Originally appeared on E! Online
Stephen Colbert is sharing a message for his replacement.
Ahead of the May 21 series finale of The Late Show, the host shared how he reacted to learning that the long-running late night show would be replaced by comedian-turned-media-executive Byron Allen’s comedy talk series Comics Unleashed.
“When I found out, I wrote him the next morning,” Stephen told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published May 7. “I said, ‘Hey, congrats. I heard you got the time. Good for you. Wouldn’t it be lovely if you could drop Mr. Carson a note?’”
Indeed, the 61-year-old was referencing Byron’s legacy as the youngest comedian to ever perform on The Tonight Show when it was hosted by the late Johnny Carson in 1979.
“God bless him. I know Byron,” he continued. “We got to know each other last year, actually. He’s fascinating.”
As for his thoughts on being replaced by another traditional late night comedy show? Stephen added, “It’s none of my business.”
READ Who Is Byron Allen? Meet the High-Powered Producer Taking Over Stephen Colbert's Time Slot
Though he is supportive of his late night replacement, he said he was initially blindsided in July when he learned that CBS would sunset The Late Show after 33 years because the show is purportedly “not making any money.”
Meanwhile, Stephen—who began hosting The Late Show in 2015—is cautiously curious to see what the future of late night TV holds and how it will affect his fellow talk show hosts like Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon.
“I don’t know what it’s going to be, and I don’t know what I can do to help other than what I did the last 11 years,” the Colbert Report alum shared. “But one night I’ll turn on the TV and probably no one will be there.”
But as he enters his final month of shows, Stephen knows for certain what he wants The Late Show’s legacy to be.
“I want to be remembered as a comedy show,” he concluded. “We harvest laughter for a living, and ultimately that’s the thing I want more than anything else. I just want to make the audience laugh.”
Ahead of Stephen’s final show on May 21, read on to learn the fate of other TV shows…
