Colbert’s Final ‘Late Show’ Week: Springsteen, Stewart, Spielberg

Stephen Colbert is going out with a bang. With just one week left before The Late Show signs off for good on May 21, CBS has revealed the star-studded guest lineup that will close out 11 seasons of one of late night’s most celebrated runs — and it’s exactly the kind of send-off the moment deserves.

Jon Stewart, Steven Spielberg, David Byrne, and Bruce Springsteen are all confirmed for the final week. The series finale itself? Still under wraps — and CBS seems very intentional about keeping it that way.

Here’s how the week breaks down: Monday, May 18 kicks things off with “The Worst of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” — which the network is at pains to clarify is “not a clip show.” Tuesday, May 19 brings Jon Stewart back into Colbert’s orbit, alongside a sit-down with director Steven Spielberg (whose new film Disclosure Day hits theaters in June) and a special musical performance featuring David Byrne and Colbert performing together. Wednesday, May 20 flips the script entirely: Colbert will answer his own famous “Colbert Questionert” for the first time, with unnamed special guests doing the asking, and Bruce Springsteen closing out the night with a performance. Thursday, May 21 is the finale — and beyond confirming the date, CBS isn’t saying a word about who’ll be there.

A Farewell Tour Months in the Making

The final week is the culmination of a farewell run that’s felt more like a celebration than a goodbye. In recent weeks, Oprah Winfrey and former President Barack Obama both stopped by. Tom Hanks told Colbert he isn’t sure “how the entertainment industrial complex is going to survive without you.” Julia Louis-Dreyfus snapped back into character as Selina Meyer — with jokes written by former Veep writers — and delivered a roast-style farewell that was pure chaos in the best way.

David Letterman, who handed Colbert the keys to the Ed Sullivan Theater back in 2015, returned to gleefully hurl set furniture off the roof alongside his successor. And on May 11, Colbert reunited with Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver — the group known collectively as Strike Force Five — for an extended on-air conversation. When Colbert asked near the end if there was anything else to cover, Kimmel didn’t miss a beat: “The outrage that your show is being thrown off the air?” He called it a “tragedy.” Fallon called it a “bummer because I wanted to do this longer with you.”

Both Fallon and Kimmel have since announced their own shows will go dark on May 21, airing reruns so that NBC and ABC clear the field entirely for Colbert’s finale.

Why the Show Is Ending

CBS canceled The Late Show last July, with Paramount describing the decision as “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.” But the timing raised eyebrows. The cancellation came amid Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount — a merger that closed roughly a month after the show’s end was confirmed — and after Colbert had publicly called CBS’s parent company settling a lawsuit with Donald Trump a “big fat bribe.”

CBS released a statement at the time calling Colbert “irreplaceable” and announcing it would retire The Late Show franchise entirely. “He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television,” the network said. Taking the 11:35 p.m. slot next season will be Comics Unleashed, hosted by Byron Allen, which currently airs at 12:35 a.m. following After Midnight with Taylor Tomlinson.

Colbert himself has been candid about the bittersweet circumstances. In an exit interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he said he “did not expect it to end this way” — but also acknowledged there’s a strange freedom in not being the one who pulled the plug. “If I’d decided to end the show, then I’m the bad guy — hard to make jokes about that,” he said. “Maybe they gave me a gift.”

What Comes Next for Colbert

As for what’s next, Colbert has said he’s not entirely sure — though it was announced in March that he’s writing a new Lord of the Rings film. And his life outside the Ed Sullivan Theater isn’t slowing down either. On the Strike Force Five podcast, he put the week in perspective: “My son graduates college on the 18th, my show ends on the 21st, my brother gets married on the 23rd. So I’m kind of sandwiched between things that are a little more important. A little perspective.”

He’s also been open about the hard reality for his staff. “No one’s got a job after that night,” he said. “I think the next day, everyone’s fired. We all have to be out by the next Friday. Like, physically absent from the theater.”

This is Colbert’s second time closing out a long-running show. When The Colbert Report ended in 2014, he orchestrated one of the most memorable late-night finales ever — a packed room of surprise celebrity guests, a rendition of “We’ll Meet Again,” and a final exit on Santa’s sleigh alongside Abraham Lincoln and Alex Trebek. That time, he already knew what was coming next. This time, he’s stepping into the unknown.

The series finale of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert airs Thursday, May 21 at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT on CBS, and streams on Paramount+.