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Stephen Colbert\u00a0chatted with Paul McCartney and joined him on stage for a raucous performance of \u201cHello, Goodbye\u201d on the final broadcast of CBS\u2019 \u201cThe Late Show\u201d on Thursday night, a bittersweet farewell for\u00a0a canceled show\u00a0that still had a few barbs left for the network that ended its 33-year run.<\/p>\n
At the top of his last show, which grew more surreal and absurd as it went on, Colbert highlighted the \u201cjoy\u201d that he and his team felt creating more than 1,800 episodes of \u201cThe Late Show.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe energy that you\u2019ve given us, we sincerely need that to have done the best possible show we could have for you for the last 11 years,\u201d Colbert said. \u201cYou\u2019ve given it to us. We\u2019ve given it all right back to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Colbert pretended that Pope Leo XIV, the first U.S.-born pope, was his final guest, but the pontiff refused to come out of his dressing room because he hadn\u2019t been supplied the correct kind of snacks, especially hot dogs.<\/p>\n
McCartney then offered himself as a replacement, striding across the stage as the audience screamed. \u201cI think you\u2019d be a perfect last guest,\u201d Colbert said.<\/p>\n
McCartney said he happened to be in the area, doing errands. He offered a framed photo of the Beatles at the Ed Sullivan Theater, the final home for \u201cThe Late Show.\u201d The two chatted about when the Beatles first came to America in 1964, creativity, his new album and McCartney\u2019s childhood.<\/p>\n
Colbert\u2019s monologue was interrupted by Bryan Cranston, Paul Rudd and Tim Meadows, who all pretended to be irked that they weren\u2019t the host\u2019s final guest. \u201cYou know what? You got what you deserved,\u201d Meadows fumed. Other celebrities in the audience who had funny turns during Colbert\u2019s last \u201cMeanwhile\u201d segment were Tig Notaro and Ryan Reynolds.<\/p>\n
Later, Colbert joined Elvis Costello,\u00a0former bandleader Jon Batiste\u00a0and current bandleader Louis Cato for a relaxed performance of Costello\u2019s \u201cJump Up.\u201d They all joined the house band and McCartney for the final song of the night, a performance of \u201cHello, Goodbye.\u201d<\/p>\n
Staffers and audience members \u2014 including Colbert\u2019s wife,\u00a0Evie McGee Colbert\u00a0\u2014 then swarmed the stage as Colbert gave the honor to McCartney to turn off the building\u2019s power. The theater then gets sucked into a vortex and turns into a snow globe.<\/p>\n
Guests in the final week included Michael Keaton, Jon Stewart, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Steven Spielberg, David Byrne and Bruce Springsteen, while there\u2019s been a wacky version of \u201cIt\u2019s Raining Men\u201d remade into \u201cIt\u2019s Raining Fish.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Wednesday night, Colbert was on the other end of his \u201cThe Colbert Questionnaire,\u201d asked things like which sandwich is best and whether apples are better than oranges. Mark Hamill, Martha Stewart, Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro were some of the questioners.<\/p>\n
David Letterman, the show\u2019s host when it debuted in 1993, joined Colbert on the roof of the theater to hurl furniture from the set \u2014 a nod to one of Letterman\u2019s classic stunts.<\/p>\n
CBS announced last summer that Colbert\u2019s show\u00a0would end, citing\u00a0economic reasons after 11 seasons. But Colbert was the ratings leader in late-night TV. Many \u2014 including Colbert \u2014 expressed skepticism that President Donald Trump\u2019s repeated criticism of the show wasn\u2019t a factor. Trump\u2019s name on Thursday never came up.<\/p>\n
The decision to shutter the show came after parent company\u00a0Paramount\u2019s $16 million settlement\u00a0of Trump\u2019s lawsuit over a \u201c60 Minutes\u201d interview as Paramount awaited his administration\u2019s approval of a pending sale to Skydance Media. Colbert had called it a \u201cbig fat bribe.\u201d On Thursday, he showed a clip of a sympathetic dolphin clicking with the subtitle: \u201cIt was a financial decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the \u201cMeanwhile\u201d segment, Colbert mentioned that the owner of some music used in the \u201cPeanuts\u201d animated specials had grown litigious. Just then, the band started playing \u201cPeanuts\u201d music. \u201cOh, no, I hope this doesn\u2019t cost CBS any money,\u201d the host said.<\/p>\n
The final show seemed to be marred by technical snafus, with stray sounds and glitches. Later Colbert encountered the reason in a pretaped bit \u2014 an interdimensional wormhole that astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson helpfully explained was opened because a top rated show could also been canceled.<\/p>\n
Jon Stewart also made an appearance, explaining the wormhole was a metaphor, and Colbert reunited with his fellow late night hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver and Seth Meyers. Elijah Woods was present for a \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d joke.<\/p>\n
Colbert\u2019s chief rivals, ABC\u2019s \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d and NBC\u2019s \u201cThe Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,\u201d both ran reruns on Thursday.\u00a0Kimmel urged viewers\u00a0to tune into Colbert\u2019s goodbye and then stop watching CBS.<\/p>\n
CBS will fill \u201cThe Late Show\u201d slot with \u201cComics Unleashed,\u201d in which comedians share stories. Host Byron Allen has vowed to avoid politics.<\/p>\n
Colbert\u2019s goodbye \u2014 running some 17 minutes over \u2014 was ambitious in a way that other TV late night finales were not. Johnny Carson wrapped up his stint on \u201cThe Tonight Show\u201d in 1992 without any celebrity guests, just offering classic clips. Jay Leno had Billy Crystal and Garth Brooks aboard his final goodbye in 2014. Celebrities like Steve Martin, Chris Rock and Tina Fey participated in David Letterman\u2019s last Top 10 list for a 2015 finale that also included Foo Fighters playing \u201cEverlong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Colbert\u2019s 11 seasons bridged the rise of Trump and his return to the White House, the pandemic, the fall of Joe Biden, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the United States Capitol under attack in 2021 and the rise of Artificial Intelligence.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt a time when algorithms are shaping so much of what people see, hear and even believe, Stephen has been a touchstone shared by millions,\u201d former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg\u00a0said in a video\u00a0tribute. \u201cHis satiric voice, backed by what is clearly a deep moral core and a love of this country, has had a way of cutting through the noise and helping show us who we are as a country.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n