CAL THOMAS COMMENTARY JULY 23, 2025
STEPHEN COLBERT’S SHOW AND TIME SLOT HAS BEEN CANCELLED BY CBS FOR SEVERAL REASONS. AMONG THEM, PITIFUL RATINGS – ONLY 2.8 MILLION WATCH, — THE COST (COLBERT IS PAID $20 MILLION AND HAS A STAFF OF 100. HE ALSO FOCUSED TOO MUCH ON POLITICS. PEOPLE WANT TO BE ENTERTAINED, NOT HAVE A STEADY STREAM OF ANTI-TRUMP AND ANTI-REPUBLICAN GARBAGE CONSTANTLY THROWN AT THEM.
THE LATE-NIGHT FORMULA CREATED BY STEVE ALLEN FOR THE ORIGINAL TONIGHT SHOW ON NBC WORKED FOR YEARS. ALLEN WAS FOLLOWED BY JACK PAAR, JOHNNY CARSON AND JAY LENO, NONE OF WHOM DID PARTISAN POLITICS. IN A 1979 INTERVIEW WITH MIKE WALLACE FOR “60 MINUTES,” CARSON WAS ASKED WHY HE DIDN’T DO POLITICS ON HIS SHOW. HE REPLIED: “TELL ME THE LAST TIME JACK BENNY, RED SKELTON, ANY COMEDIAN, USED HIS SHOW TO DO SERIOUS ISSUES.” CARSON CALLED SERIOUS ISSUES “A DANGER” FOR A COMEDIAN. “ONCE YOU START THAT,” HE SAID, “YOU START TO GET THAT SELF-IMPORTANT FEELING THAT WHAT YOU SAY HAS GREAT IMPORT…YOU COULD USE THAT SHOW AS A FORUM TO SWAY PEOPLE AND I DON’T THINK YOU SHOULD AS AN ENTERTAINER.”
HE WAS RIGHT. COLBERT WENT ON A FOUL-MOUTHED RANT AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP MONDAY NIGHT. I NEVER WATCHED HIM AND MOST OF THE NATION DIDN’T EITHER. I’M CAL THOMAS.
