With CBS cancelling The Late Show, plenty of people, including former Tonight Show host Jay Leno, have suggested that the industry has become too partisan. During a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter published on Tuesday, HBO’s Last Week Tonight host John Oliver claimed he would not be taking advice from Leno and suggested such criticism would lead to boring comedy.
Lucy Rose asked, “You’ve had success having a point of view on your show, as Colbert has, at least in the ratings. Late night used to be broad, unifying entertainment. I know Jay Leno recently spoke on this topic, about making a show for everyone…”
Oliver interrupted and dismissed the idea out of hand, “I’m going to take a hard pass on taking comedic advice from Jay Leno.”
Rose put Leno the man aside but still asked about his idea, “Fair enough, but should these shows still try to be for everyone, or is that as antiquated as the tanning bed?”
That didn’t make any sense to Oliver:
Who thinks that way? Executives? Comedy can’t be for everyone. It’s inherently subjective. So, yeah, when you do stand-up, some people try to play to a broader audience, which is completely legitimate. Others decide not to, which is equally legitimate. I guess I don’t think it’s a question of what you should do because I don’t think comedy is prescriptive in that way. It’s just what people want. I think our show clearly comes from a point of view, but most of those long stories we do are not party political. They’re about systemic issues. Our last few shows were about gang databases, AI slop, juvenile justice, med spas, air traffic control. I’m not saying that these don’t have a point of view in them. Of course they do. But I hope a lot of them actually reach across people’s political persuasions. You want people to at least be able to agree on the problem, even if you disagree on what the solution to it is.
Having a cable show allows Oliver to focus on a niche audience, but that is a luxury Colbert did not have. Saying comedy “can’t be for everyone” is obvious—different people have different senses of humor or things they find offensive—but that does not mean that the line should be drawn over politics. What Leno and others have pointed out is that there is a difference between joking that President Trump dances funny to the Village People and saying he’s a fascist who is going to destroy democracy while most jokes about Democrats are from the left and lament their inability, or unwillingness, to stand up to said alleged fascism.
Colbert was a victim of market forces that ruled that the network 11:30 late night show does not make sense in 2025. Colbert needed—and his fellow network hosts still need—every viewer they can get, but they seem content on driving them away.
