Stephen Colbert and his Emmy-winning team of producers have a lot of fun surprises planned for the final two weeks of The Late Show, before the curtain falls for the last time on May 21. We’re predicting lots of tears, so be sure to have tissues ready.
CBS canceled Colbert’s venerable late-night program on July 17, 2025, allegedly due to a “financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.” The network gave the comedian almost a full year to end the show on his own terms, and that’s exactly what he’s doing. After winning the Emmy Award for Best Variety Talk Series in September, Colbert guest-starred on Elsbeth, announced he was writing a new Lord of the Rings movie, and had an “equal-time” spat with the FCC.
Read on for everything to know about the final days of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
THE SCHEDULE
There are only eight episodes left, which will bring the show total to 1,801 episodes across 11 years. Next week, The Late Show airs Monday through Thursday, with a rerun on Friday. The following week, the last four episodes take place from May 18 to May 21. All episodes air on CBS and stream on Paramount+ beginning at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT.
THE GUESTS
In the first week of May, Colbert celebrated with folks like Christopher Nolan, Dave Grohl, Sally Field, John Krasinski, Foo Fighters, and Chris Stapleton. Below is the night-by-night breakdown of the superstar guests who are scheduled to appear in the final episodes of The Late Show. Keep in mind that surprise guests are also bound to pop up without any advance notice.
May 11
- “Strike Force Five” — Fellow late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver
- A special Broadway performance featuring Annaleigh Ashford, Christopher Jackson, Bernadette Peters, Ben Platt, and Patrick Wilson
May 12
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus
- Pedro Pascal
May 13
- President Barack Obama takes “The Colbert Questionert”
- Tom Hanks
May 14
- David Letterman (who launched The Late Show franchise in 1993)
- Performance by The Strokes
May 18
May 19
May 20
May 21
POST-SHOW PLANS
Colbert has been sitting behind a late-night desk for decades, first on The Colbert Report (2005-14) and then on The Late Show (2015-26). But soon, he’ll be trading in his suit and tie for a cloak and staff. Colbert, a J.R.R. Tolkien superfan who regularly drops obscure facts on his show, has been tapped to write the next Lord of the Rings movie.
Tentatively titled The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past, Colbert’s script will draw heavily from the “Fog on the Barrow-downs” section of The Fellowship of the Ring, sections that Peter Jackson left out of his movie adaptation featuring the fan-favorite character Tom Bombadil.
“It took me a few years to scrape my courage into a pile to give you a call, but about two years ago I did,” Colbert told Jackson in the video announcement. “You liked it enough to talk to me about it, and ever since then, the two of us have been working with the brilliant Philippa Boyens on how to develop this story.”
MORE LATE SHOW VENTURES
Fans of The Late Show have plenty of other ways to celebrate the last episodes rather than simply watching the television program. The show’s other ventures include: a YouTube short-form series called The Colbert Questionert Extraordinert; a Late Show Book Club highlighting new author interviews each month; the online series Colbert Before Air featuring bonus content from the Ed Sullivan Theater; and the music series Late Show Me Music spotlighting musical performances.
FINALLY, THE EMMYS
About a month-and-a-half after The Late Show With Stephen Colbert signs off for good, the 2026 Emmys nominations will be announced on July 8. The talk show is eligible in the Best Variety Series category, which this year is a merged contest between Best Scripted Variety and Best Talk Series. It’s also now a juried race, which means there could be multiple winners. After racking up 31 total losses prior to last year, Colbert’s version of The Late Show finally won a pair of Emmys for series and for director Jim Hoskinson. Thanks, cancellation!
