Credit: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert When we started the Late Show in 1993, we had the same goals everyone doing talk shows has: make people laugh and never threaten a corporate merger. If Colbert had been #1 and nominated for an Emmy two days prior none of this would have happened.

CBS’ decision to cut ties with Stephen Colbert and its decades-old “Late Show” franchise come next May will leave a major hole in the format — but one that has been widening. TV networks have been cutting costs at their late-night mainstays for the past few years.

W hen CBS embarked on the project of replacing David Letterman as the host of The Late Show, in 2014, the network spared no expense. It hired Stephen Colbert, who had collected Emmys and acclaim while hosting his Comedy Central talk show,