The final week of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert will feature the host chatting with an old friend and musical performances by two big rock stars (and Colbert himself).
CBS has released a lineup for Colbert’s final week of shows, leading up to the May 21 finale of both Colbert’s tenure and The Late Show itself — thanks to the network’s decision last year to cancel the show that it says is a money loser. Jon Stewart, Steven Spielberg, David Byrne and Bruce Springsteen are all set to appear on the show next week.
The Late Show isn’t revealing a full lineup for the week, choosing to save some surprises for the audience. On Wednesday, May 20, for instance, the listings say Colbert will subject himself to the “Colbert Questionert,” with special guests asking the questions — but it doesn’t list those guests. Nor is there any guest listed for the final show. Here’s the lineup for the week:
• Monday, May 18: The Worst of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (not a clip show!)
• Tuesday, May 19: Jon Stewart, Steven Spielberg, special performance by David Byrne and Stephen Colbert
• Wednesday, May 20: Stephen takes the “Colbert Questionert” featuring special guests, performance by Bruce Springsteen
• Thursday, May 21: The Late Show series finale
Colbert said in an exit interview with The Hollywood Reporter that he “did not expect it to end this way” — but also that had he gotten to leave on his own terms, he would have followed a similar playbook.
“I’d just be a little older. And it would have been my choice, and I probably would have known what the final show was going to be a little bit earlier,” he said. “On The Colbert Report, I picked that day — I didn’t tell anybody, but I knew two years ahead of time. Well, we didn’t pick this day. We know what it’ll be now, but it took a few months. But maybe they gave me a gift because I had a lot of jokes I could make about the end of the show, and if I’d decided to end the show, then I’m the bad guy — hard to make jokes about that.”
The final episode of The Late Show will air at 11:35 p.m. ET on May 21.
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