Stephen Colbert still isn’t revealing what he has planned for his final Late Show. But he says the idea had to find him.
In a newly published video interview with People magazine conducted in early April (below), Colbert reflects on the process of shaping Thursday night’s series finale, saying that after months of meetings, the idea had recently “gelled”—weeks before its May 21 airdate.
“The funny thing with The Colbert Report, I knew how I wanted it to end because, well, I picked the date,” Colbert explains in the interview. After learning that the final production day of 2014 would be December 18, he said, the idea came to him almost immediately.
“I went down and sat at my desk and I thought for a second and I thought of the entire show,” Colbert said. “I’m like, ‘Oh, okay, that’s what it’ll be.’ Kind of all came in in one.”
This finale, he said, has been different.
“This time, you know, wasn’t my choice, wasn’t my date,” Colbert said. “I think that’s why it didn’t come all at once.”
Instead, Colbert said, the finale took shape gradually, with “one or two elements” coming to him before the full idea eventually locked into place through meetings with his staff.
“Recently it all just gelled,” he said. “I know what I want to have happen. And luckily it looks like it’s going to.”
That does not necessarily mean a small goodbye. While Colbert told People in its cover story this week that his final signoff will be “something simple,” that appears to refer to his closing words—not necessarily the shape or scale of the finale itself. His Colbert Report finale, after all, ended with immortality, Santa Claus, Abraham Lincoln, Alex Trebek, and a star-packed “We’ll Meet Again” singalong.
Plans for the final Late Show remain tightly under wraps. CBS has officially billed Thursday’s episode only as “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Series Finale,” though a new promo for Colbert’s final week describes it as “the extended Late Show series finale.” CBS has not said how long the episode will run.
Colbert did share one personal detail about Thursday night’s episode: his family will be there. “All my brothers and sisters and their husbands and wives and everything are coming to the last show,” he told People.
As the end approaches, Colbert said the experience is “getting much realer,” but that he has tried not to dwell on the finale too much while still making the show every day.
“You just have to do the show,” he said.
Colbert’s final week continues tonight with guests Jon Stewart, Steven Spielberg, and a special performance by Colbert and David Byrne. Wednesday brings Bruce Springsteen and Colbert himself taking “The Colbert Questionert.” Thursday’s guest list, if there is one, remains a mystery.
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