Stephen Colbert’s last week on air at “The Late Show” will feature some heavy hitters.
The CBS late-night program announced its lineup for the week of May 18. Monday is “The Worst of ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,’” which the network clarifies is not a clip show. Tuesday will have Jon Stewart, Steven Spielberg and a special performance from David Byrne and Colbert. And Wednesday, Colbert’s penultimate show, will see the host himself partaking in the famous segment “The Colbert Questionert,” as well as a performance from Bruce Springsteen.
No guests have been announced yet for the series finale on Thursday, May 21.
“The Late Show” has been on a farewell tour since CBS announced that it would be canceled after 11 seasons. The network called the cancellation “purely a financial decision,” while some Democratic leaders and media pundits saw it as Paramount throwing Donald Trump a bone while awaiting approval on the company’s merger with Skydance.
During his penultimate week on air, Colbert hosted an extended interview on “The Late Show” with Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, John Oliver and Jimmy Fallon (together the late-night talk show hosts are known as Strike Force Five, named after the podcast they started during the Hollywood labor disputes of 2023).
Other late-season delights include Julia Louis-Dreyfus snapping into character as Selina Meyer. The 11-time Emmy winner arrived with a list of quips written by former “Veep” scribes, berating Colbert as the fictional vice president.
Colbert’s final show will air on CBS on May 21. Kimmel and Fallon have announced that their programs will go dark on that night to honor Colbert, meaning ABC and NBC will air reruns of their shows instead of new episodes.
