Stephen Colbert will welcome a lineup of former late-night hosts for the final episodes of The Late Show on CBS.
The gathering marks a rare convergence of the industry's most prominent satirists and talk show hosts as Colbert prepares to exit the program. This event signals the end of an era for the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City, where Colbert has anchored the late-night slot.
Confirmed guests for the final episodes include David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver [1, 2, 3]. These figures represent the core of the modern late-night landscape, blending traditional monologue formats with the sharp political commentary that defined Colbert's tenure.
The series finale is scheduled to air on May 21, 2026 [1, 4, 5]. The upcoming broadcasts will serve as a retrospective of Colbert's time on the air, featuring these colleagues who have often competed for the same viewership in the late-night time slot.
Colbert is ending his tenure to move on to the next chapter of his career [6]. While the network has not detailed his future projects, the inclusion of Letterman, the previous host of The Late Show, suggests a thematic closing of the circle for the franchise.
The production remains based at the CBS Broadcast Center, where the team is preparing the final recordings for the May 21 date [1, 2].
“Stephen Colbert will welcome a lineup of former late-night hosts for the final episodes of The Late Show.”
The assembly of these specific hosts suggests a strategic effort by CBS to frame Colbert's departure as a historic milestone in television history rather than a simple retirement. By bringing back David Letterman alongside current rivals like Kimmel and Fallon, the show is positioning itself as the central hub of the late-night legacy, potentially easing the transition to a new host by celebrating the genre's collective influence.
