Reality may be starting to sink in for Stephen Colbert, who has admitted that he’s so busy with the final episodes of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that he hasn’t fully processed his feelings about his talk show’s cancellation. The conversation is starting to shift to what’s next for the comedian, and while there’s probably a fair amount of uncertainty in his future, he knows where he’ll be the day after his final episode.
The last edition of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will hit the 2026 TV schedule on Thursday, May 21, and while emotions will certainly be running high, the host won’t have a whole lot of time for reflection. In fact, he won’t even be the center of attention for very long, as he has a big family event in the books. Colbert told THR:
My brother is getting married, so my whole family is going to be here on the 21st, and then we’re all going to get on the train and go to D.C. for the wedding. So, immediately after the show’s over, there’s something much more important going on.
It’s really nice that Stephen Colbert will have his family around him when he says goodbye to his band, his crew, his writers and the audience, as he said that’s what he’ll miss the most about the late-night talk show. Then he’ll have something of a distraction as the spotlight will turn to his brother.
That’s not the only huge milestone his family has coming up, either, as Colbert continued:
And there’s something much more important going on the Monday before, too. My son is graduating from college. Then there’s a little blip in the middle where my 20-year late night career comes to an end. The universe has conspired to give me the proper perspective.
That’s a pretty strong display of how the world keeps turning despite what any one person is going through. It’s the end of an era for Stephen Colbert, who’s losing his job amidst this messy brouhaha with CBS, and at the same time, his brother and his son are both celebrating wonderful and exciting new beginnings. The fact that the host can even see those things as more important than his show ending is pretty amazing.
It’s a new beginning for Stephen Colbert, as well, who is actually somewhat relieved, he’s said, to be able to opt out of the national conversation if he wants to. He’s also working on a Lord of the Rings script, after being inspired by Saturday Night Live alum Bill Hader to “just go do something you love.”
Tune in to see the final episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35 p.m. ET Thursday, May 21. It may not be the biggest thing going on that week in the Colbert family — at least in the host’s eyes — but it’s still pretty monumental for his career and today’s media landscape at large.
