Stephen Colbert takes stage of "The Late Show" one last time
Stephen Colbert said goodbye to "The Late Show" for the final time Thursday night as the franchise came to an end after 33 years.
Updated on: May 22, 2026 / 1:20 AM EDT / CBS News
Stephen Colbert said goodbye to "The Late Show" Thursday night in the franchise's finale following a 33-year run, saying he was "lucky enough to be here for the last 11 years" and never took the experience for granted.
"There is so much history here in the Ed Sullivan Theater, and we've been honored to have been just a small part of it," Colbert said in his opening monologue.
In the opening of the show, Colbert emphasized the "joy" the show brought him and cast members throughout the 11 years and over 1,800 episodes.
"We call it the joy machine, because to do this many shows, it has to be a machine. But the thing is, if you choose to do it with joy, it doesn't hurt as much when your fingers get caught in the gears," Colbert said. "And I cannot adequately explain to you what the people who work here have done for each other and how much we mean to each other."
The final show, which ran 17 minutes longer than its usual hour, was packed with surprise cameos from celebrities such as " The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart, comedian Tig Notaro, actors Ryan Reynolds, Paul Rudd, Bryan Cranston and Don Cheadle and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.