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The curtain is closing on a significant chapter in late-night television.
Following a week of heartfelt farewell episodes, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” will officially conclude with its series finale tonight.
In a recent interview with People, Colbert revealed, “It takes a lot of bone marrow to do the show every day, and now I’ll be stepping down with enough time and energy to pursue other interests.” He added that the show’s cancellation might have “saved [his] life.”
If you’re looking to watch the final episode, here’s how you can do it for free.
When is the last episode of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”?
The last episode of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” will air on CBS on Thursday, May 21, 2026, at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT.
How to watch the last episode of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”
To catch the show, you’ll need a live TV streaming service. One of our favorite options is DirecTV, which offers a five-day free trial and has several packages including CBS.
The show also streams live on Paramount+ for premium subscribers (and will be available on-demand the next day for ad-supported subscribers).
Who is the guest on the last episode of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”?
While everyone from Martha Stewart to Aubrey Plaza has been part of the show’s last week so far, it hasn’t been announced yet who will appear on the finale. Colbert teased “something simple” in the People interview.
He announced the long-running series’ cancellation after nearly 33 years in July 2025, telling viewers, “I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away.”
“I’ve had the pleasure and the responsibility of sharing what we do every day in front of this camera for the last 10 years and, let me tell you, it is a fantastic job,” he gushed on-air. “I wish somebody else was getting it.”
CBS claimed to Variety at the time that the cancellation of the series was a “purely financial decision.”
This article was written by Hannah Southwick, Commerce Associate Editor for Page Six. Hannah spies deals on actually affordable celebrity-worn styles, puts celebrities’ brands to the test and finds the beauty products that keep stars red carpet-ready. She consults stylists and industry pros — including celebs themselves — for firsthand product recommendations, trend predictions and more. In addition to writing for Page Six since 2020, her work has been featured in USA Today and Parade.