Former Daily Show And Colbert Report Writer Has Thoughts On How Stephen Colbert’s Final Late Show Ep Will Go

The end of May will bring about a big change to the 2026 TV schedule, and to those of successive years, as CBS will officially be out of the late night talk show biz. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is set to conclude on May 21, ten months after CBS officially canceled the long-running staple previously hosted by David Letterman. Some fans are expecting potentially calamitous fireworks upon his eventual exit, but Colbert’s former Comedy Central partner in crime has other thoughts.

Emmy-winning writer Ben Karlin spent seven years on The Daily Show before co-creating The Colbert Report with the titular D.C. native, so he and Colbert obviously have a solid relationship. While appearing on The Daily Beast’s Obsessed podcast to talk about his new series Bait (streaming via Amazon Prime subscription), Karlin was asked for his thoughts on whether the host will bow out in a blaze of politically polarizing glory, or something more traditional. He answered:

With this answer and others, Karlin made sure to note that he was speaking mainly for himself and not for anyone else, but I think he's pretty on the money with his assessment. Had The Late Show's final episode come in the weeks immediately following the cancellation announcement, when the sting was still fresh and emotions were all over the place, then I could maybe see Stephen Colbert stepping outside his gentlemanly comfort zone to turn full heel for his final stretch. (I kinda wish we had a Sliding Doors situation where we could see what that eventuality looked like.)

However, with the final episode set so many months after the decision was made, the initial heightened feelings have settled, and now it's become a more normalized end-date on the horizon. Granted, Colbert has caused some flashbangs over the months, particularly involving his non-televised interview with political candidate James Talarico, and the related dust-up with FCC chairman Brendan Carr.

Ben Karlin addressed that, in the scheme of things, Colbert's Late Night exit is about as good as it can get for a host facing an inevitable disappointment, since there has been such a long runway. In his words:

If losing every job came with the same kind of self-dictated endgame, I might have been far less employable in my life. But that's obviously not the way it goes for most people.

To his point, though, Colbert quickly started setting up new gigs for himself around the time of CBS' cancellation decision. He's popped up on Elsbeth and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, and was recently a surprise guest voice in the Handmaid's Tale spinoff The Testaments. Perhaps the biggest news of all, however, is that he's working on writing a new Lord of the Rings movie, as inspired by Bill Hader. So it's safe to say he won't be twiddling his thumbs at home for the back half of 2026.

Plus, for all the upset feelings about being ousted, Karlin pointed out that getting out of late night after 11 years could be better than sticking with it for decades, as that format's success can be a double-edged sword. As he put it:

Stephen Colbert can definitely ride off into the sunset knowing that he delivered the goods as a worthy follow-up to David Letterman, and hopefully without any regrets. Oh yeah, and for that sunset, the sun is actually Jon Stewart's face.