byron allen will take over CBS' 11:35 p.m. ET late‑night hour the night after Stephen Colbert signs off — Colbert’s final episode airs May 21, and Allen’s two‑hour comedy block begins May 22.
The arrangement is a time buy that runs through the 2026‑2027 TV season. Allen plans to move two back‑to‑back episodes of his comedy showcase Comics Unleashed into the earlier slot and will keep leasing the later 12:37 a.m. hour for the game show Funny You Should Ask.
CBS hasn’t disclosed how much Allen or Allen Media Group is paying for either hour. In a time buy, the company leasing the time sells the advertising, so the network earns the airtime fee even if its late‑night ratings dip without its long‑running talk franchise.
Network insiders say both shows will be treated as national network programming and the network expects affiliates to clear the late‑night lineup. Allen has used the 12:37 a.m. hour before — first after the end of The Late Late Show with James Corden in 2023–24 and again in September 2025 — so this isn’t his first move into CBS late night.
Comics Unleashed originally filmed roughly 233 episodes between 2006 and 2016 in syndication and returned to production with new episodes for the 2025–26 season on CBS. Allen is listed as an executive producer alongside Carolyn Folks, Jennifer Lucas, Jodi Miller, Peter Steen and Dylan King.
Funny You Should Ask premiered in syndication in September 2017 and is hosted by Jon Kelley. Its executive producers include Allen, Carolyn Folks, Jennifer Lucas, Bob Boden, Jodi Miller, Peter Steen, Scott Satin and Eric Charbonnel.
“I created and launched ‘Comics Unleashed’ 20 years ago so my fellow comedians could have a platform to do what we all love – make people laugh,” Allen, founder/chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group, said in a statement. He has long signaled interest in the 11:35 p.m. slot, and this deal finally gives him a full late‑night hour on CBS.
