CBS Plans January 16 Launch for ‘After Midnight’

CBS kicks off a new era in late-night on Tuesday, January 16, when it launches “After Midnight” at 12:37 a.m. hosted by comic Taylor Tomlinson.

The series, which will rely on a rotating series of panelists to discuss the latest trends and memes in the digi-sphere, will follow an original hour of CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

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“After Midnight,” based on the premise of “@midnight,” a program that ran on Comedy Central between 2013 and 2017,” breaks late-night tradition at CBS, which has long depended on a more typical program after 12:30 a.m. But network executives, realizing that the business of wee-hours TV is in flux, canceled “The Late Late Show” that has run for decades in that slot, hosted by people such as Tom Snyder, Craig Kilborn, Craig Ferguson and James Corden. “After Midnight” is said to cost significantly less to produce — a boon in an era when more viewers are prone to watch late-night favorites through clips distributed across social media.

“All the broadcast networks in that space have to be really thoughtful about what we spend, how we spend and how we invest. You can’t be locked into some of the legacy elements of the format,” CBS CEO George Cheeks told Variety last year.

The new series is backed by CBS Studios, Spartina Industries and Funny Or Die, and is executive produced by Stephen Colbert, Carrie Byalick, Tom Purcell and Evelyn McGee Colbert of Spartina Industries; James Dixon of Dixon Talent; Joe Farrell, Mike Farah, Whitney Hodack and Henry R. Muñoz III of Funny Or Die; and Jason U. Nadler of Serious Business. Jack Martin and Eric Pierce are co-showrunners and executive producers. Nadler co-created the Funny Or Die-produced “@midnight,” while Martin was the series’ showrunner through all four seasons. Jo Firestone is co-executive producer and head writer while Alexx Wells will also serve as co-executive producer. Sharon Everitt will direct.

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