Over on this page of Time magazine — and yes, like you, I'm surprised Time is still around and doing anything more than crown someone Person of the Year every year — Judy Berman posits that Stephen Colbert is practically daring CBS to throw him off the air before the remaining ten months of his series are up. She writes in part…
…whether you think his response to The Late Show's cancellation is brave or foolish, you can't deny that he's playing his cards perfectly against Paramount and CBS. If the powers that be pull him off the air before May 2026, he'll have all but proven that their decision to dump him was about more than the cost of making his show. And if they resign themselves to letting him say whatever he wants for the next 10 months? Well then, he'll get to say whatever he wants for the next 10 months. I can't imagine either option making his bosses jump for joy.
Interesting theory…and I should mention that now that his employers have gotten what they wanted — the approval of that merger — and Colbert's ratings are up, it is also being theorized Out There that maybe they'll rescind the cancellation notice. Or that he'll wind up at ABC. A friend of mine in the teevee biz wrote me to say, again in part…
It's no secret that Jimmy Kimmel wants to get out of his late night duties on ABC. He's barely even doing his show anymore and I think he and Colbert still have the same agent, James "Baby Doll" Dixon. Could Dixon work a deal where one of his clients replaces the other?
I dunno…but I don't think Disney, which owns ABC, is going to be involved in a merger deal with some big right-wing corporation. And Kimmel has been pretty outspoken in his support of Colbert, as witness this billboard which is turning up around the city…
Plus, you also have the speculations that Colbert may run for elected office…say, against Lindsey Graham for his seat in the Senate. But this all strikes me as people speculating on the plans of people they don't know who probably haven't made any real plans yet. All I'll predict is that Donald Trump is not succeeding, as he's crowing he is, about vanquishing Stephen Colbert.