‘Farewell Colbert’: A Poem by Warren Bonham

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Farewell Colbert

Late-night TV, when it started,
didn’t have a path yet charted,
but had teams of wise advisors
who knew they’d need advertisers.

Advertisers wanted viewers,
who demanded interviewers
that could make their lives seem brighter,
while they sold what made teeth whiter.

That became the rationale in
choosing Carson, Paar, and Allen.
Charismatic and flamboyant,
every episode was buoyant.

Time went by, and each seat holder
lost a step as they got older.
New hosts came, and each addition,
caused the model to transition.

Kimmel, Fallon, and Seth Meyers
are now merely amplifiers
of progressive machinations,
which they praise in their orations.

They hate more than half the nation,
which just caused the cancellation
of Colbert, who took great pleasure
killing off a once great treasure.

They sell Kool-Aid few are drinking,
then ask why their shows are shrinking,
but if they tried being funny,
maybe they’d start making money.

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Poet’s Note: The late-night television interview format officially began on September 27, 1954, when Steve Allen hosted the first episode of The Tonight Show on NBC. CBS launched its version called The Late Show in 1993, with David Letterman as the host. Stephen Colbert took over that show in 2015. CBS announced its cancellation for financial reasons on July 17, 2025. It will end in May 2026.

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Warren Bonham is a private equity investor who lives in Southlake, Texas.