The cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert shook the internet and sparked a massive conversation. Now, there are questions about how this choice will impact the future of other late-night talk shows as well as variety programs like Saturday Night Live. While nothing has happened on this front in terms of these shows’ futures, SNL cast member Bowen Yang got candid about the possibility of “this Colbert shit” impacting the NBC series and whether they should all be worried or not right now.
Marc Maron asked Yang on his podcast, WTF with Marc Maron, if everything was going well at SNL. In response, the comedian said:
I think so. I mean, I hope we’re on the air.
The host then asked why they wouldn’t be, and Yang replied with:
After this Colbert shit?
Maron then noted that the show is at NBC, and Yang said that he was right. However, while seemingly referencing the Paramount and Skydance merger and the potential for business deals like that to happen at other networks, he said:
Yeah, you’re right. There’s no – but if they decide to merge out of nowhere, I don’t know.
Along with this point, they also spoke about how, in this media landscape that’s ever evolving to be more and more social media and clip-based, SNL doesn’t have to change. Meanwhile, late-night talk shows have had to adapt and evolve a bit more.
However, the political aspect of it all was at the base of this conversation. After Colbert’s program wound up on the list of canceled shows, there has been a lot of speculation about whether it was politically motivated. Doland Trump did say that he loved that The Late Show got canceled on Truth Social, via THR, and he said, “I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next.” However, amid this and Paramount Global’s merger with Skydance, it’s been maintained that Colbert’s cancellation was a financial decision.
To that point, Yang and Maron discussed the political satire on Saturday Night Live and whether they were worried about it. The long-time cast member specifically spoke about James Austin Johnson, who has been impersonating Trump on the show for years now, saying:
I got dinner with fantastic writer, Will Stephen, and we were talking about this. We were like, ‘OK, what’s the vibe going to be going back?’ And we were talking about this like ‘What’s the vibe going to be going back?’ And when we were both talking about, we were talking about James Austin Johnson. We were like, ‘Should he be worried at all?’ All it takes is for Trump to say one thing about him.
This notion of politics playing into what might or might not air on the 2025 TV schedule has certainly been amplified following the cancellation of The Late Show. The Wicked actor clarified that he’s not trying to make people scared; he’s simply thinking about how a show like Saturday Night Live might be impacted by the ongoing discourse. He explained:
So, anyway, we were just talking about him. We’re not – I don’t want to engender any sort of fear on anyone’s behalf, but it’s just like, I just think I’m interested to see what the show will be like.
Back when Colbert’s show was canceled, Bowen Yang reacted, telling iHeart Radio that it was “so tragic.” He also called it “a really dark day,” explaining that “the way that these networks are being consolidated is really, really bleak.” Those comments fall right in line with this discussion about the potential future of Saturday Night Live.
At the moment, it’s unclear if all of this will impact SNL or not. However, when it returns to the air for Season 51, we’ll be sure to keep you updated on what happens and how it fits into this ongoing conversation about the future of late-night television.
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