Chris Hardwick Reportedly Won't Return for '@midnight' Reboot

CBS is reportedly replacing The Late Late Show with a revival of @Midnight, but former host Chris Hardwick will not be involved at all. Hardwick was the host and one of the executive producers of @Midnight for its entire run from 2013 to 2017 when it was canceled by Comedy Central. Now it will return in fresh hands and perhaps with some shakeups to the format.

James Corden announced last year that he would be leaving The Late Late Show in mid-2023, and since then the future of that time slot has been up in the air. CBS president George Cheeks has said that he is open to all kinds of unconventional ideas to take that slot, and on Wednesday Deadline reported that it would be @Midnight. Sources familiar with the project said that the new version of @Midnight would take over the 12:30 a.m. ET time slot with Late Show host Stephen Colbert as an executive producer.

These insiders said that Hardwick was not expected to have any "direct involvement," though of course, his history as the show's original host will stand out to fans. @Midnight ran for 600 episodes on Comedy Central, consisting mostly of pop culture and internet news roundups, interviews and games. The insiders said that the new version will likely make some changes to the games and the content while the format will be the most recognizable part.

So far, no one has agreed to comment on this project on the record, so details can't be confirmed. However, the insiders said that part of the reasoning for this choice was the hope that it would appeal to younger audiences. Network execs even noted that a show like this might gain traction in the form of clips on social media after the fact. The other main reason was that this show will be much cheaper than The Late Late Show at just over half the price.

It's not surprising that Hardwick will reportedly be left out of the @Midnight revival as he has been more or less absent from the TV industry since 2018. The comedian faced highly-publicized allegations of emotional and sexual abuse from his ex-girlfriend, actress Chloe Dykstra, which caused AMC, NBC and Nerdist to all temporarily cut ties with Hardwick. However, the companies all conducted internal investigations of Hardwick's behavior and decided later to reinstate him. Dykstra said that she had chosen not to cooperate with their investigations.

These days, Hardwick hosts his own independent podcast, ID10T, which puts out episodes sporadically. He also performs live stand-up comedy around the U.S. but is not active on social media. Hardwick's last TV appearance was in 2019. He has not commented on the reports of an @Midnight revival. For now, The Late Late Show continues to air on weeknights at 12:30 p.m. ET on CBS.