Photo: Allen Media Group
Anyone expecting Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen to get a splashy 11:35 makeover will want to temper those expectations, stat.
CBS has released the guest lineup for Allen’s first week in The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s former time slot, and it looks very much like Comics Unleashed as viewers have come to know it over the last two decades: working comics, evergreen banter, and no obvious bid to replicate the star-driven late-night model it is replacing.
That is notable mostly because of the time slot. The 11:35 hour has long been network late night’s marquee stage—a place for A-list guests, big swings, and heavily promoted first nights. Allen’s debut week, by contrast, appears designed to signal continuity rather than reinvention.
Friday night’s time slot premiere will feature comics Hannah Dickinson, Mark Smalls, Lance Woods, and Joe Sib.
The lineup for next week includes:
Monday, May 25
Kaycee Conlee; Skyler Higley; Greg Baldwin; Mattio Martinez
Tuesday, May 26
Johana Coca; Noah Copfer; Marc Theobald; Jeff Leach
Wednesday, May 27
Kim McVicar; Tobe Hixx; Carlos Oscar; Jonathan Flanagan
Thursday, May 28
Maryellen Hooper; Mike Finoia; Chase Anthony; Ramsey Badawi
Friday, May 29
Ali Kolbert; Sean Corvelle; Zak Toscani; Ali Sultan
As it has since moving into CBS’s 12:37am slot last year, Comics Unleashed will air a new episode in its first half-hour, followed by a repeat during the second half of the hour.
The show’s move to 11:35pm expands Allen’s time-buy arrangement with CBS, under which Allen Media Group pays the network for the airtime and sells the advertising itself. With Comics Unleashed moving up to 11:35, another AMG show, Funny You Should Ask will slide into the CU‘s former 12:37am timeslot.
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