CBS and Paramount won’t limit access to Colbert talk show spoof, for now : NPR

Stephen Colbert attended the Hollywood Reporter’s media celebration of New York’s most powerful people in New York earlier this month. After being ousted from his hosting role on The Late Show, Colbert hosted a local cable show in Monroe, Michigan.

Evan Agostini/Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Invision

hide caption

toggle caption

Evan Agostini/Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Invision

CBS and its parent company Paramount have backed away from efforts to limit the republication of Stephen Colbert’s fake appearance as host of a Michigan talk show called “Only In Monroe.” Colbert released the hour-long parody a day after he was ousted from his nearly 11-year run on “The Late Show.”

“It’s been an excruciating 23 hours without being on TV,” Colbert joked during the show. “So I’m grateful to be here at Monroe Community Media, before they were acquired by Paramount as well.”

The deadpan cameo, which featured rockstar Jack White as an even more deadpan sidekick, quickly went viral. The program was widely reposted on YouTube and other social media platforms, leading CBS to initially issue copyright notices.

“Paramount is apparently trying to prevent copies of ‘Only in Monroe’ from appearing on other social platforms by filing frivolous copyright notices,” longtime X journalist Matthew Keys wrote on Sunday.

In a statement to NPR on Monday, CBS said Colbert’s “Only In Monroe” episode was “financed and produced by CBS Studios” and was approved for distribution on only three YouTube channels: The Late Show, Monroe Community Media and Colbert’s personal channel.

“As is our usual practice, we send copyright notices to unauthorized websites that post copyrighted content from CBS and our network/studio talent such as Stephen Colbert,” the statement said. “However, for this episode, [we] have decided to forgo further application of this standard industry practice until further review.

CBS canceled Colbert’s top-rated late-night show in July 2025, describing the move as a financial decision. But the cancellation also came as Paramount Global — which owns CBS — sought approval from the Trump administration for its $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media.

Colbert, a frequent and vocal critic of President Trump, ended his tenure as host of “The Late Show” on Friday with an all-star cast that included Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney.

His appearance on “Only In Monroe” derived much of its humor from the stark contrast as Colbert moved from one of the most influential jobs in television to a humble local TV set. Guests talked about bigfoot sightings in Michigan and actor Jeff Daniels made sandwiches and introduced the city’s community calendar.

At one point during the “Monroe” appearance, Colbert called Byron Allen, host of “Comics Unleashed,” the show that CBS launched in the old Late Show slot. Allen responded and said, “Is Stephen Colbert the best or what?”

During an interview with NPR’s Newsmakers podcast, Allen told host Ailsa Chang that Colbert is “an American treasure” but said his show would avoid the political comedy that came to define the Late Show during Colbert’s era.

“Not everyone is going to like me,” Allen said. “But there’s one or two percent who would say ‘hell, yeah, I’ll roll with you’ and I learned that from a very young age, and in fact, that simple lesson made me a billionaire.”