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Stephen Colbert is giving his thanks to CBS’ parent company Paramount for their ever-so-thoughtful gift in honor of The Late Show’s 10th anniversary.
The comedian, who replaced David Letterman as host of the late-night program in 2015, shared his excitement for hitting the major television milestone during his opening monologue on Monday.
“Of course, every anniversary has its traditional gift. First anniversary is paper, the fifth anniversary is wood, and the 10th anniversary is cancellation,” Colbert teased, drawing boos from the audience. “Thank you, Paramount, for remembering!”
Scott Kowalchyk/CBS
In July, CBS announced that The Late Show would officially be coming to an end in May 2026. While the network noted at the time that the cancellation was “purely a financial decision,” critics have questioned if the then-pending merger of Paramount Global to Skydance Media — which required the approval of the Trump administration — played a factor as well. The FCC approved the merger on July 24, eight days after Colbert announced the show’s cancellation on air.
Colbert kicked off the anniversary episode with a cold open that featured him waking up from a dream in which he’d hosted The Late Show for 10 years. His wife, played by Julianne Moore, then rolled over in bed to ask him about it.
“I dreamt that I hosted a network talk show for 10 years,” Colbert confessed.
“That’s a long time,” Moore acknowledged, to which Colbert dryly quipped back, “I thought it would be longer.”
Moore explained that it must’ve been a dream because no one watches late-night television anymore. “That’s just the thing! People did watch this one!” Colbert maintained. “In fact, tonight we were supposed to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the show!”
When a laugh track ran through their bedroom, the pair were forced to question whether or not they were the ones actually stuck in a dream. “I mean, think about it: in your bedroom, do you usually have a shirtless man with a horse mask juggling knives?” Moore asked. Colbert responded, “No! Never a horse mask!”
In order to bring him back to reality, Moore proceeded to slap Colbert in the face, causing him to shoot up from his accidental snooze on his Late Night desk. “Now that was a crazy dream,” he added.
The camera then cut to reveal that Colbert was actually mid-interview with fellow late-night host, John Oliver. “Did you really just fall asleep in the middle of my interview?” The Last Week Tonight host asked.
Colbert continued to sprinkle little references to the show’s anniversary throughout the episode, spotlighting one of his favorite sketches that featured Will Ferrell auditioning to become The Late Show’s animal expert as well as some of his other favorite memories.
He also poked fun at his upcoming unemployment during a conversation with Peaky Blinders star Cillian Murphy about his interests. “I have a pretty unexciting life. I haven’t worked at all this year, for example, I haven’t done any acting,” Murphy explained. “Anyone got a job?”
“That’s my line,” Colbert teased, prompting a laughing Murphy to reply, “Fair.”
