Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel Go Dark for Stephen Colbert's Final Late Show

Stephen Colbert has invited his friends from other late-night shows, such as John Oliver and Seth Meyers, to join him during his last weeks on the air. Fans are excited but also sad to see one of the most popular late-night programs in modern television come to an end.

Level 3 — Intermediate

American late-night television will mark a rare moment of unity on Thursday, May 21, when Stephen Colbert hosts his final episode of CBS's The Late Show. NBC's Jimmy Fallon and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel have both confirmed that their flagship late-night programs will air reruns rather than fresh episodes that night, allowing viewers to give Colbert's farewell their full attention.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has run for 11 seasons since Colbert took over the desk from David Letterman in 2015. CBS, citing changing economics in the late-night business and a long-running political controversy, announced in 2025 that it would end the franchise. The cancellation surprised industry observers because the program had remained one of the most-watched late-night shows on broadcast television and had won multiple Emmy Awards.

Network executives at NBC and ABC told The Hollywood Reporter that the rerun decision was an explicit 'show of late-night solidarity.' Both Fallon and Kimmel have publicly criticized the cancellation, and Colbert has reciprocated by inviting them, along with John Oliver of HBO and Seth Meyers of Late Night, to appear on stage during the final weeks of his run. Industry executives say it is unusual for direct competitors to dim their lights for a rival broadcast.

For viewers, the gesture transforms what would otherwise be a routine night of television into a kind of communal farewell. Colbert's run reshaped American late-night comedy around dense political satire, long-form interviews with authors and policymakers, and a willingness to weep on camera about the news of the day. Whatever fills the 11:35 p.m. CBS slot starting in the autumn will inherit not only a time period but a programming style that Colbert helped to define.

flagship: the most important or well-known thing a company makes

franchise: a long-running show, movie or product line

cancellation: the act of ending a show or service

rival: a competitor doing the same kind of work

reciprocate: to return a favor or gesture

satire: humor that uses exaggeration to criticize people or ideas

policymaker: someone who helps make laws or government decisions

communal: shared among a group of people

Level 4 — Advanced

When Stephen Colbert tapes the final episode of CBS's The Late Show on Thursday, May 21, the broadcast will be conducted under conditions of unusual reverence for an industry whose default register is rivalry. NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the two programs that have spent the past decade in nightly ratings combat with Colbert's hour, will both run repeats opposite the finale. Network executives, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, characterized the move as a 'sign of late-night solidarity,' and pointed to the cancellation itself, announced by CBS in 2025 after a protracted business and political dispute, as the trigger for what amounts to a coordinated dimming of the lights.

Colbert assumed the Late Show desk in September 2015, succeeding David Letterman and recalibrating the franchise around dense topical monologues, long-form policy interviews and an emotional candor rarely associated with the 11:35 p.m. slot. The program won five Primetime Emmy Awards across its 11 seasons, including Outstanding Variety Talk Series in 2024, and consistently led the late-night ratings among the broadcast networks even as the format collectively shed audience to streaming, social-clip economies and the relentless pull of bedtime smartphone use.

CBS's decision to end the show prompted unusually public criticism from Colbert's late-night peers. Jimmy Kimmel, who has frequently joined Colbert during writers' strikes and political flashpoints, called the cancellation 'short-sighted.' Jimmy Fallon, more reticent, nonetheless agreed to air a Tonight Show rerun, joining John Oliver of HBO's Last Week Tonight and Seth Meyers of Late Night in a kind of distributed valediction that has played out across the closing weeks in monologue cameos, surprise appearances and emotional studio handoffs.

The cultural significance of one night of reruns is small in the aggregate but pointed in the specific. American late-night television, once a stable cartel of three desks selling identical Carson-derived programming, has been reorganizing for two decades around niche voices, podcast spinoffs and clip-driven YouTube monetization. Colbert's departure removes one of the last broadcast hosts whose program functioned as a daily, institutional response to political news. The Tonight Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live going dark on May 21 reads less like ordinary scheduling than like an industry-wide acknowledgment that a recognizable era of American late-night is ending — and that whatever replaces it will not have quite the same shape.

register: the typical tone or mode of expression in a setting

protracted: lasting for a long time, often longer than expected

recalibrate: to adjust or rebalance something

candor: the quality of being open and honest

valediction: a formal farewell or goodbye

monetization: the process of turning content or attention into revenue

cartel: a group of competitors who informally coordinate their behavior

aggregate: a total or whole considered together

Level 1 — Absolute Beginner

Level 2 — Elementary

Level 3 — Intermediate

Level 4 — Advanced

Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel Go Dark for Stephen Colbert's Final Late Show

Multiple Choice

True or False

Fill in the Blank