rising from red water, threatening to return. Weak. Read: Dark Horizons
Trailer Park
Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed debuts on Apple TV May 20.
Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed follows newly divorced mom Paula (Tatiana Maslany) as she falls down a dangerous rabbit hole of blackmail, murder and youth soccer. Convinced she witnessed a crime — while simultaneously struggling through a custody battle and an identity crisis — Paula begins her own investigation, one that could unravel a greater conspiracy while also holding the keys to rebuilding her family and sense of self.
4X20: Quick Hits debuts on Hulu April 20.
A new anthology series highlighting cannabis and the people who love it. Made up of four, twenty-minute films, each by a dope director in celebration of what is arguably the world’s most beloved plant.
Toaster debuts on Netflix April 15.
A miserly man tries to retrieve a toaster he gifted after a couple calls off their wedding, but is inadvertently drawn into murder.
Fake Profile is back for season 3 on Netflix April 15.
That’s the newsletter for the today.
Consider becoming a paid supporter of Always Be Watching.
Connect with Dan on Bluesky. Connect with Dan on Letterboxd. Connect with Dan on Linkedin. Challenge him on the NYT word game Crossplay. Email Dan @ alwaysbewatching.com or just reply to this email.
