Stephen Colbert's 10-Year Late Show Run Ends as 'Truthiness' Era Outpaces Him
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · May 14
Stephen Colbert's 10-Year Late Show Run Ends as 'Truthiness' Era Outpaces Him
4 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · May 14
Stephen Colbert’s CBS run on “The Late Show” has ended, closing a roughly 10-year stretch that the commentary casts as an ironic finish to his career-defining satire.
“Truthiness” — the term Colbert coined to mock feelings over facts — became more relevant in a polarized media age, yet the piece argues his network-host format never fully adapted to that world.
The essay frames the end less as a single-show finale than as a sign that late-night television struggled to break free of the political and cultural divisions Colbert once anticipated.
With late-night TV dropping political satire, where will audiences now find mainstream cultural critique?
Is nuanced commentary impossible in a media landscape that now rewards sensationalism over substance?
Can legacy media stars truly compete with the individual creators that younger audiences now prefer?