A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Some of Stephen Colbert's final guests for his CBS late-night show were a bit unusual - his competitors. Monday night he had on Jimmy Kimmel from ABC, Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers from NBC, and John Oliver from HBO. They kicked off Colbert's final two weeks of shows. His "Late Show" program was canceled by CBS and will air its final episode May 21. CBS has said it canceled Colbert for financial reasons, but fans and media analysts have suggested the network's owner, Paramount, was also silencing Colbert's criticism of President Trump. Kimmel's show was suspended briefly last year after the FCC chair threatened ABC affiliates over some of Kimmel's comments. And Kimmel had a question for Colbert's audience last night.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT")
JIMMY KIMMEL: When I got knocked off the air for a few days, people canceled Disney+. Why isn't...
(CHEERING)
KIMMEL: Why aren't you people canceling Paramount+? 'Cause you didn't have it in the first place?
(LAUGHTER)
MARTÍNEZ: NPR critic-at-large Eric Deggans was watching last night. Eric, so how unusual is it to have these five hosts to appear together on one TV show?
ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE: Well, several of these hosts are direct competitors, but they seem to have deliberately built up these friendships and rejected the competitive hostility from previous generations of hosts. David Letterman, the first host of "The Late Show," went to CBS in 1993 when he was passed over in favor of Jay Leno to take over Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show" on NBC. And later, Conan O'Brien briefly took over "The Tonight Show," but Leno eventually got that hosting job back. And Carson himself was also notoriously competitive. But these five current hosts have done a podcast together, and they've shown up for each other, even amid criticism from President Trump and his wife. In fact, Colbert asked a question about that last night on his CBS show to the other hosts. Let's listen.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT")
STEPHEN COLBERT: Did it ever occur to you that you'd be doing a job that the president of the United States would have strong feelings about?
KIMMEL: You know what's even weirder? We're doing a job that his wife has strong feelings about.
(LAUGHTER)
KIMMEL: That's where it crosses over.
SETH MEYERS: Well, wait, the rest - most of us have avoided that part.
KIMMEL: Yeah. Yeah, that's true.
(LAUGHTER)
MARTÍNEZ: So did any of them talk about the politics behind Colbert's cancellation?
DEGGANS: Well, this was a subject that Kimmel, in particular, seemed eager to bring up. I mean, he said at one point he was waiting for, quote, "angry Stephen" to come out and trash everybody. But, you know, Colbert has been steadfast about not criticizing CBS, even while saying he was surprised by the cancellation. So critics like me think it's odd that Paramount didn't even try to cut costs on "The Late Show." They announced the cancellation just as they were seeking approval from the federal government for a merger deal. And instead, they're ending a franchise that's lasted for more than 30 years.
MARTÍNEZ: So did Colbert give any sign or indication about what he might do later in the future?
DEGGANS: Well, you know, they joked about Colbert moving over to ABC this summer when Kimmel famously takes time off and brings in guest hosts. And I got to say, as a fan of late night, it would be kind of awesome to see Colbert move to CBS's biggest late-night competitor. But Colbert seems to be trying to leave the network gracefully.
And for those who claim that late-night TV is a dying genre, Kimmel insisted that the five shows together draw more audience over broadcast and online platforms than Johnny Carson's show did in its heyday. I mean, I think these hosts have learned that they're stronger standing together. And to that end, they announced release of a special addition to their podcast, "Strike Force Five," on Wednesday. And Kimmel's going to air a rerun on Colbert's final episode day on May 21 so he doesn't compete against it.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR critic-at-large Eric Deggans. Eric, thanks.
DEGGANS: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF JON BATISTE, STAY HUMAN AND STEPHEN COLBERT SONG, "SOUNDS LIKE JAZZ (OUTRO)") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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