12 ‘Late Show’ Moments Proving Stephen Colbert Can’t Be Replaced
CBS won’t just be losing a franchise when The Late Show With Stephen Colbert goes off the air next year; it’ll be losing a master-level master of ceremonies. After graduating from The Colbert Report’s studio to the Ed Sullivan Theater in 2015, Stephen Colbert didn’t just put his own comedic stamp on the Late Show legacy. He also paid homage to TV history, wore his heart on his sleeve, supported artistic expression, and spoke truth (and not just truthiness) to power. See high points from Colbert’s last decade at the Late Show desk below.
2015: He honors his predecessor and his competition in the Late Show premiere
In The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’s series premiere, the host tipped his hat to his predecessor, former Late Show host David Letterman. “His creative legacy is a high pencil mark on a door frame that we all have to measure ourselves against,” Colbert said. “But we will try to honor his achievement by doing the best show we can and occasionally making the network very mad at us.”
That same episode saw Colbert chatting good-naturedly with his late-night competition, The Tonight Show’s Jimmy Fallon. In a show of sportsmanship, the two late-night rivals wished each other a good show and said they’d see each other “in the locker room.”
2015: He bonds with Joe Biden about grief
On Colbert’s third-ever episode, he interviewed then-Vice President Joe Biden, who had expressed doubt about running for president following the death of his son Beau. Colbert, as Biden pointed out, was no stranger to grief, having lost his father and two brothers in a 1974 plane crash. And in that episode, the two men commiserated about perseverance born from necessity.
2015: He plays hardball with Donald Trump
After Fallon caught flak for a softball interview with Donald Trump, Colbert went the opposite direction, grilling the then-presidential candidate on his views about immigration, the U.S.-Mexico border, and Barack Obama’s birthplace. He also gave Trump an open mic to issue apologies, but the former Apprentice star refused.
2018: He tears up listening to Helen Mirren read Tennyson
Colbert seems to always be in touch with his emotions, as proven in 2018 when guest Helen Mirren read the poem “Ulysses” by Alfred Lord Tennyson on The Late Show. As Mirren read the verses with theatrical vigor, Colbert listened close, his chest heaving and his eyes brimming with tears.
2018: He discusses the sexual misconduct allegations facing his boss
In July 2018, as then-CBS Corporation Chairman Les Moonves came under fire for alleged sexual misconduct and intimidation, Colbert wasn’t afraid to put his network’s leadership in the crosshairs.
“I do believe in accountability and not just for politicians you disagree with,” he said on the show. “Everybody believes in accountability until it’s their guy, and, make no mistake, Les Moonves is my guy. He hired me to sit in this chair. He stood behind this show while we were finding our voice. He gave us the time and the resources to succeed, and he has stood by us when people were mad at me. And I like working for him. But accountability is meaningless unless it’s for everybody, whether it’s for the leader of a network or the leader of the free world.”
2020: He quotes ‘The Hound of Heaven’ to Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Colbert had Phoebe Waller-Bridge “completely blown away” when he theorized that the mysterious fox in her show Fleabag was the “Hound of Heaven” from the Francis Thompson poem of that name. Then he began recounting lines from the 1890 ode: “Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest, [I am He] Whom thou seekest! Thou dravest love from thee, who dravest Me.”
Astonished, Waller-Bridge said, “I can’t believe you’re just reciting it like this!”
2021: He joins Christine Baranski in a Sondheim duet
Colbert isn’t just a fan of epic fantasy novels (more on that below) and 19th-century poetry; he’s also a musical theater buff. And when Christine Baranski returned to the show post-lockdown, she and Colbert performed “Side by Side by Side” — a show tune from Stephen Sondheim’s Company, a musical in which they’ve both performed — side by side, with Batiste providing piano accompaniment.
2021: He proves his encyclopedic Lord of the Rings knowledge
Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd, and Peter Jackson gave Colbert a Lord of the Rings quiz on The Late Show in 2021. Colbert proved that when it comes to LOTR lore, he is a leader of men, answering all but one ent-errogation correctly.
2021: He allows Andrew Garfield a monologue about grief and art
Andrew Garfield lost his mother to cancer before he filmed Tick, Tick… Boom!, and on The Late Show, Colbert asked the actor how art helped him through his grief. And then Colbert let Garfield wax philosophic, uninterrupted, for two and a half minutes. The actor explained how grief is unexpressed love and how art — including that of Colbert and his then-bandleader, Jon Batiste — “sew[s] up our wounds.”
2024: He defends Kristen Stewart’s Rolling Stone cover
When Kristen Stewart sat down for a Late Show interview in March 2024, Colbert told the audience CBS didn’t want him showing her just-released Rolling Stone cover photo, an image of her with her hand down her jock strap. “They thought that would be not a good idea for us to show this, and I don’t know understand why,” Colbert said, sounding genuinely baffled.
Stewart said, “I think there’s a certain overt acknowledgment of a female sexuality that has its own volition in a way that is annoying for people who are sexist and homophobic.”
And Colbert said, “I’ve certainly seen more revealing covers on Rolling Stone, or Sports Illustrated, for that matter. … I think it also violates public expectations of female sexuality, as opposed to how you’re presenting it here.”
2024: He denounces violence in politics
Colbert is no fan of Trump, but he condemned the attempt on the then-2024 presidential nominee’s life in Pennsylvania. “My immediate reaction[s] when I saw this on Saturday were horror at what was unfolding, relief that Donald Trump had lived, and, frankly, grief for my beautiful country,” he said. “Our job as American citizens is to reject violence and violent rhetoric in this time of crisis, however hard we want to fight for our ideas. And in that regard, not only is violence evil, it is useless.”
2025: He calls out Paramount Global for settling with Trump
Just days before CBS announced The Late Show’s cancellation, Colbert criticized parent company Paramount Global for paying Trump $16 million to settle his 60 Minutes lawsuit ahead of the company’s merger with Skydance Media.
“As someone who has always been a proud employee of this network, I am offended,” the host said. “And I don’t know if anything will ever repair my trust in this company, but just taking a stab at it, I’d say $16 million would help.”
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A
Keep going at it, Mr. Colbert!
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O
I'll be watching til the end, and then looking for whatever he does next.
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G
You’d have done well on the Titanic. 🤣
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B
He will be Greg Guttfeld's Limo Driver
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G
Wow !! What a powerful rallying cry !! Keep going at it. Rrrright. 🙄
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B
The ONLY REASON Colbert’s show is considered 'the most popular show in its time slot' is because the Media fails to acknowledge the nightly Neisen ratings, which prove that Greg Guttfeld's little cable show has more viewers than Colbert and Kimmel combined. His was canceled three days after the so-called 'comedian' claimed Paramount’s $16 million settlement with Trump over his lawsuit targeting the shabbily edited Kamala Harris’s 60 Minutes interview.
Colbert didn’t deny the show was hemorrhaging money and viewers. However he couldn’t work out his TDS. An unidentified Paramount source was seen leaking on The New York Post—until he considered using a restroom.
“$40 million is a big number. I could see why they are kicking me to the curb. 10 years of 'Orange Man Bad' can get really tiresome", cried Colbert. "Please call me, Mr. Guttfeld. I will do anything for you, even Swallow!"
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B
To those who don’t like Stephen Colbert. Such an easy solution, turn the channel. Nobody is forcing you to watch.
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G
Colbert is an arrogant and talentless. And those are his best qualities. Good riddance.
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G
He made 40 million but cost cbs 60 million then has the gall to criticize his bosses! anyone who publicly criticizes their boss would get fired, he did it repeatedly deserves to get the boot. Late night talk shows if they want to succeed needs to study Carson & Letterman. Be funny, entertaining and have good guests. They are not popular especially with younger viewers
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Have you ever watched The Simpsons?? It's on Fox every Sunday, and has been for about 35 years. They make fun of Fox ALL THE TIME. Who'da thunk that Fox, of all networks, would shrug that off? Time after time after time, after... well, you know.
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Let me add, "SNL" has always made fun of NBC especially when it was the lowest-rated network (pre-Fox) back in the late '70s when Fred Silverman was in charge after previously helping CBS and ABC do well. Same thing didn't happen when he came to NBC, however.
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G
Not the same situation at all. I think you Know that but you’ll defend Colbert no matter how ludicrous the defense is. What’s he think they’d ( his bosses) would change their minds if he bashed on them on air ? If he did it just proves how stupid and a loser he is. They fired him because his show is losing $40 mil plus per year. Doesn’t matter how “popular” he is with the TDS riddled Trump bashers. He’s costing them money and they are a business Not Lib Leftists privately owned show.
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C
When you lose $40 million a year, you don’t deserve to have a show.
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G
Yep. And Anyone can be replaced on this earth. No one is irreplaceable.
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Anybody anywhere who publicly criticized their boss would get fired. Never watched him. Late night needs to get away from talk shows if they want to make money
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Like showing reruns of classic TV shows or old movies?
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G
Would be By Far better than Colbert.
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