The year 2025 has marked a significant shift in the landscape of late-night television, signaling the potential end of an era for broadcast network comedy shows.
CBS's decision to grant "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" just one more season underscores this transition, as the once-dominant late-night format struggles to maintain its relevance in a rapidly changing media environment.
According to Fox News, the era of Johnny Carson, where his show reigned supreme, has given way to a new breed of comedians who seem more interested in catering to a left-leaning audience than in appealing to a broad spectrum of viewers. The re-election of President Donald Trump served as a stark reminder that the relentless mockery of the "Orange Man" failed to prevent his victory.
Despite this, liberal commentators continue to equate comedians with the essence of democracy. On ABCs "The View," co-host Sunny Hostin dramatically claimed that CBS's decision to cut losses on Colbert was not financially motivated, stating, "This is the dismantling of our democracy.
This is the dismantling of our Constitution." Such rhetoric highlights a tendency among liberals to "speak truth to power," yet they often fall silent when their preferred candidates are in power, as evidenced by their lack of criticism during former President Joe Biden's apparent cognitive decline.
The late-night comedy scene in 2025 has been marked by moments of irredeemable nastiness. Jon Stewart, during his limited stint on "The Daily Show," took aim at the free market in February, stating, "Capitalism is by definition exploitative. It's how it operates. That's fine. But then government's role should be to ease the negative effects on Americans of that exploitation, not subsidize that treachery with our money. We are getting [bleeped] at a Diddy party and they're making us buy the baby oil!"
Meanwhile, John Oliver on HBOs "Last Week Tonight" in March disparaged former President Ronald Reagan, saying, "I will admit there are positive things you can say about Reagan, like He was our only president to make a movie with a chimp, or He's dead. But his moral clarity might come as a surprise to any gay people who lived through the 1980s. I'm just saying, if you brought Reagan back from the dead and told him all the racist sh-- Trump's managed to do in less than two months, he'd cum so hard he'd die again."
Guests on these shows often echo the sentiments of their hosts, further alienating conservative viewers. When President Trump assumed control of the Kennedy Center, actor Nathan Lane unleashed a tirade on the Colbert show, mocking the potential programming choices.
He quipped, "Like tomorrow night they have a youth choir made up entirely of Elon Musk's children. Because Hamilton canceled its engagement, they are producing Lee Greenwood's all-rap musical tribute to Ronald Reagan starring Kanye West. It's called Trickle Down. Thats followed by a new production of The Sound of Music told from the point of view of the Nazis. Trust me, trust me, you don't want to hear the list of their favorite things."
The disdain for America itself was palpable, as British actor Alan Cumming took to Jimmy Kimmels show in July to perform a superiority dance. He questioned, "America, how are you doing? No, really, how are you doing? I mean, how are you doing aside from being a country that has just reintroduced concentration camps, taken healthcare away from 17 million people to give billionaires a tax cut, and also to finance an armed militia of masked men that commits heinous assorted kidnapping and crimes against humanity on a daily basis? Aside from all that, are you okay? I wouldnt have thought so."
Such vitriol may explain the declining ratings of these shows. It takes a particular kind of viewer to end their day with these rants. Alex Christy at NewsBusters reported that 92% of political jokes on broadcast late-night shows targeted conservatives, up from 82% in 2024. The guest list was even more skewed, with 99% of guests being left-wing: 196 liberals to just two conservatives. Jimmy Fallons conversation with Greg Gutfeld stood out as a rare exception.
The most egregious late-night moment of the year was Jimmy Kimmels blatant falsehood regarding the political leanings of Charlie Kirks alleged assassin. Kimmel claimed, "We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it."
This was indeed a new low, as it was a time for mourning, not mockery and deceit. Two station-affiliate groups refused to air Kimmels show, prompting ABC to suspend it for four episodes, replacing it with reruns of "Family Feud."
The elitist media responded with a month-long tantrum, with CNN host Jake Tapper declaring on the Seth Meyers show, "I thought it was pretty much the most direct infringement by the government on free speech that I've seen in my lifetime."
Kimmel concluded the year by delivering the "Alternative Christmas Message" on Britains Channel 4, where he, like his guest Alan Cumming, criticized America as a "right mess" and a crumbling democracy. He remarked, "We are not bright. Were Americans. No one knows better than you, were always just a little bit late to the game, but do we come through in the end? Maybe. Give us about three years. Please."
ABC extended Kimmels contract by only one year, acknowledging that there is a limit to how much financial loss a business is willing to endure for someones fiercely nasty "freedom of speech." Kimmel, much like Colbert, may soon find himself stepping away from the broadcast stage, as his brand of narrowcasting continues to alienate a significant portion of the American audience.
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