As a millennial, I grew up in an era when late-night television transitioned from being funny to being political. This transition made late-night TV unfunny.

Jay Leno and David Letterman were liberal-leaning, to be sure. Still, their audiences tuned in for their monologues ripping into former President Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, covering the O.J. Simpson trial, or lambasting former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Everyone was fair game. Today, late-night hosts are just political commentators with a team of comedy writers. But those writers all too often appear afraid to write jokes unless said jokes have a hint of disdain for normal America or conservatives.

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This explains why Stephen Colbert, CBS’s late-night TV host, announced this week to his studio audience that his show is being canceled. This isn’t just CBS axing its late-night host; it is canceling a comedic institution that has been around for decades. Colbert will continue his nightly show until May 2026, but he and his supporters aren’t very happy.

Colbert, Democratic politicians, and other warriors of the Left are blaming President Donald Trump for the cancellation. They’re saying it’s a result of CBS’s 60 Minutes settlement with Trump after a highly edited interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris. Leftists are also speculating that CBS is kowtowing to the White House so its merger with Paramount goes through, and Republicans wanted Colbert axed before his commentary could negatively affect them in the midterm elections.

The thing is, it’s kind of hard to affect elections and the minds of voters when no one is watching you! Americans want irreverence, truth tellers, and laughter. Americans didn’t watch Colbert, which is why his show was losing $40 million a year — yes, $40 million.

For an example of actual comedy, consider the massive success of the Netflix live-streamed Tom Brady roast. It saw comedians joke about Nazi-esque facial hair, and poke fun at Kevin Hart’s stature. Tony Hinchcliffe said MMA founder Dana White loves Trump because they both like to put immigrants in cages. It was hilarious.

For another example, what about the Shane Gillis tour? The once canceled comedian was denied his promised job on Saturday Night Live because of a podcast interview in which he imitated an Asian. Now, five years later, he has a recurring show on Netflix, and he has returned to SNL as a host (honestly, if I were him, I would have roasted Lorne Michaels in that monologue a la Norm Macdonald!) And, Gillis’s ESPY Awards hosting gig was the talk of the internet this past week despite the stuffy audience being afraid to laugh.

Comedians such as the family-friendly Nate Bargatze and the contrasting crude Ricky Gervais and Dave Chappelle are necessary in comedy and society. Bill Burr, Andrew Schultz, and others have ventured into the sacred realm of talking about abortion and in vitro fertilization and still made their audiences cry with laughter. The truth: comedians can save the First Amendment in a world where the Left, Right, and center want to cancel anyone for saying something that they or their constituency finds mildly offensive. But we need at least somewhat bipartisan offenders. The reason The Late Show is failing is that it stopped being funny, it stopped entertaining, and it stopped surprising the audience. It became boring, predictable, and political.

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What Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Jon Stewart, and others don’t realize is that being a bit risky is good. It creates audience loyalty, engagement, and therefore, money.

They could learn from what Johnny Carson told Mike Wallace years ago: “They think that just because you have a tonight show must mean you deal in serious issues. It’s a danger, it’s a real danger. Once you start that, you start to get that self-important feeling that what you say has great impact, and you know, strangely enough, you could use that show as a platform, and I don’t think you should as an entertainer.”