Stephen Colbert entered the final week to say goodbye to The late show May 21 is set as the deadline.
Colbert invited the predecessor of The Late Show, the great David Letterman, Thursday evening May 14, 2026.
To celebrate the end of an era, the two late-night comedians entered the Ed Sullivan Theater.
The audience and viewers were stunned when both of them threw some filming props at the channel’s logo.
The late show host Colbert followed an approach of inviting stars and his industry friends.
These included Kimmel, Oliver, Meyers and Fallon, as well as Tom Hanks, Julia Louis Dreyfus and former President Barack Obama.
Letterman was greeted with a long standing ovation with a buzz Seven Nations Army play as background music.
Letterman took the stage and made friends with Colbert.
He said, “Well, you know what happened backstage? I’m backstage, a guy comes up, he says he’s from CBS and he fires me. What’s going on there?!” Letterman pushed his signature satire.
“I have every right to be pissed, so I’m going to be a little pissed here,” he continued.
“This theater, you wouldn’t be in this theater without me, and Stephen wouldn’t be here without me.
“And we rebuilt this theater, and then Stephen came in and looked at this? It’s like the Bellagio. But look… as we all understand, you can take a man’s show, you can’t take a man’s voice.”
Letterman then asked Colbert if Skydance owned the furniture on stage, and Colbert said the network did.
Letterman paid a few stagehands to remove the couches before the two sat with the audience and reminisced about their time at the Ed Sullivan Theater.
The two comedy powerhouses then took to the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater to engage in reckless destruction of CBS property.
Stephen Colbert’s 11-year stint at CBS as host of The late show ends May 21, 2026.
