5 things we want to see on Stephen Colbert's “Late Show” before it ends
5 things we want to see on Stephen Colbert's “Late Show” before it ends
Joyce EngFri, May 15, 2026 at 7:35 PM UTC
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Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican; Michelle Williams at the 2026 Annual Actor Awards
Credit: Simone Risoluti - Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty; Neilson Barnard/Getty
Stephen Colbert’s final week of The Late Show will soon be upon us.The host kicked off his farewell tour on May 11 by reuniting with his Strike Force Five cohosts and fellow late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver, before welcoming stalwart guests like Julia Louis-Drefyus and Tom Hanks, and chucking CBS property off the Ed Sullivan Theater roof with Late Show originator David Letterman.In his final week, starting May 18, Colbert will welcome Jon Stewart, Steven Spielberg, David Byrne, and Bruce Springsteen as guests leading into the May 21 series finale — about which there are zero details.We’re sure there’ll be lots of surprises, but here are five things we want to see before Colbert — and the Late Show franchise — sign off for good.
Michelle Williams
Michelle Williams on 'The Late Show' in 2025
Credit: Scott Kowalchyk/CBS
During Strike Force Five’s emergency podcast episode, recorded after the gang's Late Show taping on Monday, Colbert revealed he was "wildly attracted to" Michelle Williams when she first stopped by in 2016.
"I didn't know what to do with my eyeballs when Michelle was on for the first time," he said. "She sat down across from me and I went, 'Oh f---, what is wrong with my head? I better not look directly at her for this entire interview,'" he recounted. "There was something about her vibe, her face, everything. She's so beautiful."
The Oscar nominee, who since visited Late Showthree more times, has yet to react to Colbert’s confession, so it’d be only right for her to drop by on his last show and send him off with a goodbye kiss, since he’s been collecting kisses like Infinity Stones.
Bonus visit: Rachel Weisz. Colbert "used to have a Rachel Weisz problem" during his Daily Show days that was so debilitating that he "would leave the building for fear that I would say something stupid to her."
Pope Leo XIV
Pope Leo XIV at Sapienza University of Rome
Credit: Simone Risoluti - Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty
Colbert’s white whale of a guest is none other than Pope Leo. Apt for an outspoken Catholic. The 10-time Emmy winner told The Hollywood Reporter in April that he’s actually written to the pope asking him to visit.
“I said, 'Come on!' No, I said, 'Your Holiness, I hope this letter finds you well or, at the very least, infallible. Would you please come on my show? We don't have to talk about politics,'" he shared.
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No word on a reply (did he get ghosted by the pope?), but it’s now or never, Your Holiness! Make his dreams come true! Colbert, who met Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, at the Vatican in 2024, quipped that he’d have to defect if the pope went on another late-night show.
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"Now, if the pope goes on Kimmel [instead], I'm going to think hard about the Presbyterian church," he said. "That's all I'm saying."
Conan O'Brien
Conan O'Brien on 'The Late Show' in 2025
Credit: Scott Kowalchyk/CBS
Conan O'Brien stopped by Late Show just eight months ago (as a "promising actor" to promote If I Had Legs I’d Kick You), but it’d only be fitting for him to join the parade of Colbert’s late-night pals bidding him adieu. And who knows more about being unceremoniously rejected by your network than Coco? Plus, we're owed more Conan because he never appeared on Strike Force Five in 2023 — because they forgot to tell him the details (seriously) and then the writers' strike ended.
Helen Mirren reading poetry
Helen Mirren on 'The Late Show' in 2018
Credit: CBS
Helen Mirren is one of the many guests Colbert has kissed, and no, we're not asking the dame to come on and lock lips with him one more time. Rather, we want her to come and again bring Colbert to tears by reading a poem. She did just that in 2018 when, during a discussion about things that make them cry, the Oscar winner recited "Ulysses," Alfred Lord Tennyson’s rumination on life and death.
"You got me," an emotional Colbert said when she was done before the duo embraced.
No specific requests here — she can read a different poem or the same one, because what is sadder than the death of Late Show?
Lord of the Rings trivia with the Lord of the Rings gang
Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd on 'The Late Show' in 2021
Credit: Scott Kowalchyk/CBS
In 2021, Colbert, certified No. 1 Lord of the Rings stan, played a delightful game of Middle-earth trivia with Lord of the Rings trilogy stars Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd, with a special virtual appearance by Peter Jackson.
Colbert was in his element, his nerdom on full display, and did not miss a beat on two questions, including the very special Q from Jackson to win the prize. However, he was stumped once, failing to identify the part of Fangorn Forest where Merry and Pippin’s Entmoot was held. He needs to redeem himself before he starts work on The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past.
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert's final four episodes air Monday, May 18, through Thursday, May 21, at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
on Entertainment Weekly
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