Colbert's Final Late Show Night: Fallon Goes Dark as Farewell Airs
Colbert's Final Late Show Night: Fallon Goes Dark as Farewell Airs
Stephen Colbert says goodbye to The Late Show; Fallon goes dark as peers rally with a Paramount+ boycott to mark the finale.
Stephen Colbert is closing The Late Show after 11 seasons, with his final episode airing May 21. The late-night landscape is already marked by farewells as Colbert prepares to hand over the desk in a moment that's stirring both nostalgia and curiosity about what's next for late-night TV.
In a show of solidarity and playful rivalry, Jimmy Fallon followed Jimmy Kimmel’s lead and won’t air a new Tonight Show that same night.
On Colbert’s farewell stage, Kimmel, Seth Meyers, John Oliver and Fallon joined him for the farewell broadcast, a rare on-air reunion that underscored the camaraderie among late-night hosts as the genre braces for change.
The night also spotlighted Paramount+ talk, as Kimmel urged fans to cancel subscriptions in support of Colbert after CBS canceled The Late Show, quipping, “Why aren’t you people canceling Paramount+? Because you never had it in the first place?” His joke echoed through a moment many viewers felt as the cable era converges with streaming.
CBS described the decision to end The Late Show as a financial one, and some observers have connected the move to broader corporate moves surrounding Paramount and its ongoing merger activity, highlighting the uncertain backdrop for a genre built on appointment viewing.
As Colbert signs off, audiences debate the future of late-night, even as viewership shifts toward streaming and online clips. One executive noted that individual shows still pull tens of thousands of viewers, underscoring a stubborn loyalty that streaming and social media have not erased. The final night leaves questions about who will carry the late-night bench next, even as fans celebrate Colbert’s 11-year run and the enduring relevance of late-night conversation in a rapidly changing media landscape.
