Fans speak out before Stephen Colbert’s final ‘Late Show’
“I’m very disappointed,” USA TODAY’s Raffy Aversa told fans outside New York City’s Ed Sullivan Theater before the final “Late Show.”
What will Stephen Colbert’s legacy be?
Despite the pomp and circumstance of the final episode of CBS’s “The Late Show,” which Colbert has hosted since 2015, the story of the quintessential American comedian did not end on May 21st. Even if this act of his career is over, the 62-year-old Colbert still has many miles to go before he sleeps. Depending on how you count, this is his second or third time ever doing it.
But Stephen Colbert’s long story will include an incendiary chapter about this moment in cultural history. It started almost a year ago when he announced that CBS was canceling “The Late Show” and thus his daily on-screen tenure. The move threw the industry into turmoil, sparking both political backlash and celebration, resulting in a month-long final hurray from Colbert and his many friends that ignited the zeitgeist of a nation on edge like the series finale of “Game of Thrones.”
Colbert took to the stage for the May 21 finale, burdened by a divided nation, a tongue-lashing Internet hater, a former president (Barack Obama) sitting on a couch, and a current president (Donald Trump) tweeting around his neck. He was always a showman and a professional, calmly conducting the finale.
The comedian started with a short farewell to the crew, followed by a fairly typical monologue that poked at regular news (airport cave-in, etc.) and his own news (I know even Dolphin was canceled). He pivoted to a very lively regular segment, “Meanwhile,” which included at least one attempt to sue CBS, two celebrity interruptions, and one laugh-out-loud sushi joke.
The final guest on “The Late Show” was not actually Pope Leo While other hosts may have used icons like McCartney to put more spotlight on themselves, Colbert chatted with McCartney like any other night. The musician talked about his new album, his childhood, and recalled appearing on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1964, where he got his first impressions of the great democracy of America. McCartney told Colbert that he hoped the country would continue to do so.
There was talk about CBS and Equal Time. There were spitting scenes and too many celebrity cameos to count. There was a wormhole. Colbert cited his great literary love, “The Lord of the Rings.” Former bandleader Jon Batiste returned to sing with Colbert (and current bandleaders Louis Cato and Elvis Costello). There was great joy, and Colbert said he championed it every day with his crew and colleagues.
And mainly, there was Colbert, his clumsy, goofy, and endearing self. From his early career with the improv group Second City and his time as a correspondent on The Daily Show to his decade-long run on network television, The Colbert Report, his brand of comedy has never been about glamor, glitz, or flamboyance.
Colbert’s strength has always been his point of view: satire, nerdiness, and sharp cuts to the heart. Anyone watching could feel the emotions radiating from the host throughout the night, even if he pretended to be sucked into the abyss.
It was a silly, funny, and touching episode of television. By the time Colbert was singing “Hello, Goodbye” with McCartney, Costello, Cato and Batiste, there was nothing else to say.
You shouldn’t expect anything more from Colbert than confidence and grace. He’s a conservative thug for more than a decade, a man who made “Strangers with Candy” one of the strangest and most entertaining comedies on television, and who once again insulted another president (George W. Bush) to his face at Washington, D.C.’s biggest celebration.
No, Stephen Colbert isn’t done. “Late Show” has ended. Late-night TV may be coming to an end soon. But a voice like Colbert’s doesn’t just disappear into the wind unless you have a shiny wooden desk in front of you and a broadcast company behind you.
This chapter is over. Another one begins.
