32 YEARS OF THE LATE SHOW. IT ALL ENDED LAST NIGHT — AND IT’S NOT COMING BACK. Stephen Colbert walked onto the Ed Sullivan Theater stage one last time. The crowd wouldn’t stop. Standing ovation before he even said a word. CBS canceled his show last July — called it “purely a financial decision.” Colbert found out the night before they told the world. But instead of bitterness, he spent his final 11 months doing what he always did. Making people laugh. Saying what needed to be said. Last night’s finale was star-studded in the strangest, most beautiful way. Bryan Cranston stormed off stage after being told he wasn’t the final guest. Paul Rudd showed up insisting he was. Ryan Reynolds tried out for the role too. A green wormhole kept appearing throughout the show — and Neil deGrasse Tyson couldn’t explain it away. Then Jon Stewart walked through it. The man who gave Colbert his start stood beside him one more time. No big speech. Just a quiet truth about endings and the holes they leave behind. But what Colbert whispered to his 200-person crew when the cameras pulled back… that part didn’t make the broadcast.
32 Years of The Late Show: The End of an Era, and Why Last Night Mattered Stephen Colbert walked onto…