Stephen Colbert still has seven months left Late show on CBS, but at least one media mogul has his eye on its prime 11:30 p.m. timeslot.
Byron Allen, the comedian turned media mogul, already has his Comics go wild show on CBS at 12:30 a.m., but he said Wednesday that he’s absolutely interested in 11:30 once Colbert is released next May.
“Let me be clear…if they’re looking for spectacle, my hand is already up,” Allen told Advertising Week New York on Wednesday, in a conversation with Late at night columnist Bill Carter, adding that his dream was to host the Tonight Show one day (Allen made his television debut on the Johnny Carson show Tonight Show). “I’ve been waiting for this moment for fifty years, I’m definitely going there.”
Allen noted that he brought Comics go wilda classic comedy series featuring established and emerging talent, and hosted by Allen himself, on CBS following the departure of James Corden The late show. His company conducted a 19-week trial before CBS launched After midnightas a time saver. When After midnight ended, Allen’s show took over the slot, this time with two half-hour episodes, one new and one classic.
“I said, mathematically, you’ll never beat this series,” Allen recalled. “Why would you spend $35 million on a TV show at that time? I’ll be happy to produce the show, and you can save that $35 (million) or $40 million and spend it elsewhere.”
Comics go wild is a stand-up show, but the jokes aren’t what you might expect to see at comedy clubs.
“On day one, I said this show needs to be persistent, no topical humor, no political humor, I don’t want anything racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, I don’t want any of that,” Allen told Carter. “What I told them (the participating comics) is that on television you don’t have to be the funniest, you have to be the nicest.”
CBS hasn’t said what it plans to do at 11:30, only noting that it won’t reboot The late show with another host. However, whether Allen’s speech will appear to the powers that be at Paramount is another question entirely.
