The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2015)

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is a 2015 comedy series created by Nate Charny and Michael Brumm. It stars Stephen Colbert, Evelyn McGee-Colbert and John Oliver.

Stephen Colbert took over CBS's Late Show in 2015 and turned it into a nightly mix of monologue, political satire, and long-form conversation from the Ed Sullivan Theater. Guests span politics, film, music, and tech, and Colbert plays the genial host who can still land a sharp point about the day's news. Jon Batiste led the band through the early years, giving the show a loose, musical warmth. It ran through May 2026 as the top-rated program in late night, closing out a franchise that reached back through David Letterman in the very same studio.

Quick answers

What is The Late Show with Stephen Colbert about?

When was The Late Show with Stephen Colbert released?

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was released on 8 September 2015.

How many episodes does The Late Show with Stephen Colbert have?

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has 1816 episodes across 11 seasons.

Who made The Late Show with Stephen Colbert?

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was created by Nate Charny, Michael Brumm and Stephen Colbert.

Where can I watch The Late Show with Stephen Colbert?

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is available on Paramount Plus, Paramount+ (Via Amazon Prime), Paramount+ (Via Apple TV), CBS and Pluto TV.

Where to watch The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Stream: Paramount Plus, Paramount+ (Via Amazon Prime), Paramount+ (Via Apple TV)

Watch free: CBS, Pluto TV

Official site

https://www.cbs.com/shows/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/

Cast

Similar series

Explore The Late Show with Stephen Colbert guides

A few thoughts on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Trevor Noah, another late-night host who folds real argument into his comedy, wrote Born a Crime, a memoir as funny as it is serious about growing up under apartheid. Bossypants gives Tina Fey's version of the same comedy-writer's life. Both read like extended time with exactly the kind of guest Stephen Colbert loves having on the couch.

The other network hosts keeping the nightly monologue alive

Colbert built the Late Show around a nightly monologue and a couch full of guests spanning politics, film and music, and that same format is still going strong elsewhere. Fallon, Kimmel and Corden keep the celebrity-driven version running, Seth Meyers leans harder into the news of the day from his own desk, and Conan carries the same conversational curiosity into a different network entirely.

The desk's history, from Carson to Letterman to Colbert

The Ed Sullivan Theater hosted variety and talk for decades before Colbert ever sat behind that desk, and its lineage runs straight through this pool. The Ed Sullivan Show and The Carol Burnett Show set the template for a nightly stage, Johnny Carson defined the format for a generation, and David Letterman held both the earlier Late Night slot and this very Late Show chair before Colbert inherited it.

Comedians and hosts who put their voice into a book

Colbert has always paired the desk with a writer's ear for a well-turned line, and he put that same voice into his own bestseller, I Am America (And So Can You!). Tina Fey's Bossypants and Trevor Noah's Born a Crime do the same trick from behind their own late-night chairs, turning a host's persona into a full memoir, while How to Be Really Funny breaks down the comic craft itself.

Satire and panel comedy skewering the news itself

Before Colbert took the desk, he built his career on satire aimed at the news cycle itself, and that instinct runs through The Daily Show and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, both fronted by fellow satirists with roots in the same tradition. Mock the Week and Never Mind the Buzzcocks bring the same needling wit to a British panel format.