Stephen Colbert reportedly broke a tradition on The Late Show series finale as the celebrated talk show ended after 11 seasons. May 21 marked the end of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and the show host recorded a pre-monologue message at home before taping the final episode, thanking his viewers “for being here.”
Stephen Colbert included one big change in The Late Show finale
Stephen Colbert recorded a pre-monologue message from his home before taping the final episode of The Late Show. For 1,799 episodes, the host addressed the audience before every show. However, for Thursday’s episode, Colbert spoke straight from his heart and from his home. The 62-year-old shared, “This show, I want you to know, has been a joy for us to do for you. In fact, we call this show the ‘Joy Machine.’”
Expanding upon the term, Colbert explained, “We call it the ‘Joy Machine’ because to do this many shows, it has to be a machine. But the thing is, if you choose to do it with joy, it doesn’t hurt as much when your fingers get caught in the gears. And I cannot adequately explain to you what the people who work here have done for each other and how much we mean to each other.” At that point, the audience inside the Ed Sullivan Theater clapped and cheered for Colbert, who simply took a moment to soak in all the love.
He continued, “And I just want to let all y’all know how important you’ve been to what we have done. The energy that you have given us, we sincerely needed that to have done the best possible show we could have for you for the last 11 years… Now, I’ll say to you what I have said to every audience for the last 11 years, and I have meant it every time. Have a good show. Thanks for being here. And let’s do it y’all.”
Fans reacted emotionally to Colbert’s heartwarming speech. One fan commented, “Icon, National Treasure, Truth-sayer, Gentleman, and Master of Comedy.” A second fan penned, “I really am crushed and crying, even though we saw it coming down the pike for awhile. I adore this man. If we had people like this man in charge, our lives would be very different. Onward—to a Tolkien film!”
A third fan remarked, “It’s such a rarity to see someone with so much grit, determination, but also grace. While this is a huge loss for America, I know that so many wonderful things lie ahead for Stephen and the people who made this show possible. Thanks for sharing your gift, the world is a better place because of it.”
