鈥淕et those bastards off my back.鈥
Like parents, network presidents dread a phone call in the middle of the night. William S. Paley, the visionary executive who transformed the Columbia Broadcasting System from a handful of local radio stations to the dominant force in American radio and television, was woken at three o’clock one morning in 1967 by a phone call from Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson, one of the few people in America more powerful than Paley.
鈥淭he Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour鈥 had been a big success for CBS, with about 30 million viewers each Sunday night. It stood out from some of CBS鈥檚 other hits, notably 鈥淟assie,鈥 鈥淭he Beverly Hillbillies,鈥 and 鈥淕omer Pyle听鈥 USMC,鈥 because Tom and Dick Smothers were urbane and their songs and comedy routines pointedly made fun of the Vietnam War, which fit the zeitgeist.
In skits, the show depicted Johnson, a Texan, as an unpresidential bumpkin. He鈥檇 violated a campaign pledge to not expand the Vietnam War and was regularly met by anti-war protesters chanting, 鈥淗ey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?鈥 The Smothers Brothers were easier to beat than the Vietcong, so he picked up the phone 鈥 the Twitter of its day 鈥 and yelled at Paley, calling the comedians 鈥渂astards.鈥 (Still, they remained on the air until Richard Nixon became president.)
ABC announced Monday that it will reinstate Jimmy Kimmel鈥檚 late-night show in the wake of criticism over his comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. (Sept. 22, 2025)
AP VideoIf comedy is about punching up and speaking truth to power 鈥 that鈥檚 a big if, because no one gets to define comedy, except Mel Brooks 鈥 then politicians and rulers are ideal targets. But sometimes, as we鈥檝e seen several times recently, power punches back.
On Sept. 15, five days after the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, Jimmy Kimmel, in his monologue, said, 鈥淲e hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.鈥
Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications System (FCC), which regulates American radio and TV and has the power to cancel broadcast licenses, denounced Kimmel and vowed action against ABC and other news organizations that serve what he called 鈥減rogressive foie gras.鈥澨
Nexstar, a company that owns more than 200 local TV stations, announced it would 鈥渋ndefinitely pre-empt鈥 Kimmel鈥檚 show, which won praise from Carr. That praise meant a lot to Nexstar, which needs the FCC to approve .
On Sept. 17, ABC suspended Kimmel 鈥渋ndefinitely.鈥 The following day, Carr went on CNBC and declared, in his best Clint Eastwood voice, 鈥淲e鈥檙e not done yet.鈥 (This afternoon, ABC announced that after 鈥渢houghtful conversations with Jimmy,鈥 Kimmel鈥檚 show would resume on Tuesday night. It’ll be interesting to watch if the host remains as acerbic in his jabs against the administration.)
On social media, Trump had more to say about talk show hosts: 鈥淭hat leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!鈥 He鈥檇 undoubtedly like to replace them with sycophants. Who鈥檚 ready for 鈥淭he Tonight Show Starring Jon Voight鈥 or 鈥淟ate Night With Scott Baio鈥?
The ABC imbroglio is the latest chapter in American media鈥檚 growing subservience to Trump. In July, the FCC was deciding whether to approve an $8 billion merger between a company owned by Trump pal Larry Ellison and Paramount, which owns CBS.听A few months earlier, Trump had called for CBS 鈥渢o terminate鈥 the host of 鈥淭he Late Show with Stephen Colbert.鈥听In a remarkable coincidence, network executives, calling it a financial decision, eliminated Colbert鈥檚 show, effective next May.
The FCC ended up approving the merger.
Even some Trump allies believe Carr鈥檚 gone too far. On Sept. 19, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said his stance was and likened him to a Mafia boss. The conservative-leaning Wall Street Journal has published a cascade of critical editorials and opinion columns, in which they鈥檝e accused the FCC of 鈥済overnment censorship鈥 and said Paramount and Disney 鈥渂ent over鈥 for the president.
LBJ鈥檚 successor, Richard Nixon, had his own late-night tormentor: ABC鈥檚 puckish, ascot-wearing Dick Cavett, one of the first media figures to focus on the Watergate break-in. 鈥淚s there any way we can screw him?鈥 Nixon asked an aide, who replied, 鈥淲e鈥檝e been trying to.鈥
In 2001, a few days after almost 3,000 people died in an attack on the World Trade Center in New York, Bill Maher told his audience on “Politically Incorrect” that the terrorists weren鈥檛 cowards, but the U.S. was. 鈥淟obbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away, that鈥檚 cowardly,鈥 he said. Too soon?
The George W. Bush White House objected, Federal Express and Sears pulled their ads, and a few months later, ABC fired Maher. 鈥淧eople have to watch what they say,鈥 White House spokesman Ari Fleischer shrugged at the time.
When there were three national networks on American television, late night had massive audiences and could sway popular opinion. As host of the 鈥淭onight” show, Johnny Carson typically had about 17 million viewers; Colbert, whose ratings currently top late night, has roughly 2.4 million, and the show鈥檚 ad revenue dropped almost 25 per cent from 2022 to 2024.
Streaming and cord-cutting and time-shifting have made these shows unprofitable. It seems like 鈥渢ime is running out for one of TV鈥檚 most beloved formats,鈥 recently.
Nixon鈥檚 subordinates mostly ignored his instructions to punish enemies by auditing their taxes, but Trump staffed his administration with toadies and bootlickers. The Pentagon has begun to leaving some military officials 鈥渟tunned,鈥 Politico reported. And last week Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed to 鈥済o after鈥 (i.e., put people in jail for) hate speech.
Trump has repeatedly bashed the media as 鈥渟o unfair,鈥 and while it鈥檚 unsettling to hear the president speak like an eight-year-old denied ice cream, it reveals his perspective 鈥 鈥渉ate speech鈥 is any speech that criticizes or insults Trump, who, of course, has spewed little but hate speech since 2015, when he started his presidential campaign.
Opposing hate speech is new to some Republicans, who believe in the marketplace of ideas, except when the marketplace rejects them. As recently as last year, a prominent conservative tweeted, 鈥淗ate speech does not exist legally in America. There鈥檚 ugly speech. There鈥檚 gross speech. There鈥檚 evil speech. And ALL of it is protected by the First Amendment.鈥 The person who wrote that, in May 2024, was Charlie Kirk.
For a decade, people who called Trump an authoritarian were accused of overreacting. Maybe they were prognosticating. Recently, a reporter asked Trump, in the Oval Office, if protesters have First Amendment rights. 鈥淚鈥檓 not so sure,鈥 he muttered.
It can be easy to shrug at the specific persecution of late-night hosts, because there aren鈥檛 many of them. But given the way Trump and his minions want to redefine permissible speech and protest, it’s worth remembering that听once a landslide starts at the top of a mountain, it rarely stops until it鈥檚 hit the bottom.
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