The last episode of CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airs Thursday, nearly 11 years after famed David Letterman handed Steven Colbert the reins to the late-night institution he started in in 1992.
Letterman, of course, famously hopped from NBC to CBS in 1992 after Jay Leno was named the successor of Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show. Prior to that, Letterman hosted Late Night with David Letterman on NBC from 1982 to 1993.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert officially kicked off Sept. 8, 2015, with Oscar-winning actor and producer George Clooney and former Florida Republican governor Jeb Bush as Colbert’s first guests.
Whether or not viewers realized it at the time, Bush’s appearance on the show was obviously a foreshadowing of the tone of the show, which, in addition to spotlighting entertainers of the day, also delved into the political arena. The comedian and TV talker, after all, was the host of Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report from 2005 to 2014, on which the former Daily Short correspondent and writer satirized conservative political pundits.
Colbert’s main target on The Late Show over the years (and will no doubt be one last time on Thursday night), of course, was President Donald Trump. While Colbert didn’t mention Trump in his July 2025 announcement that The Late Show was coming to an end, the cancellation was blasted by Democrats and Trump critics as politically motivated, given the news came in the aftermath of Trump’s $16 million legal settlement with CBS over a lawsuit about editing of a 60 Minutes segment.
For the network and its parent company Paramount Global’s part, CBS News reported that the move to end Colbert’s Late Show was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.” Puck News reported, via Forbes, that the show — which staffed 200 people — cost $100 million to produce annually and was losing $40 million a year. As host, Colbert was being paid $15 million a year.
What Time Will The Last ‘Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ Air?
Like in previous years, the last episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will be pre-taped and air at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT on CBS and will be streaming live and available on demand on Paramount+.
The guest list for Colbert’s final show has been shrouded in secrecy, but given the caliber of entertainers who have stopped by in the past week, the names of those attending the show’s swan song are bound to be huge.
Guests earlier this week included Colbert’s Daily Show colleague Jon Stewart, Oscar-winning filmmaker Stephen Spielberg and Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro, as well as rock legend Bruce Springsteen.
Also, in a show of solidarity, Colbert’s fellow talk show hosts Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver — who together hosted the Strike Force Five podcast — appeared on Monday’s episode. David Letterman, appropriately, also appeared as a guest on May 14.
As for what Colbert has planned when The Late Show ends, the entertainer has at least one high-profile gig in the works. An ardent Lord of the Rings fan, Colbert is getting the ultimate opportunity from Oscar-winning Return of the King filmmaker Peter Jackson to write the screenplay for the upcoming Lord of the Rings movie Shadow of the Past.
Meanwhile, CBS is replacing The Late Show with Stephen Colbert with Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen.