The Late Show With Colbert Ends After Historic 33-Season Run
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert during Thursday’s June 20, 2024 show. Photo: Scott Kowalchyk/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Image Courtesy of LateNighter
By Luis Zonenberg
When it comes to late night television shows broadcasted or streaming today, it is hard to find one not diluted with strained Hollywood-style antics and stale comedy. Far too many usually turn it into a giant joke, with a host that tries to keep the audience engaged. Yet, one of the longest running ones, The Late Show, garnered a huge audience for its nice balance of humor and respectable interviews.
The show originally began airing in 1993 with David Letterman hosting it. The show was produced by Letterman’s company, Worldwide Pants, and ran on the CBS network on Thursdays and Fridays, usually airing around 11:30 at night. The first episode featured actor/comedian Bill Murray and singer Billy Joel, attracting over 23 million viewers. The show would go on to receive numerous awards, receiving the Emmy for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series six times throughout Letterman’s tenure as host.
The show would feature a typical format for each episode, beginning with aerial shots of New York City (where it was filmed) as the CBS orchestra played the audience in. The announcer would introduce the orchestra and the guests lined up, as Letterman would race in to begin the show. The show would continue with a monologue with Letterman, before diving into the interviews and several sketches lined up. Sometimes the show would break from the formula, with Letterman doing a cold open sketch or even featuring a guest host as well.
Letterman served as the host for The Late Show for over thirty years, surpassing the legendary Johnny Carson to become the longest running late-night talk show host in 2013. He would eventually retire two years later, passing the baton off to comedian Stephen Colbert who took over as the host of The Late Show. Colbert would continue to honor the show’s format, switching up the formula with various sketches and more professional interviews with various celebrities, including filmmakers Christopher Nolan and Steven Spielberg.
Nearly ten years since Colbert took over the show, he announced on his latest episode that the CBS network had opted to cancel The Late Show. After the next season airs over the 2025-2026 primetime network, the show will officially be over and end its tenure with an impressive 34 seasons packed under its belt.
In a short clip taken from the episode, Colbert told the audience, “it’s not just the end of our show, but it’s the end of the late show on CBS. I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away.” Despite the news clearly upsetting his fans, Colbert took the time to say how grateful he was to host the show and work with all the people on set. He further commented that, “it is a fantastic job. I wish somebody else was getting it. And it’s a job I’m looking forward to doing with this usual gang of idiots for another 10 months.”
Other celebrities have since taken the time to share their thoughts on the matter. Late-night talk show host John Oliver commented on the matter, describing it as, “terrible, terrible news for the world of comedy.” In an interview with Variety, Jamie Lee Curtis took some time to share her thoughts two weeks ahead of her upcoming interview with him. “It’s bad,” Curtis commented. “I’m excited that I will get to be on his show in about two weeks. I’ve never been on his show. I really like him. He’s smart and funny and a lovely human. It’s awful.”
The cancellation comes days after Colbert criticized the network’s parent company, Paramount. The company had apparently settled a $16 million lawsuit against Donald Trump, a move which Colbert referred to as a “big fat bribe”. Despite this probably factoring in, CNN reported that the show was already losing money and there was no real path to turn around the show’s financial situation. Whether or not this may be the case, it is amazing to see the show running for as long as it did. Whether it was Colbert or Letterman hosting, audiences would be sure to tune in and have plenty of fun watching the show. For the next 10 months, fans can take time to still tune in and share the warmth of the Late Show’s final season, truly marking the end of an era.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will conclude in May 2026, airing Mondays to Thursdays at 11:35 on CBS until then, with episodes streaming on Paramount+ the next day.
