How Stephen Colbert Ended 'The Late Show' With Help From Paul McCartney, Ryan Reynolds & More

So, who has CBS tapped to fill the Stephen Colbert-sized hole in their lineup now that the late night host has officially said goodbye to The Late Show With Stephen Colbert—which he’d helmed since 2015—with help from his celebrity pals? Funny you should ask...

"If they’re looking for a show, my hand is already up," comedian and media mogul Byron Allen said during a New York’s Advertising Week panel last October, per Variety. Continued the Allen Media Group CEO, whose Comics Unleashed series had been post-Late Show off and on since 2023, "Fifty years, I've been waiting for this moment. Definitely, I’m going for it."

Now he's ready to bring the laughs, CBS announcing April 6 that they will fill Colbert's time slot—which ended May 21—with back-to-back episodes of Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen, followed by Allen's game show Funny You Should Ask.

"I created and launched Comics Unleashed 20 years ago so my fellow comedians could have a platform to do what we all love—make people laugh," he shared in a statement, noting he appreciated CBS' confidence in his shows "because the world can never have enough laughter."

Who Is Byron Allen?

Born in Detroit, Allen has been making moves since elementary school. What was meant to be a two-week vacation in Los Angeles, turned into forever, when his mom Carolyn Folks landed a job as NBC's first-ever intern. 

Her gig meant Allen, now 65, spent his formative years on the network's lot. "I fell in love with television," he explained in a 2019 C-Suite Quarterly profile. "The art of making television, and the business of making television and being a comedian."

He began doing standup at the Comedy Store in L.A. at 14—standing in the back between sets as not to jeopardize their liquor license—where he was discovered by Good Times star Jimmie "J.J." Walker. 

Accepting an invite to Walker's apartment, he detailed, "there was David Letterman, who had just driven out from Indianapolis in a red pickup truck; Jay Leno, who was sleeping in his car; and Marty Nadler, who went on to produce Laverne & Shirley and Happy Days." 

His big break came one week before his high school graduation when Allen became the youngest comedian to perform on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. A job hosting NBC's Real People followed and soon Allen was balancing film school at the University of Southern California with opening for Lionel Richie and Dolly Parton. 

Is Byron Allen Married?

Allen has been mixing business with pleasure for the better part of two decades. Having already produced MTV's dating series DisMissed, his future bride Jennifer Lucas was working as a supervising producer at Allen's company when they met in April 2001.

After five years of dating and a months-long engagement, they wed at Beverly Hill's Hotel Bel-Air in September 2007, their roughly 120 guests including pals like Eddie Murphy and Natalie Cole. 

In addition to collaborating on various entertainment projects—Lucas is a producer on Comics Unleased and Funny You Should Ask, along with films like Replicas, Friend Request and Boss Level—the pair are parents to daughters Chloe, 17, Olivia, 16, and son Lucas, 13.

And Allen isn't the only one making moves on the small screen. Keep reading to check out more shows you could soon be binge-watching.