Taylor Tomlinson began the very last episode of After Midnight Thursday night not with a punchline, but with heartfelt gratitude.
“Welcome to the last episode of After Midnight,” she said at the top of a seven-minute monologue that marked her first substantive public comments on the show’s end. “As you can imagine, it’s a very emotional night. I never thought I would be able to host a late-night show… because I just did not think it was possible for me.”
Tomlinson, who rose to fame as a touring stand-up, reflected on the surreal journey of hosting her own nightly show on CBS. “This was never something that was on my vision board,” she confessed. “I’m a garbage person… I’m a rat road dog comedian.”
And yet, despite the imposter-syndrome-adjacent humor, Tomlinson made it clear she felt immense pride—and even more love—for the team that made After Midnight possible.
“I just can’t believe that I got to do it as long as I did,” she said, before paying tribute to the show’s crew. “The amount of work that goes into doing a show like this is insane. We did not have the budget of a traditional late-night show… and everyone here was doing the job of like several people.”
She shouted out writers, bookers, editors (“who start editing the show while it’s still happening”), and even the props department, who were tasked with sourcing lasagna that “looks good on television.” She praised the makeup and wardrobe teams, her fellow comics, the show’s researchers, the social media staff, and Percy Rustomji—the show’s legendary warm-up comic. “No one is better at their job than Percy,” she said. “Whenever people do this show, they leave and they’re like, ‘This should be Percy’s show.’ I agree with you, by the way.”
Tomlinson also addressed why she chose to step away: “It was just not sustainable for me,” she said. “It was my dream that I would get to finish out the season and hand it off to a new host. I really wanted CBS to replace me… because I just think there are so many amazing comedians who would have done a great job with the show.”
In the end, her voice cracked with emotion as she thanked everyone involved: “This is the f*cking A-team. There are no weak links here.”
Watch Tomlinson’s full remarks at the top of this post.
As we’ve reported, news of After Midnight’s cancellation first broke in late March. Though the show was said to have already been quietly renewed for a third season, that decision was reportedly reversed when host Taylor Tomlinson told CBS brass that she planned to step away from the series at the end of its second season to focus on her first love: stand-up comedy.
The show premiered in January 2024 and was a reboot of the Comedy Central cult favorite @midnight. It featured a rotating panel of comedians riffing on trending topics and internet oddities. Though it never commanded the ratings of its time slot predecessor, The Late Late Show with James Corden, it was far less expensive to produce and brought the talented Tomlinson into the CBS fold, earning it a series renewal just five months into its run.
Upon the show’s cancellation in March, After Midnight executive producer Stephen Colbert released a statement that read: “While we were excited and grateful for our third season to start in the fall, we respect Taylor’s decision to return to stand-up full time. I want to thank CBS for their constant support and invaluable partnership on After Midnight and the whole staff for their amazing dedication.”
After Midnight‘s 12:37am time slot will be filled by two back-to-back episodes of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen beginning this fall. According to reporting by LateNighter’s Bill Carter, Allen’s company is purchasing the time from CBS and will handle its own national ad sales.
Like his most recent facelift, another Stephen Colbert failure.
Agreed- the problem with the show was not really Taylor herself, but the hamhanded Colbert political spin with all the insufferable uber-woke neoleftist propagandizing that implies…e.g., pushing unfunny ‘drag queens’ and too many hostlie social justice warrior types grinding their racial resentment axes in the audience’s ears.
This self-righteous Hollywood degenercy to most Americans has become beyond TIREsome…we the weary comedy-seekers demand more FUNNY and way less PREACHY.
“If you set out to Fail and wind up Failing, does that really make you a Success after all?”
Hey CBS,
you better go a’sloggin ’round the moors and call CRAIG FERGUSON out of retirement… for he was the last true latenight comedy host CBS had…and this time let him have a rockin’ band like he always wanted. Otherwise he’ll likely tell you to sod off…but you know that no Scotsman can resist another hoard of coin!