Taylor Tomlinson To Bring The Laughs ‘After Midnight’ As New Late-Night Host 

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Taylor Tomlinson appears on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert”
Nov. 1, 2023, to officially announce her new job as host of the CBS late-night show “After Midnight.” (Photo via Scott Kowalchyk/CBS)

Taylor Tomlinson, the major theater comedy draw with two Netflix specials, has once again broken new ground. Known for her life-probing look at one’s twenties, she will now helm the just announced CBS late-night show “After Midnight,” scheduled to follow “The Colbert Report.”

Taking over James Corden’s wildly successful “The Late Late Show,” Tomlinson becomes the sole woman to helm a late night talker. Smart, incisive and self-effacing, the pony-tailed comedian embodies the zeitgeist of Millennials and Gen Z making their way through an increasingly fraught world while trying to hang onto their sanity and have some fun.

Based on Comedy Central’s 2013 “After Midnight with Chris Hardwick,” featuring the host playing a series of internet-related games with a panel of comics, the new show sees showrunners Jack Martin and Eric Pierce leading the show with Jo Firestone as head writer. Colbert, who announced the news on his show last night with a cameo from Tomlinson and a clearly aghast Zoom photo of the new host receiving the news, is also one of the executive producers.

As Colbert shares in a press release, “My hope is that, every night, After Midnight will be just as ridiculous as the internet is every day. Plus, the original @midnight aired after The Colbert Report, so welcoming this new show to 12:30 feels like coming home.”

With “Half Life Crisis” and “Look At You” being among Netflix’s best-performing comedy specials, Tomlinson made up for any lost touring momentum during COVID by creating two hours of incisive comedy. Targeting the reality of being 20-something, she defined a new niche for people coming of age in the social media age.

At 29, Tomlinson is no less than two decades younger than the other late night hosts, making her the clear face of the next generation. In the midst of a major theater tour, the likable stand-up who got her start on the Christian comedy circuit at 15 is ready for the next horizon. Thankfully, it will be giving late night network television a brand new, even fresher perspective.