It all comes down to this.
After 198 episodes of chaotic comedy, absurd internet memes, and just the right amount of Paul F. Tompkins, After Midnight is closing the curtain tonight. And for its series finale, the late-night internet-panel game show is going out with a bang. The final three players set to compete are no strangers to the digital madness: Gillian Jacobs, Marcella Arguello, and Paul F. Tompkins.
Each earned their spot in the finale by winning earlier this week—Jacobs on Monday, Arguello on Tuesday, and Tompkins on Wednesday—proving they’ve still got what it takes to go toe-to-toe in a final round of weaponized irony.
Gillian Jacobs, best known for her work on Community and her low-key lethal deadpan delivery, enters the finale with 5 appearances and 3 wins under her belt.
Marcella Arguello, a fearless stand-up with a killer instinct for clapbacks, enters the finale with 5 appearances and 2 wins—her razor-sharp wit tailor-made for the show’s lightning-fast pace.
And then there’s Paul F. Tompkins, an After Midnight legend with a record 10 appearances and 5 wins. The podcast king and suit-wearing wordplay wizard might just be the most meme-literate gentleman in late night history.
Tonight marks the show’s 199th—and final—episode. Though fans were hoping for a round 200, After Midnight is ending one shy, in classic internet fashion: abruptly and ironically.
The show, a spiritual successor to @midnight, has cultivated a cult following of comedy nerds, insomniacs, and Very Online people. While the finale will crown a champion, it will also close a strange and beautiful chapter of late-night television, one that a handful of the show’s most memorable guests pay tribute to in a new LateNighter feature article, out today.
Who will win? Who will break? And who will meme their way into history? Find out tonight, when the final three log on for one last round of late-night chaos.
CBS announced in March that After Midnight would not be returning in the fall after host Taylor Tomlinson decided not to renew her contract. Though the show had reportedly already been quietly renewed for a third season, CBS apparently balked at the idea of bringing in a new host. Starting September 22, the show’s timeslot will be filled with episodes of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen.
After Midnight‘s series finale airs tonight at 12:37am on CBS and will stream next day on Paramount+.
