Stephen Colbert Brings Together Late Night Titans for ‘Strike Force Five’ Reunion as ‘Late Show’ Nears End
With the end of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert approaching, the host turned one of his final episodes into a reunion of some of television’s biggest late-night personalities.
Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and John Oliver joined Colbert on Tuesday night, reviving the chemistry of “Strike Force Five,” the title they used for both their friend group and the podcast they launched during the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike.
The conversation quickly turned into a reflection on the increasingly uncertain state of late-night television and its unexpected role in modern politics.
“Late-night is in a bit of a weird spot right now—spoiler alert,” Colbert told the audience.
“The five of us being here right now, obviously, it’s dangerous because we represent so much of late night. Jon Stewart is designated survivor. Someone has to survive for the president to be mad at.”
The remark referenced Stewart, who frequently hosts Comedy Central’s The Daily Show.
CBS previously announced that Colbert’s program would end on May 21, citing financial reasons for the cancellation. However, many viewers have questioned whether the move was politically motivated, given Colbert’s years of criticism directed at President Trump. Tuesday’s monologue continued that trend, with Colbert dedicating much of the opening segment to mocking the president.
The hosts later discussed how surreal it feels for comedy shows to become subjects of presidential attention. “When you were starting out in comedy, did it ever occur to you that you’d be doing a job that the president of the United States would have strong feelings about?” Colbert asked the panel.
“You know what’s even weirder?” Kimmel replied. “Doing a job that his wife has strong feelings about.”
Kimmel’s joke referred to Trump’s recent call for the ABC host to be canceled after Kimmel made comments about first lady Melania Trump, which Kimmel later described as a “light roast.”
Meyers also chimed in with a jab about Trump’s viewing habits.
“The thing I like is that he always posts when the show actually airs. And I do wanna say I appreciate that he is watching linear television.”
At another point in the discussion, Kimmel poked fun at Colbert supporters for not responding to the cancellation by abandoning Paramount Plus subscriptions.
“When I got knocked off the air for a few days, people canceled Disney+,” Kimmel quipped.
Kimmel had briefly been taken off the air by Disney and ABC after conservatives criticized remarks he made following the assassination of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk. In a subsequent monologue, Kimmel accused the “MAGA gang” of trying to turn the killing into a political weapon.
Tuesday’s episode also revisited the origins of Strike Force Five. The series lasted for 12 episodes, and its proceeds were distributed to staff members from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
The reunion comes amid broader signs of support from across the late-night television world ahead of Colbert’s finale. NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon announced it would air a rerun on May 21 rather than compete with Colbert’s final broadcast, while Jimmy Kimmel Live! said it would temporarily go dark that night in recognition of Colbert’s run.
“Late night is one of those things that’s been around our whole lives where it kind of it’s just part of our lives,” Fallon said during his appearance on The Late Show.
“I never thought it was a job when I was growing up. I just thought Johnny Carson came with the television set. People wanna go to sleep, have a good laugh and go to bed happy.”
Colbert first took over The Late Show in September 2015, and the program has aired for more than 1,700 episodes. CBS is expected to end the Late Show franchise entirely following Colbert’s departure.
Before signing off, Colbert revealed the group would reunite yet again for an “emergency” video episode of the podcast on May 13.
At the start of that episode, which has now been released, Colbert shared how he’s feeling with just seven episodes left of the show.
“It’s super real. I’ve sunken into it, actually. What I’ve said is the rising tide of emotion has reached my chin, and now, the only thing to do is take a deep breath and swim like hell to May 21.”
Colbert’s farewell stretch is also expected to include an appearance from David Letterman, who hosted The Late Show before Colbert took over the desk. Beyond late-night television, Colbert is co-writing a new Lord of the Rings movie titled The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past with his son, Peter McGee. He also plans to continue working on his latest hobby after the show’s end—building a boat in his basement.
Moumita Basuroychowdhury is a Contributing Reporter at The National Digest. After earning an economics degree at Cornell University, she moved to NYC to pursue her MFA in creative writing. She enjoys reporting on science, business and culture news. You can reach her at moumita.b@thenationaldigest.com.
