Stephen Colbert (file photo)
TOI correspondent from Washington: American late-night television, that unique, bizarre institution where presidents are mocked, celebrities are fawned over and audiences applaud on cue, is preparing for a funeral. After 33 years, CBS is shutting down The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, with its eponymous host taking his final bow this week — not just the end of a show, but perhaps the end of an era when comedians doubled as political opposition.CBS emphasizes that the decision is “purely financial”, which, as one article stated, may be true in the same way that there was a “water management issue” with the Titanic. According to the network, late-night television is losing money in the streaming age, with young viewers migrating to social media memes, clips and podcasts hosted by hosts broadcasting from basements and bunkers. Advertising revenues for late night TV have declined dramatically in recent years, even as production costs have increased.Yet some people in America believe that money is the reason for the demise of the top-rated late-night franchise. Suspicion deepened after Colbert blamed Paramount Global – CBS’s parent company – for settling a lawsuit brought by President Trump, and called the payment a “big fat bribe.” A few days later, CBS announced the show’s cancellation as Paramount sought regulatory approval for its merger with Skydance Media, as the late-night show had become politically and commercially radioactive.At MAGA USA, comedians are now treated less like clowns and more like hostile political actors. Trump has long viewed late-night hosts as enemies, regularly attacking Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers on social media. The trio, along with Jon Stewart and John Oliver, have leaned into political satire since the rise of Trump, turning the monologue into a nightly prosecution summary. Critics called it liberal quacking, but for fans it was therapy.As the end of the week approached, late at night the fraternity closed ranks with surprising tenderness. Kimmel and Fallon reportedly opted for a rerun rather than compete with Colbert’s farewell episode, and they, along with Meyers and Oliver, appeared in a symbolic on-air group hug. He joked that Jon Stewart, who was not with him, was a “designated survivor”. Even David Letterman, the patron saint of sardonic late-night television and Colbert’s predecessor, recently joined him in throwing CBS office furniture off the roof in a mock revolt. Apparently American television executives can cancel the show – but not their beloved drama.Colbert himself alternated between gallows humor and visible bitterness, saying with some disbelief that his staff would be effectively laid off immediately after the final show. And what’s next for the 62-year-old host? Amid reports that he will co-write a Lord of the Rings film with his son Peter, he is also expected to shift towards streaming and podcasting.Interestingly, India has often featured in Colbert’s comic universe. During Trump-era outsourcing concerns, he once joked that American jobs were being sent to “a call center in Bangalore, which has better customer service even for scam calls.” He often chided Indian-Americans for their academic knowledge, joking that spelling-bee champions “sound less like kids and more like junior tax consultants.” When PM Modi visited the US, he quipped that Trump and their bonding at big rallies was the geopolitical version of two DJs comparing crowd sizes.“But the broader resonance may lie elsewhere, including India. As political polarization deepens globally, comedians on both sides of the globe are learning that satire now comes with legal notices, troll armies, and ideological surveillance. Indian stand-up comics know this pressure intimately from police complaints, canceled venues and legal cases. America’s late-night readers are now discovering only what they have long understood: Power laughs loudest at jokes aimed not upward, but downwards. Late night television once promised Americans catharsis before bed. After this it will be morning soon.