Instead of The Late Show, CBS should have replaced Stephen Colbert with a legendary talk show host who has a growing cult following.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert during Monday’s July 14, 2025 show. Photo: Scott Kowalchyk ©2025 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Credit: Scott Kowalchyk ©2025 CBS Broadcasting Inc.

After The Late Show premiered on CBS in 1993, it remained a cornerstone of the network’s programming for decades. Even though Stephen Colbert commenting on Donald Trump still garners a lot of attention, he will soon be leaving CBS when the network’s late-night talk show is canceled after all those years.

After CBS announced it was ending The Late Show franchise, many observers argued that the network didn’t need to cancel its talk show entirely. Instead, the network could have transitioned Colbert out. If they could have shown Colbert the door in a way that didn’t cause immense controversy, CBS should have done so and hired a legendary talk show host to take over The Late Show franchise.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and guest Craig Ferguson during Friday’s May 3, 2019 show. Photo: Scott Kowalchyk/CBS ©2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Credit: Scott Kowalchyk/CBS

Why CBS should have hired Craig Ferguson to host The Late Show

Of course, it should go without saying that getting Craig Ferguson to take over The Late Show from Stephen Colbert would have been a difficult trick for CBS to pull off for two main reasons. First off, Ferguson previously quit his longstanding talk show after becoming tired of the format and the grind after several years. Secondly, Ferguson likely wouldn’t take the job if Colbert were forced out in any kind of nasty way.

While those stumbling blocks could be huge impediments, it seems very hard to believe that they would have been impossible to overcome if CBS wanted to hire Ferguson. As a result, even if the task had been difficult to pull off, CBS should have at least seriously tried to recruit Ferguson to take over The Late Show for several reasons.

The first, and most obvious, reason why Ferguson should have been given the keys to The Late Show franchise is that he was a truly special host. When he hosted The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson between 2005 and 2014, he constantly proved that he could build a fascinating rapport with virtually any of his guests. As a result, Ferguson regularly got his guests who could be guarded on other talk shows to relax and have fun discussions with him.

Another reason why Ferguson would have made the late-night talk show landscape better is how hilarious he often was. All anyone who doesn’t know what made Ferguson such a funny host needs to do is look up compilations on YouTube of his laugh attacks on his show. When Ferguson would be overcome with a fit of laughter on his show, it was incredibly delightful and infectious. Another part of what made Ferguson such an amusing talk show host was that he would often ask his guests about extremely random and surprising topics that could result in hilarity.

The most important reason why Ferguson should have taken over hosting The Late Show is because of the integrity he always appeared to be trying to operate with. A monologue that Ferguson delivered on his past talk show about Britney Spears, which can be found on YouTube, exemplifies what kind of host he was.

At the height of the media relentlessly mocking Spears, Ferguson went on his show and spoke for 12 minutes about why he wasn’t going to join in anymore. After admitting that he’d been part of the media judging struggling stars in the past, Ferguson pledged not to be part of that culture any longer. It is important to note that Ferguson also managed to make his monologue funny and charming while expressing a sentiment he cared about. The world needs more figures in the public eye who are at least trying to be responsible like that.