Stephen Colbert’s final week: These are the guests tonight, Wednesday, May 20, on ‘The Late Show’
It’s the end of an era as ‘The Late Show’ airs for the final time, after CBS’ decision to axe the late night talk show which has run for 33 years.
All good things come to an end. After 33 years - the last nine of which as the highest-rated late-night talk show in the US, the final episode of ‘The Late Show’ will air on Thursday. Stephen Colbert, who has hosted the show since 2015 will bid farewell from the set at Ed Sullivan Theater.
Last July, CBS and its parent company Paramount announced the cancellation of the ‘The Late Show’ franchise, citing a financial reasons behind taking the decision. Many feel that the real reason might actually be political, with Colbert unable to mask his disdain of US president Donald Trump.
Trump appears to be overjoyed that ‘The Late Show’ is being axed and Colbert is out of work. “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings,” he wrote in a Truth Social post.
Surprise guests for Colbert’s send-off
The guest for the penultimate show which airs this evening is Bruce Springsteen. The Boss, who will perform a song from his vast repertoire tonight, has been a guest on the show several times and took the “Colbert Questionert” during his appearance in October 2021.
Details of Thursday’s final episode, number 1,799, have yet to emerge although it is believed that the show will be extended beyond it’s one-hour run time. The guests who will appear on Colbert’s send-off have not been announced.
The last episode of ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ will air at 11:35 p.m. on Thursday May 21. Its CBS timeslot has been sold to Byron Allen with his series ‘Comics Unleashed’ moving into the vacant, hour-long slot.
It will be an emotional goodbye for Colbert: “I tried never to take for granted filming in the Ed Sullivan Broadway theater, having that tremendous audience or having the ability to work with the funniest people I know every day and make jokes about the things that make me most anxious,” the 62-year-old told USA Today. “You can’t do this forever. Who knows, maybe CBS saved my life... Because it takes a lot of bone marrow to do the show every day, and now I’ll be stepping down with enough time, enough energy to do other things that I want to do.”
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