Stephen Colbert signs off: Late Show comes to a joyful end

The last installment of CBS's The belatedly present with sir leslie stephen Colbert aired Thursday night with an extended run time of one hour and seventeen minutes, featuring a slew of star cameos, including a final send-off from Paul McCartney.

An emotional Colbert opened by addressing the Ed Sullivan Theater audience and viewers at home, calling The Late Show "the joy machine," praising the staff and telling viewers "how important you’ve been to what we have done."

Bandleader Louis Cato called it a "reciprocal emotional relationship."

Colbert closed with his longtime sign‑off: "have a good show. Thanks for being here, and let’s do it, y’all!"

Cue the theme song.

Below, we've compiled the most memorable moments from the The Late Show's final farewell.

A who's who of celebrities turned up for a running gag. Each showed up convinced they were the final guest and had hilarious reactions when they realized they weren't.

After that, Paul McCartney walked onto the set with a gift for Colbert: a signed Beatles portrait. Colbert jokingly read the inscription out loud, "For Stephen — you're better than the Beatles."

McCartney reflected on the full‑circle moment, recalling performing at the Ed Sullivan Theater with The Beatles more than 60 years ago.

Throughout the show, brief green blips appeared on the set. When Colbert went to investigate, the blips revealed a so-called interdimensional wormhole. Colbert confronted it with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and playfully shoved deGrasse Tyson into the portal.

Other late‑night colleagues — Jon Stewart, Andy Cohen and the "Strike Force Five": Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver and Seth Meyers — appeared in sketches about the wormhole eventually coming for all their shows.

The show included an acoustic turn by Colbert of Elvis Costello's Jump Up. He was joined by Costello, Louis Cato and former bandleader Jon Batiste.

A montage then depicted the wormhole swallowing people and objects around the theatre, followed by a large musical send‑off with McCartney leading Hello, Goodbye as the full Late Show crew came onstage.

Everyone sang, clapped and embraced the “joy machine” spirit Colbert invoked at the top of the show. Colbert let McCartney shut down the lights of the Ed Sullivan Theater one last time.

In a surreal bit, the theatre was sucked into the wormhole, became a snow globe, and Colbert’s dog Benny sniffed it — a whimsical sign-off that closed one chapter and hinted at the next.

CBS announced last summer that it was cancelling The Late Show, saying it would end in May 2026, describing the move as a "purely a financial decision." The move sparked skepticism because the announcement came two days after Colbert publicly criticized parent company Paramount Global for settling a lawsuit with U.S. President Donald Trump over a 60 Minutes story. Many viewers and commentators suspected the timing signalled a political motive.

Colbert lampooned the cancellation in the finale with jokes — including a gag about stolen printer cartridges — while the debate over the reasons for his exit continued.

Thursday's finale marked the end of Colbert’s 11‑year run. Both Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Tonight Show aired repeats opposite the broadcast.

Beginning Friday, May 22, CBS will replace the 11:35 p.m. ET slot once occupied by The Late Show for the past 33 years with Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen.

Journalist

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