If you’re seasoned enough, or merely a fan of Broadway musicals, you might know that the inspiration for the clickbait to today’s musing is a wonderful work that originally debuted in 1961 and was subsequently revived for later generations to enjoy. Depending upon which one you fall into, you’ll identify with either Robert Morse, Matthew Broderick or Daniel Radcliffe as the idealistic young window washer J. Pierrepont Finch who eventually winds up as the head of advertising for World Wide Wickets. His brainstorm for rising further up the ladder was to usurp an idea from the boss’ nephew, Bud Frump, that involved the creation of a television show that would reveal clues to the location of where five thousand shares of company stock was being hidden. I’m exceptionally familiar with that show as my high school chose it as one of the drama club’s annual performances, and the spot-on casting of Frump fell into the lap of my longest-lasting friend on this planet. Yes, even then Bob Boden was trying to produce shiny floor shows, just like he still does today in the form of FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK.
And yesterday we learned that the tenth season of that show–far and away his longest-lasting stint as either an executive or executive producer in his prolific career–will now air on the CBS network, on measurable stations with recognizable call letters and battling the likes of LATE NIGHT and NIGHTLINE. With a lead-in that will actually promote it. Here’s how MEN’S JOURNAL’s Bernadette Giacomazzo spun it:
CBS is turning to Byron Allen to fill one of television’s most recognizable late-night time slots. According to The Hollywood Reporter, beginning May 22, one night after The Late Show With Stephen Colbert signs off, Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen will move into the 11:35 p.m. slot, with Allen’s game show Funny You Should Ask following at 12:35 a.m. The move gives Allen control of CBS’s entire late-night lineup for two hours and marks the biggest television platform yet for the billionaire media executive and former stand-up comic.
Naturally, this news dominated my social media feeds in both positive and negative lights. I’m obviously friendly with a lot of folks who know Bob and at one time or another have been employed by or at least crossed paths with Allen, whose connection to Boden goes back to their days as fellow UCLA Bruins. At the time, Bob was in the audience for a lot of TONIGHT SHOW tapings; Allen got booked as the youngest comedian to ever perform for Johnny Carson. So please at the very least eight-clap (not golf-clap) your way to acknowledging it helps to make friends at an early age.
But at the same time plenty of folks were aghast at the thought that a daypart that David Letterman built and that Stephen Colbert had continued to win even in decline would somehow now wind up in the control of something as uninspiring as an upgraded duo of afterthoughts that give up-and-coming and once-popular comedians a chance to tell a few lame jokes using the construct of talk shows and game shows as a thinly veiled way to showcase their work. And especially on a day when the current CBS network news management once again interrupted THE PRICE IS RIGHT for yet another blathering “news conference” featuring the ramblings of the farter-in-chief those laments that Colbert was departing for reasons cemented in their mind that involve bending both knees to him reached a crescendo and borderline Defcon 5 status.
Look, I’m not gonna take any cracks at Allen for opportunistically playing a hand that is helping him realize a dream he’s had since his own childhood–a point that USA TODAY’s dynamic duo of James Powel and Brendan Morrow drove home in their reporting:
Allen had been advocating for his show to take over Stephen Colbert’s time slot when The Late Show ended. “If they’re looking for a show, my hand is already up,” he said in October 2025, according to Variety. “Fifty years, I’ve been waiting for this moment. Definitely, I’m going for it. I’m investing millions and millions of dollars to prove myself.”
Besides, you regular readers already know how I feel about Allen’s quixotic pursuit and the chance he afforded me to weigh in when he first embarked on it. Bully for him that he at long last reached his personal holy grail, and huzzah for Boden that he’s riding those coattails to his own.
If there is any blame to be doled out, it’s much more appropriately dumped on the doorstep of the genuises at CBS that somehow bought Allen’s relentless pitch hook, line and sinker. As Giacomazzo detailed:
The arrangement is also unusual for network television. Rather than producing the programming itself, CBS is buying the airtime and selling the advertising inventory. That means Allen’s company will control the commercial time for both shows, creating a model expected to be far more profitable for CBS than traditional late-night programming.
It also means that the daypart will now fall under the definition of “sustaining programming” much like how infomercials are handled. Meaning the network will no longer be obligated to report national ratings for anyone to cite as a smoking gun to create an argument of how much they’ve lost by kicking Colbert to the curb. Or for any demented politician to post rambling taunts of “low rated losers whose licenses should be revoked”. Lord knows he couldn’t possibly grasp the complexities of a time buy any easier than he could grasp the concept of digital measurement.
And I’m particularly disappointed that that’s the path of least resistance the desperate bean-counters of the Ellison regime have chosen. Not that we haven’t supplied them with some previous food for thought. When Taylor Tomlinson’s AFTER MIDNIGHT moved on roughly a year ago we had a few thoughts we thought were legit besides Allen’s stuff. And we’ve practically mounted a campaign for Barium Enema–er, Bari Weiss–to be better deployed in the role of Andy Cohen meets Edward R. Murrow. She seemed to have a decent idea last winter–one of the few in hindsight given the stellar track record of what she’s already wrought on the CBS EVENING NEWS. We were enthusiastic about its potential to better fill 11:35 PM than merely shifting COMICS UNLEASHED up an hour. I suppose they had a better ratings spin story than Tony Dokoupil has–even sight unseen, it’s a pretty damn low bar to clear.
But I will offer that while the CBS network, and by association its owned-and-operated television stations in 15 of the largest DMAs around, may be throwing up the white flag of surrender that’s not necessarily the blueprint that real dedicated broadcasters need to follow. Especially in a year where at least as of this writing midterms are being held.
Stations with strong local late newscasts should at least consider the possibility of expanding an additional 25 minutes. They might even be able to follow the lead of their FOX competitors who continue to tinker with the time slot on their larger stations with politically themed stand-alone shows that are produced on the cheap at their various owned-and-operated stations. Both COMICS UNLEASHED and FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK will be offering back-to-back episodes in their respective hours–the current game plan for each is one half-hour will be an original and one will be from their vast libraries of hundreds of episodes from prior syndication seasons. I can’t fathom any of those older episodes will be missed by anyone at a significant enough scale to actually matter. You wanna make the argument that they’re supposed to be otherwise committed based on something as archaic as a network affiliation agreement? Yeah, right. Tell that to the folks that cheered on DOGE mere months ago. In these times, pre-existing deals exist only to be broken.
Are these the most original and potentially transformational ideas? In the spirit of an Easter X-eet, f–k, no. But it’s a lot more than anyone at CBS is even trying to offer at this point. If they think it’s a shrewd idea to effectively sign off–certainly in the eyes of their advertisers–before midnight, have at it, boo. Anyone who’s actually been around this business for a while should know better.
Yeah, I’m looking right at you, nepobaby Ellison. Don’t wanna believe me? Just ask your cousin Bud Frump. I hear he’s still got a better idea than you.
Until next time…