It’s a veritable rite of passage that a freshly appointed CBS Evening News anchor commemorates their new gig with a visit to CBS’ The Late Show—either ahead of or soon into their turn behind the venerable news desk.
The two programs’ ongoing association makes perfect sense, after all. It offers expected corporate synergy, yes, but the “meeting” also suggests a kinship between two of the network’s most prominent faces—both of whom relay, in their own ways, the day’s headlines.
CBS’ latest Evening News front man, Tony Dokoupil, however, is facing a finite amount of time to follow his predecessors’ lead. For not only has he yet to appear on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, but with the talker going off the air in May, any opportunities will be running out.
When CBS Evening News Met The Late Show….
CBS’ The Late Show debuted August 30, 1993, with former Late Night host David Letterman at the helm. Just a few weeks into Late Show’s inaugural run, Connie Chung—who at the time was co-anchoring CBS Evening News with Dan Rather—stopped by to jaw with Dave. Twelve days after that, Rather himself swung by the Ed Sullivan Theater for a Late Show appearance.
Other CBS Evening News anchors who graced the network’s late-night talker include Katie Couric, whose first of six career Late Show visits came in October 2006 (five weeks into her anchoring run); Scott Pelley, who chatted with Letterman two weeks ahead of his June 2011 debut as Evening News anchor; and Norah O’Donnell, who sat with Dave a few days after her July 2019 start.
Most recently, John Dickerson appeared on The Late Show a few days ahead of his January 27, 2025 debut as Evening News co-anchor; Maurice DuBois, who shared that anchor desk with Dickerson, took his turn two months later.
All told since Late Show‘s launch, only one CBS Evening News anchor did not manage a single visit—Bob Schieffer, who instead talked up his promotion on CBS’ The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson in February 2005. Jeff Glor, meanwhile, took a full six months to hang with Colbert, in June 2018.
Will Tony Dokoupil Sit With Stephen Colbert?
The question here is actually two-fold: Will Dokoupil have the time to guest on The Late Show before the late-night program fades to black this spring? And is either party particularly invested in that happening?
Speaking to the former, Dokoupil has been very busy since landing in the CBS Evening News anchor chair. His debut was fast-tracked by two days, to cover Operation Absolute Resolve/the breaking news in Venezuela on January 3. He made his official Evening News anchor debut that Monday from New York, then commenced a slightly delayed, cross-country tour. His early run also took him to Minneapolis, to cover ICE agent Jonathan Ross’ fatal shooting of citizen Renee Good.
Dokoupil also has been busy fielding fire from media analysts who have taken issue with, among other things, his promising to be “more accountable” than legend Walter Cronkite, his “unchallenging” interview of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and his claim that legacy media has “put too much weight in the analysis of academics, or elites, and not enough on you,” the average American.
Dokoupil’s appointment as CBS Evening News anchor was first announced December 10. Accounting for The Late Show‘s holiday break, they left only six days where he could have dropped by to preview his plans for the job.
Dokoupil Has Said Late Night Is ‘Broken’
To be clear, Dokoupil has previously appeared on Colbert’s Late Show—in May 2019 and September 2022, both times joined by his CBS Mornings colleagues.
Far more recently, though, Dokoupil suggested that the late-night TV industry that employs Colbert is no less than “broken.”
In the wake of Daily Show host Jon Stewart’s momentous, 29-minute critique of CBS’ cancelation of Colbert’s program, Dokoupil as a CBS Mornings co-host was described (by Fox News) as “pushing back at the liberal outrage” over his network’s controversial decision.
“The business is broken,” Dokoupil contended in late July. “The business changed and so did the politics, and it got way more one-sided than anything Johnny Carson was ever doing.”
LateNighter reached out to both CBS Evening News and The Late Show, asking if Dokoupil is considering or already pitched a visit to The Late Show. The Late Show as a rule does not discuss its booking process; CBS Evening News will keep us posted.
If CBS News is rebuilding their brand, then a visit by Tony on Stephen’s “Late Show” would go against their mission. Stephen, like MOST of “today’s” Democrats, are one-sided in their “comedy” and political “commentary.” Stephen killed the “Golden Goose.”
Nah, CBS was killed the moment they capitulated when Trump whined about 60 minutes. Colbert was just the victim/casualty after the buyout.
BTW, it seems like you wish Colbert would capitulate but you have to stew in the anger that he won’t~ Blaming him ignores the internal business behind the buyout and management~ He’s not the chair of CBS, my gawd~
I am not “angry” in the least bit. LOL. Stephen is a SELF-victim…..and got canceled in the process. I do NOT celebrate when somebody loses their job over their OWN narcisissm. Nexxxxxxt.
Yer teerz iz deelish!
“Norah O’Donnell, who sat with Dave a few days after her July 2019 start”
That’s a pretty good trick considering he’d left the CBS show in 2015…