Stephen Colbert’s ‘Late Show’ Finale: A Bittersweet, Star-Studded Goodbye

The final episode of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” was a star-packed, bittersweet goodbye, featuring Paul McCartney as the last guest, a green portal that brought cameos from Jon Stewart and other late-night hosts, and a musical performance with Elvis Costello. The show, which aired Thursday, ended CBS’s 32-year-run of the franchise, originally launched for David Letterman in 1993.

The cancellation, despite the show being the No. 1 network late-night program, has been described by CBS as a purely financial decision. The 11:35 p.m. time slot will be occupied by Byron Allen’s syndicated “Comics Unleashed.” The network’s decision, which Colbert made light of in a finale gag involving a dolphin, has been tied to President Donald Trump.

Colbert had nearly a year to come to terms with the decision. His final installment, extended to 80 minutes, largely avoided direct criticism of network executives in favor of a celebratory tone. The show began with a running gag about the identity of the final guest, with Bryan Cranston, Paul Rudd, Tim Meadows, Tig Notaro, and Ryan Reynolds each interrupting typical segments.

McCartney, 83, was eventually revealed as the last interview. He shared vague memories of performing at the Ed Sullivan Theater in 1964 with the Beatles, and joked about resisting iPhone updates. Colbert discussed accepting change. The interview segments were typical but warm, though they were periodically interrupted by an eerie green light that initially appeared as a technical error.

The green light led to a portal and prerecorded appearances by Stewart, along with the “Strike Force Five” hosts Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver. They joked about the wormhole swallowing the show and mused about the collapsing network model and government interference. Oliver said, “At some point, this may come for all our shows.”

Colbert surrendered to the void and ended the show by performing with Elvis Costello on an obscure B-side demo titled “Jump Up.” He had spoken about the song in a 2012 interview with NPR’s Fresh Air, saying: “I love the song because it’s sort of a satirical song … I’ve always loved that line ‘it’s a two-horse race, and he changes bets like it was another brand of cigarettes.’ And back, long before I did political satire, I thought, yeah, isn’t that interesting, there are only two choices, and people flip back and forth as if it doesn’t matter, when there should be bold lines between these two people.”

The show returned to McCartney after the prerecorded segment, with Colbert, Costello, McCartney, and the studio audience singing “Hello, Goodbye.” In another prerecorded bit, Colbert and McCartney shut off the theater lights.

Throughout the episode, Colbert maintained the usual talk-show format, including a monologue and “Meanwhile” segment with joke news items. This approach, he implied, was intentional: to show viewers what the show was, rather than breaking from it entirely.

At the top of the episode, Colbert told his audience, both in-studio and at home, that he was not doing a show for them but “doing the show with you.” His goodbye was emotional, reminding viewers of what will be missed: “the nightly hello.”