It’s hard to believe that we have less than a month before Stephen Colbert’s final edition of The Late Show on CBS will air on the 2026 TV schedule. A lot has been said about how he feels about the cancellation of the late-night talk show that he’s hosted since 2015 and what the hardest part will be. But you have to take the good with the bad, and Colbert admitted there’s one thing he’s relieved about.
The news of CBS canceling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was shocking when it came last July, but as the host actually rounds out the final episodes with some impressive guests, it’s really sinking in that the end is near. Stephen Colbert told The New York Times that putting the show together on a daily basis takes about 95% of his brain, so when asked if he also felt some relief about what’s transpiring, he said, “Oh, yeah.” Colbert continued:
Now I can be as interested as I want to be on a daily basis, as opposed to as interested as I need to be to do a show that is about what our national conversation was about. I can opt out of the national conversation for a day or two. I mean, I’m an American. I still care about my country. I’m still going to care, but I can do that recreationally, you know, or privately.
As it is now, Stephen Colbert doesn’t just have to be well-informed of all that’s happening in the political arena — he has to have an opinion about it and be able to craft an eloquent commentary around it. While he no doubt would prefer the alternative — where he and his crew continue to be gainfully employed — there’s no denying that it’ll be nice to take a breath and actually turn off the news. A media cleanse, if you will.
This is a concept he literally hasn’t even had time to fathom until now. Getting new episodes of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to air has left him no time to process all of the huge life changes that lie ahead. Every day is like being on a “flaming toboggan ride,” he’s said, with all of his energy going into producing a new episode.
He does know, however, what he’s going to miss the most, and that’s the people who have been by his side for all these years — the band, cameramen, writers, sound, lighting and the audience. Even as the end approaches, Stephen Colbert admitted he’s still got a “white-knuckle grip” on them, and the jokes he makes about losing his job don’t soften the blow all that much.
We’ll have to see what’s next for Stephen Colbert — other than that The Lord of the Rings movie script he’s working on — after he’s able to get a little distance from the day-to-day news cycle and regroup. I’m sure there’s some relief to be had, given how much he puts into The Late Show, but I can’t see Colbert straying too far from the political conversation, for the same reason.
The final episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is set for Thursday, May 21, on CBS.
