Lethargy Unleashed?

The story that VARIETY’s Brian Steinberg dropped yesterday was hardly the biggest one of the day.  After all, the Chrisleys are once again free people and all of a sudden that upcoming Lifetime reality series just got a little more promotable.

But, hey, at least Lifetime’s producing something original.  That’s more than can be said for the folks programming CBS late night.  Steinberg’s stab at objectivity:

Byron Allen’s “Comics Unleashed,” a syndicated comedy round-table that had been a mainstay of CBS stations, is coming back to the network to – once again – fill some holes.

Two back-to-back half hours of the program will air following “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on CBS at 12:37 a.m. starting in the fall. The network said it plans to run the show throughout the 2025-2026 TV season, in the time slot previously occupied by “After Midnight,” which is ending following host Taylor Tomlinson’s decision to focus on stand-up comedy.

You may recall just a couple of months ago we lamented the end of @M and attempted to justify it in the context of cost-cutting that now seems to be Job One at struggling media companies, and based on the update on the price of extortion that dropped late last night I suppose there’s a higher alert level on fiscal urgency around the halls of CBS and Paramount Global than usual.  We posited a few alternatives, admittedly none of them as progressive or as young-appealing than was the consistently engaging ad-lib from Tomlinson and her frequently Gen Z “contestants”.  But none were as dull and uninventive as this one.

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER’s Tony Maglio tried to do a better job than most among the Penske-versers to toe the party line, throwing the following hyperbole into his write-up:

“Comics Unleashed is a true passion for me, simply because this world can never have enough laughter,” Byron Allen, the founder, chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group. “I created this show so that the best comedians can all come together and help bring non-stop laughter.” Allen’s Comics Unleashed is produced by Allen Media Group and executive produced by Allen, Carolyn Folks and Jennifer Lucas. The series has been airing in first-run strip syndication since its premiere in September 2006.

But dissecting that graf only reminds one of how Allen has operated his business so successfully over the years.  COMICS UNLEASHED is a pure family affair–Folks is Byron’s mom and Lucas his spouse.  And yes, it’s been offered in what is labeled first-run syndication all of those years.  But as Sean L. McCarthy pointed out on THE COMIC’S COMIC waaay back in 2011, that distinction is a mere technicality:

Earlier this week, Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios, Inc., announced that its late-night talker Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen had earned a two-season renewal for fall 2011 and fall 2012 (seasons six and seven) in the largest CBS markets of New York City (WCBS), Los Angeles (KCBS) and Chicago (WBBM).   Allen gave out this quote: “We are thrilled Comics Unleashed  is renewed on these premier CBS stations in America’s top three markets. We can never have enough comedy in this world.”

Here’s the thing.  Comics Unleashed hasn’t aired a new episode since 2007. 2007! Just see about getting tickets for a taping. The most recent show you could ask for: June 19, 2007. That means the jokes you’re hearing Allen set up like a T-ball manager in Little League for his assortment of stand-up comedian guests are so old, most of the comedians would rather you never heard them again. It’s a TV credit that many comics rib each other about including on their resumes. And yet you’ve been hearing those jokes over and over already for four years now. And that means that each weeknight, Byron Allen’s monologue is bound to contain at least one topical joke that’s past its fresh on date. The other night, he cracked about Anna Kournikova. I’ve also heard him joke recently about Paris Hilton having to go to jail. LOL.

But McCarthy did chow down on some of the words a mere three years later when he trumpted this breaking news:

Our long national nightmare of seeing Harland Williams stuck in his 2007 style are over! Comics Unleashed taped a batch of new episodes last week. Including Williams.

From Eric Peterkofsky, producer and spokesman for Entertainment Studios, on Aug. 20: “This first tape date of COMICS UNLEASHED went great! Thanks to all the comics who rocked our world: Harland Williams, Keith Alberstadt, Laurie Kilmartin, Arnez J, Pete Lee, Calise Hawkins, Gary Owen, Johnny Sanchez, Patrick Keane, Cory Kahaney, Steve Trevino, Mike Vecchione, Karlous Miller, Jodi Miller, John Roy, Tony Baker, Sarah Colonna, Ant, Al Jackson, and Andrew Norelli!”  Peterkofsky told The Comic’s Comic these new episodes will hit the airwaves in mid-to-late September.

You know how I know McCarthy’s rants are legit?  I saw the very same episodes referenced in both his 2011 and 2014 posts within the last month on the very same CBS owned-and-operated station that has carried it as a 1:37 am staple since McCarthy dropped his truth bombs.

An earlier version of Steinberg’s story that appeared online yesterday cryptically referenced Allen’s “intention” to produce new episodes of the series for this fall’s upgrade to full network status and its return to 12:37 am, along with the disclaimer that CBS was unaware of that.  The version now on the VARIETY! website is apparently reflective of that being pointed out.

So that robust list of guests that DEADLINE’s Peter White rattled off that sounds so impressive in a press release?  Think of it as the “Before They Were Stars” –or, in same cases, when they were far more popular stars–segment of their careers.

But if you think I’m going to castigate Allen for this approach, you’d be sadly mistaken.  In fact, he and his entire family get my applause and respect.  Because as even Wikipedia explains COMICS UNLEASHED is merely one spoke in a much larger wheel that has enabled him to become the mogul that he is.  It is part of what the site calls bulk barter arrangements made for the various series that AMG offers.  That also includes several courtroom series and the venerable game show FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK that just happen to populate the CBS-owned stations, particularly the duopoly independents that needs to fill out schedules.  Allen’s sales team conflates it all into a roll-up in the same manner that digital media and FAST channels are sold so it’s a statistically significant number, which coupled with its specific appeal to a demographic many advertisers are corporately compelled to spend money on allows him to offer scale and efficiency.

And no, there’s not a huge volume of original episodes of any kind being produced by AMG.  Since COVID disrupted production, less than half a season of actual new episodes of FYSA have been produced.  Those season/episode identifiers one sees in your GUIs are for the purposes of advertisers, since often it’s the commercials that are the only first-run content contained in those half-hours.   It’s been reported that since 2020 many episodes that previously aired under different numbers were simply relabeled.   CBS’ local station executives never batted an eye.  And since in the wake of Wendy McMahon’s abrupt departure several have moved up in the corporate food chain and now answer to folks responsible for the entire network, it’s that much less of a surprise that the same level of scrutiny appears to be applied to post-Colbert netwirk late night TV.

Allen is simply showing off his old-school business and syndication-rooted chops.  It’s the folks at CBS that have determined that of all of the possible routes they could have gone down to at least fake programming a time of day where an awful lot of younger people are awake and often searching for something to watch–at a time when finally Nielsen will be incorporating viewership from device-only screens into their ratings–they have chosen decades-old episodes of comics riffing on the world at a time where the current bane of their existence was merely a struggling reality show host.

My sage advice for broadcasters who may have more ambition–particularly in Central and Mountain Time Zone markets where we’re actually talking about Before Midnight?  Peruse the options I put forth a coupla months ago.  Maybe there’s a local talent that’s turned up on your Instagram feed.   Podcasts are quickly evolving into “Vodcasts”, you know.  Crikey, Howard Stern effectively invented that concept more than three decades ago and made E! a player in late night for the first time in its history.  This isn’t exactly original thinking.  Just a tad more proactive.

Failing that, there’s likely to be another 19-year-old rerun option out there with wider appeal and less wear and tear than what your network is supplying you with.  With more local time to sell or give makegoods to as well.   And at a time when they’re actually asking you to pony up or shut up, sending a message like so many stations sent when they felt their network was underproviding them (anyone recall the game show BODY LANGUAGE?) by pre-empting the time slot could be one small step toward expressing how you feel about such uninspired choices.

Assuming, of course, you haven’t fallen asleep earlier than you should.

Until next time…