Stephen Colbert Party Monday, July 21.
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Scott Kowalchyk/CBS
This is the week when the comedy comes back. Difficult.
I mean: When federal regulators approved the $8 billion merger of entertainment group Paramount with Skydance on Thursday, media analysts like me began to doubt.
Approval comes about a week after Paramount-owned CBS announced its cancellation Partycurrently hosted by Stephen Colbert, who is not shy about criticism of President Trump and the administration. Many inquired thoughts asked: Can it be limited by the president's outstanding and vocal critics' actions that helped the deal?
But if anyone thinks Colbert’s cancellation (until his contract ends in May 2026) might curb political commentary in other areas of the Paramount Media Empire, they have different academic qualifications over the past week.
Jon Stewart hosted last Monday Daily performance, It airs on Paramount-owned Comedy Center. He made a bubble monologue, questioning the CBS statement asserting that Colbert's cancellation was “purely financial decisions” and ended up joining the Gospel Choir to media companies, law firms, universities and other media companies, law firms, universities and other institutions that might review themselves to avoid angering the government.
“You are now looking to cancel, review and control the shows… in the $8 billion worth of value, that doesn't matter what comes from these shows,” Stewart said enthusiastically. “That's what makes you that money.”
“Is this pure finance?” Jon Stewart wants to know Daily performance This week after Paramount announced Stephen Colbert's late performance. “Or, maybe the path with the least resistance you have to the $8 billion merger is killing a show you know, you know it's a fragile and revengeful president.” NPR Hidden Title Daily Show / YouTube / Screenshot
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NPR's Daily Show/YouTube/Screenshots
But when another comedy central show, the real surprise is South Parkreleased the first episode of Wednesday's Season 27. The show's creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have just finished tough talks to reach a five-year, $1.5 billion deal with new episodes and streaming rights, which provides many reasons for working with the company to feel good.
Anyone who has been following Stone and Parker's rebellious streak for years can guess what's going on next. Their season premiere, The Sermon on the Mountain, is a savage sharpness, often rough irony—President Trump, Paramount’s cancellation of Colbert, the rise of Christian nationalism in the United States, The Demonization of Ideology, Trump is a strategy to use litigation to get critics to promote litigation.
(They even voted previously approved public media funds to the stereotype about NPR while referring to the recent votes of Congress. The character – who is a fan – called the web “the most fun show ever, and all lesbians and Jews complain about everything.
Thursday, in a group at Comic-Con South Park Creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker were asked if they were looking forward to the White House’s reaction to the new episodes that were performed. “We're very sorry,” Parker died. Jon Kopaloff/gatty Images
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Getty Images by Jon Kopaloff/Paramount
And push back South Park Not surprising to me, the barbs are eye-opening. They show an animation of Trump proposing Satan to lie in bed, depicting the dangers of Jesus Christ warning a group of people that the president can sue them and introduces several scenes that satirize the president's anatomy – Parker and Stone said, who spoke about some excellent comedy center directors.
Watched through the performance business lens, this is a classic case South Park Do what it does best – poke a finger in the eyes of expectation and acceptance. Parker and Stone know that the company has raised a lot of money to do business with them – one thing their fans may not forgive is that the revenue earned from a large amount of revenue will blunt their ironic ribs.
The thrilling barb of the first new show of the 27th season focuses on one of the biggest stories in the exhibition business. I have a feeling of any harm in Paramount or Comedy Center, and the plot may produce ratings for monsters, which adds to a feeling South Park Still related, worth the company's spending dollars. well played.
Although it all happened last week, Colbert also contributed to his monologue. He promised “within the next 10 months, the gloves will be closed” – he swore later, while joking about Trump’s reaction to his cancellation.
Colbert imitated the president's voice, “On Friday, Donald Trump posted, 'I absolutely love that Colbert was fired. His talent was even less than his ratings.” Sir, a disadvantaged man was able to constitute the following ironic witchcraft: Go by yourself.
In the rest of his monologues over the past Monday and last week, Colbert hinted that he didn't fully believe CBS's assertion that his cancellation was just a financial decision and laughed at anonymous sources, saying he lost between $400 and $50 million in a year on his show.
The former master PartyDavid Letterman also weighed last week. Speech with previous videos be late Producer Barbara Gaines, Letterman called CBS’s cancellation of Colbert “pure cowards” and expressed doubts that it was purely about finance. Letterman, who was hosting a late-night show, hit with prominent executives from CBS and NBC, said the company “handled the network’s face Stephen Colbert in the way he deserved.”
I think what we learned this week is that comedians and satirists have a more direct and dramatic way to fight against real or perceived corporate pressure – show fans immediately that they won’t be intimidated.
News media targeting similar pressures may have to wait for the next high-profile news report to show their independence – Staff 60 minutes Public doubt remains faced after tensions over a $16 million lawsuit settlement with President Trump.
But comics and satirists like Stewart, Colbert, Parker, and Stone can step up their efforts when they observe their views in the world – it's clear that if their show is cancelled, they will need a loyal audience who value their voices to follow anywhere they'll be next.