In the days since it was announced that CBS was cancelling The Late Show with Steven Colbert, commentators have speculated what led to the down fall of the late night show that has been a staple on the network for over three decades. Depending on the lens through which you view the world, the show’s demise has been blamed on a cold hard business decision, the show’s content, the evolving way we consume media and, of course, President Trump.
Nate Silver, renowned as one of the best pollsters in the country, even did a deep dive into the various factors that have led to the show’s cancellation.
The reasons why the CBS has moved on from show are as subjective as the comedy it tried to produce on a nightly basis and emphasized an eternal truth in show business: comedy is hard.
Making an audience laugh, who are expecting to laugh, may be the hardest job in show business. What one person finds hilarious another may find offensive and distasteful. The best comedians, Seinfeld, Carson, Leno, etc. have a keen sense of that and their longevity can be partly attributed to the ability to avoid alienating large chunks of their audience.
Comedy often exists at the intersection of controversy, commerce, and social commentary but traveling too far down one road or the other can lead to trouble and pigeon hole a performer into a certain category.
Comedian Shane Gillis, recently hosted Espy Awards, ESPN’s version of the Oscar’s for sports. His performance received mixed reviews and even left some confused as his jokes took aim at everyone, including the president and WNBA players. The performance left some confused as to his politics. However, that is part of the genius and one of the contributing factors of The Late Show’s undoing. When it comes to Gillis and some of the biggest names in comedy, they leave us wondering about their politics.
Colbert left no doubt.
Jay Leno, who took over the Tonight Show for Johnny Carson 1992, never gave an indication whether or not he agreed with the policies of the Clinton administration or the Bush administration, both of which provided plenty of comedic material. If the joke was funny it was funny.
Comedy Central’s animated series South Park has been a staple of the network for over 25 years and lends its success to satirizing a wide range of contemporary issues—from politics and celebrity culture to technology and social trends. South Park is infamous for its dark, surreal, and often profane humor, tackling topics many other shows avoid. No one is immune to the show’s comedic ire.
That is where The Late Show has missed the mark. Rather than using humor to add levity to some of the most controversial topics of the day, pointing out the absurdity of many of the most “serious political discussions,” it tried to use comedy to push a political perspective.
Even as today’s media landscape changes and people’s tastes in entertainment and humor evolve, one thing remains true: comedy is hard.