Stephen Colbert’s final Late Show was one of the more ambitious late-night farewells in recent memory.
The supersized 79-minute finale featured a Beatle, an elaborate sci-fi subplot, and surprise appearances by Elvis Costello, Jon Batiste, Jon Stewart, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, John Oliver, Ryan Reynolds, Bryan Cranston, Paul Rudd, Tig Notaro, Tim Meadows, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and more.
But not everything that happened at The Ed Sullivan Theater Thursday made it to air.
Below are ten things viewers at home didn’t see.
The room was packed with friends and family
As Colbert noted on-air, his brothers and sisters were in attendance for the finale. But they were far from alone. The orchestra level of the Ed Sullivan Theater was filled with friends and family, giving the taping the feel of a private farewell. Among the VIPs: Peter Jackson and former Late Show EP/former CNN president Chris Licht.
Colbert’s opening remarks (mostly) followed his nightly ritual
Colbert’s opening address was framed for viewers as a version of what he usually says to the studio audience before cameras roll. That was largely true: the remarks mirrored the kind of pre-show message Colbert delivered nightly inside the theater. The difference this time was that they were also being delivered for the cameras—and, unlike his usual pre-show warm-up, Colbert’s words were on the teleprompter.
The show’s celebrity arrivals were a top-secret affair
Though The Late Show’s stage door on 53rd Street has long attracted paparazzi and fans, the show went to pains Thursday to keep the finale’s special guests a surprise, keeping looky-loos at bay and erecting special tenting to mask the night’s arrivals. That didn’t stop one enterprising fan from snapping (and posting) a pic of McCartney ahead of the show’s broadcast.
The audience was kept in the dark about the wormhole story
At home, viewers saw the finale slowly develop a sci-fi subplot, with strange sounds, flickering lights, and eventually a giant green portal backstage. Inside the theater, the audience was kept unaware of where that storyline was headed until McCartney’s final act.
“Hello, Goodbye” was performed twice
The finale’s big closing number wasn’t a one-and-done. The group’s performance of “Hello, Goodbye” was shot twice. Audience members were asked not to stand, because doing so would interfere with the cameras’ ability to capture the performance. The crowd complied the first time, but all bets were off for the second performance, when the entire audience rose to its feet.
The full performance ran longer than what viewers saw
The televised version captured the spirit of the closing number, but the in-theater versions of “Hello, Goodbye” ran significantly longer. During the taping, Colbert could be seen singing alongside his wife, Evie McGee Colbert, and their children.
The finale’s coda was not shown in the theater
Though viewers saw Colbert and McCartney backstage powering down the Ed Sullivan Theater, followed by the building getting cosmically shrunk down into a snow globe, the studio audience did not see that coda during the taping.
Colbert thanked CBS
After “Hello, Goodbye,” Colbert took the microphone and gave a heartfelt speech, during which he thanked CBS, joking that only about 50% of what he’d said about the network on-air was true. With his staff and celebrity guests still gathered onstage, Colbert then asked if anyone else wanted to speak. Louis Cato took the mic and delivered a tearful speech of his own.
Jon Batiste led one more song
The night’s final musical moment did not air at all. After Cato spoke, Jon Batiste stepped forward and led the group in a spirited rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In.” McCartney joined in—on trumpet.
Colbert was among the last to leave the stage
The farewell continued after cameras stopped rolling. Colbert’s staff and celebrity guests remained onstage for photos, lingering in the space that had just been sent into the cosmic beyond for viewers at home.
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You forgot the 11th item is when Colbert screamed out to the void:
“PLEASE CBS I’LL DO ANYTHING! I’LL FUCKING SUCK YOUR DICK! YOU WANT ME TO EAT YOUR SHIT? I’LL EAT YOUR FUCKING SHIT ON THE LATE SHOW STAGE!”
Colbert’s going out with his head held high, and the support of the public that haven’t drank the MAGA Kool-Aid! And you and your Dear Toddler Drumpf have shown how tiny and petty you all are!
History will be kind to Colbert! Not to sad losers, like Drumpf and you MAGAts!
Dude… let it go; why you trying to shit on a show that’s already dead?
At the least the silver lining with Colbert’s cancellation is that you got nothing effective left to say about a freshly dead franchise~
You’re not welcome here anymore, thin-skinned pedo-defender~
Who gets to decide who’s welcome here and not, fascist.
Yes, Colbert went out with a whimper and you can admit that Colbert killed his show (and 12:35a) and destroyed the franchise.
Yes, Colbert’s legacy is one of failure and destruction.
And if anyone deserves to be kicked out of here, it’s you with your juvenile MAGA postings that are nothing but ignorant hate!
You’re just a sad pathetic loser!
….you mean Trump’s legacy, let’s not ignore the orange shadow behind the network’s decision
Again, you’re not welcome here if you can’t offer even one nuance take that doesn’t shit on Colbert; besides, if you really think about it, CBS could’ve said no to Colbert doin more political satire so really the network has itself to blame; so i dare you to comment one non-negative thing about Colbert that’s not “I’m glad he’s gone” vibes~
…unless you can’t, coward~
Thank you, but your ideas on who or who isn’t welcome is irrelevant like Colbert’s legacy.
Speaking of nuance, perhaps you could have said to Colbert and his lack of mocking anybody that was a liberal.
Yes, the network before the Ellisons were to blame for Colbert’s descent into partisan madness…good point.
And cowardice does describe why Colbert refused to invite pro-Trump conservatives onto his show. An actual debate…Colbert would run away with shame.
Nobody likes you whiny assed crybabies, with your endless crying about why Colbert is so mean to your diaper baby in chief, Drumpf! There’s a reason why you losers are so despised! You take no responsibility for your hateful behavior, while you project that onto others!
Thanks to losers, like you, America has never been more hated than it is right now!
Who’s whining? We’re celebrating this Democrat media propaganda media organ is gone.
Only people whining are Democrats….hmmm…wonder why….lol
Whatcha gonna do, now that Colbert can do whatever he wants and be successful at that? He lives in that empty head of yours, 24/7!
You losers have only made him bigger than before!
You gonna fuckin’ learn!
How is Colbert losing his show due to shitty ratings makes him a winner? Turning tail and heading back to South Carolina as a loser….geez, pathetic
Yet you still lie about that, and why he lost his show! Because you’re Dear Toddler Drumpf wanted him off and got it!
Your nose must be half way around the world, you lying bag of turds!
The only person to blame is Colbert, who turns a show into losing $40m million per year.
Your hero Drumpf did that! Deny all you want, but it only makes you more pathetic!
How did anybody other than Colbert made his show turn a profit into losing $40 million dollars in 2024?
You want to make your hero drumpf’s temper tantrum into something else!
You’ll get nothing and like it!
The boomer in the chat is cringe. He thinks ‘mucky boy’ is a clever insult. It’s soooooo cringe.
Like Zero here, who does nothing but talk bullshit, while accomplishing nothing! It has no hope of a future!
lol and what have you done besides worship failing celebrities?
I’ll tell you what I’ve done the last few days….helped an incapacitated boomer in my family with yard work and repairs because unlike you I actually do things, while all you do is bitch about young people. No wonder they don’t speak to you anymore. Why would they?
You have fucking issues, loser! Maybe don’t be trolling a site that only talks about late night shows! You’re an easily triggered infant!
You probably worship Israel lol
Enjoy the grinding poverty you lil losers have made for yourselves, zero!
See, you boomers are the greediest, most godless materialists. It’s all you care about.
How be you quit your whining, get away from your mommy’s computer, and make something of your life, Zero! You’re not convincing anyone that you’re an adult in any form!
Don’t forget to change your oxygen tank, geezer parasite
I enjoy bitchslapping you parasitic trolls, because you’re pathetic losers who come undone over the slightest criticism you’ve earned! You accuse us of being sponges, yet you live off your mommy’s hard work, because you refuse to take responsibility for your lives!
I’ve earned my keep! Start earning yours, you loafing bum!
Do my laundry and pick up dinner, slave.
We sent dying for Israel.
Expecting others to do their work for them! Enjoy a future of grinding poverty, lazy loser!
What a shitty take. Must be your upbringing.
I mean this in all sincerity; you should kill yourself, and I hope you do.
… you cannot say one non-negative thing about Colbert and evaded one simple task, can you?
What a waste of life, pedo-defending Coward.
I rather have Colbert saying a negative thing about Eric Swallwell (D) and he evaded that one simple task.
Why did Colbert defend that sexual rapist?
You’re in no fucking position to attack Swalwell when you say nothing of the sex crimes your hero has caused!
Mr Anderson, you are the kind of person that won’t be missed. Colbert will be. Some leave. Legacy. You are not one of them.
I can. ColBERT has never been funny. He was just mean-spirited and psychotic on Comedy Central. He is self-loathing. He trained himself out of his accent and made his entire persona about mocking the people he grew up with subtly with that awful character, and then with this failed replacement show for letterman into outright mocking them.
Can you seriously pretend that vaccine skit was not the cringiest thing in the history of television?
Also, stop pretending he’s a victim. He’s filthy rich. He’s so greedy he wouldn’t take a pay cut or write his own jokes. Instead he bloated CBS with an absolute crew in an anachronistic format.
That is why his show failed. That’s why Kimmel and Fallon and meyers failed. They are just DEI hires at this point for boomer idiosyncrasies.
That’s not the free market. It’s corporate welfare.
Those poor poor poor millionaires.
Colbert was playing a right wing Republican character on his old CC show! But hey keep on pouring out that whiny assed stupid drivel of yours! Yer teerz iz yummy, loser!
He mocked his own upbringing and disowned it by playing a hateful character.
That’s…. Not what I asked for
You said the opposite of wut I asked, and failed
You just cannot stop being negative about Colbert, especially when you’re so capitalist-minded.
You need to look above him and blame the billionaires who are destroying not just cultural institutions like the Late Show, but also CBS radio
The billionaire suits overseeing legacy corporations are the true enemy, not a mere jester like Colbert
He was mocking right wing Republicans!
You’re a fucking pathetic joke, you ignorant toddler!
You mean the billionaires you worshipped in 2020 with your Pfizer tattoo? Remember the worst skit in history called vaccine by Colbert?
Don’t interpret what I’m thinking, you social pariah! Your attempts to make Colbert a bad guy won’t work, because you’re too dumb and unstable to opine here!
You keep coping because he’s forcibly retired like you geriatrics should too.
You’re still trying to put words in my mouth, because you can’t think for yourself! This is what you not paying attention in school will get you!
I grew up with Anderson…all he ever talked about was wanting to be the next Mark Zuckerberg and this is where he ended up, internet troll with no friends…just as he was as a kid
This type of troll belongs on 4chan or any echo chamber, not on a site that placates to the exact opposite of his interests
Also, that’s a bad sign if he if his aspiration is to be Mark Zuckerberg; like… he and I guess Byron Allen given the way he glazes the latter, are just not the ideal influencers you should aspire to be or idolize~
I’m really sorry, mac20; I hope you can try to cooperate and rein in him offline, or at least off this site~ He’s just a very toxic presence for a site dedicated to a specific, fun little niche interest
I bet it got 3-4 million. Pathetic
It love dishing out, but despises having to take it! Oh well, it gonna learn!
I’m not gonna sleep with you, fruity stalker
Because you’re an unstable loser, as your posts her expose you as!
Haha the geezer is trying to pretend he gets more pussy than a far younger man. Hahaha I’ve officially seen everything now.
What shall I do? I know! Laugh at the pathetic lil Nazi loser for coming up with such a lame response! Because it knows it’ll never have anything of a love life, for women find it toxic!
You can’t spell because you’re some ghetto rat.
You despise blacks, you despise Jews! You’re either a far lefty tankie, or a Drumpf licking MAGAt!
You’re not sane and normal by any means!
Pathetic boomers
Your grandkids are mixed because your daughter liked them dark.
Zero here just made my point about him being an ignorant racist! Congratulations on being so predictably dumb, loser!
I mean you’re kinda right
The viewership (outside streaming) was actually TWICE THE MINIMAL NUMBER; I mean not that viewership on linear tv matters but still that is quite a high note to end on that shouldn’t be overlooked
So congrats on kinda being right and setting a minimum guess 🥳👍🏽
Twice that, but that’s a serious accomplishment for linear media these days. The Oscars doesn’t even get the numbers they got 10 years ago.
It appears Latenighter needs moderators for the racist/homophobic/bullying comments.
Agreed.
Stephen who?
Best reporting on the final episode. Thanks!
I read on an Instagram post by the wife of a staff member. There were family members there that day to support their family who had devoted their lives to The Colbert show. Security came and kicked them out. no reason was given. Staff complained to the executives and the family members were allowed back in. But the next day the staff that complained were fired This deserves looking into. CBS / Paramount sucks. I’m canceling my membership.
U 2 song…… the power of the people is so much more than the people in power!