Byron Allen is 'stepping up,' ready to prove he's more than just Colbert's replacement
Byron Allen is 'stepping up,' ready to prove he's more than just Colbert's replacement
Kelly Lawler, USA TODAYThu, May 21, 2026 at 4:45 PM UTC
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Byron Allen isn't who you think he is.
The comedian, billionaire, media mogul and newly minted owner of BuzzFeed has been making headlines recently as the man whose show will be taking over the 11:35 p.m. weeknight time slot on CBS, just as Stephen Colbert's "Late Show" ends amid controversy, acclaim and cultural sensationalism.
But instead of waiting for all that hullabaloo to die down, Allen, 65, was intent on starting the new run of "Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen" immediately after Colbert says goodbye.
"CBS said, 'We'd like for your premiere date to be Monday, September 21,'" Allen says in an interview with USA TODAY. "I said, 'No, no, no. Colbert has said that his last night would be Thursday, May 21. I want to go the next night.' ... Johnny Carson's last night [on 'The Tonight Show'] was May 22, 1992. Thirty-four years later, I'm stepping up."
Byron Allen on the set of “Funny You Should Ask.”
Comedy legacy, like that of pioneer Johnny Carson, is of utmost importance to Allen. His status as "Colbert's replacement" has thrust him into a bigger spotlight than ever before in his more than 50 years on the comedy scene, but Allen is out to prove his own separate legacy. And he's got the credentials.
"I've dedicated my life to making people laugh," he says. "It's been quite a journey."
That journey started, in part, on "The Tonight Show," where he was the youngest comedian ever invited to perform by Carson, at age 14 in 1979. Even before that, he was hanging around NBC studios in Los Angeles, where his mother worked for years as an intern, tour guide and publicist. He was writing jokes with "Good Times" star Jimmie Walker and a pre-late night David Letterman when he was a teenager.
He went on to co-host NBC's "Real People" in 1979, and toured extensively as an opening act for the likes of "Lionel Richie, Kenny Rogers, and the Pointer Sisters, and Gladys Knight, and Sammy Davis Jr., and Dolly Parton, Julie Andrews, Lou Rawls," he says, ticking off some of the biggest names of the 20th century like it's a grocery list.
He also taped a syndicated talk show from 1989-1992 in Carson's studio, squeezing in filming on the weekends between episodes of "Tonight."
18-year-old Byron Allen makes his first appearance on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" in May, 1979.
Allen says Carson told him once, "'The first half of my show is a comedy show. The second-half is a talk show. You want to do a comedy show.'"
"'Comics Unleashed' is a half hour," Allen says pointedly. "'Comics Unleashed' is a pure comedy show. No one's plugging anything."
"Unleashed" was launched in 2006 and is about to celebrate 20 years on the air (mostly in syndication, meaning it airs on different local affiliates at different times, like many daytime talk shows). The format is different from "The Late Show" in that it's not a talk show, but rather a pure comedy panel show featuring comedians chatting with each other and cracking jokes, without any celebrity interviews or musical performances. And though that format is rare in the U.S., it's wildly popular and common in the U.K.
More: Colbert replacement Byron Allen reveals what 'Late Show' host texted him
"I think it is perfect, especially at this time, because this world can never have enough laughter. And it's a great way to bring us back together," Allen says. "When I started doing this show 20 years ago, I said, 'No political humor.' I want it to be funny 20 years from today, 40 years from today, 60 years from today."
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"Nothing political, nothing sick, sexist, nothing racist, anti-Semitic or homophobic," he adds. "Just talk about your life, talk about your family, talk about your friends, talk about your relationships. That will be funny forever."
14-year-old Byron Allen in a Jimmie Walker comedy writing session with a then-unknown David Letterman (and Jimmie Walker) from 1975.
Allen started his media and production company in 1993, now called Allen Media Group, a venture that nearly left him bankrupt as he dumped all of his own money and time into it.
"I said I'm going forward. And I didn't have the money to go forward," he says. "That's when my home went in and out of foreclosure like 14 times or whatever. It was insane."
Insane, but ultimately successful. "I just kept smiling and dialing and trying to get advertisers," he says.
Now, Allen owns over a dozen ABC, CBS and NBC stations around the country. Allen Media Group also owns The Weather Channel and recently purchased BuzzFeed for a steal − and Allen has eyes on future acquisitions.
It was Allen's skills as a businessman and negotiator that ultimately got him on the air on CBS in 2025, after the short-lived "After Midnight" folded.
He told the network, "You could save 30 to 40 million bucks not replacing the show at 12:30. I'll put 'Comics Unleashed' in there and I will pay you millions of dollars for the time period, and they said OK."
Allen's business model is entirely different from how CBS has run late night in the past (and how the other broadcast networks do it). He and his company lease the time slot from CBS, produce the show and sell the ad time themselves. He does all the work, and he and CBS split the money.
"I am the infrastructure," he says.
Moving "Unleashed" to the 11:35 pm hour opens up the 12:30 block for Allen's other series, "Funny You Should Ask," a comedy game show. "I said I will deliver you two shows that have been performing in syndication," he says. "And they said, 'Let's go.'"
Allen's career has been one of setting and reaching goals, no matter the odds or the setbacks. His new late-night fiefdom is no different. "Comics Unleashed" and "Funny You Should Ask" will air on CBS at 11:35 p.m. and 12:37 a.m. ET, respectively, starting May 22 − just as he wanted all along.
"So there it is," he says, after breathlessly detailing decades of comedy and media work over a single phone call. "Fifty-one years later, dreams do come true."
"I'm a 65-year-old overnight sensation."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Byron Allen on replacing Colbert, 'stepping up' to CBS late-night slot
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
