Stephen Colbert Stages Swift TV Comeback After Late Show Finale — And Takes Aim at CBS

Stephen Colbert barely waited 24 hours after wrapping up The Late Show before he popped back up on telly – though this time, not quite in the usual glitzy setting. Instead, the man swapped Broadway lights for the humble studios of Michigan public-access TV, dropping in as guest host of a show called Only in Monroe. Now, if you were expecting him to bow out quietly after the abrupt CBS axe, you haven’t been paying attention. Colbert used the appearance for a bit of gentle (and not so gentle) needling about his former network’s recent financial shenanigans, and frankly, he seemed to enjoy himself.

Colbert’s Return: Straight Back on the Horse, Public-Access Style

First off, let’s address the timing: Colbert’s Late Show finale went out on 21 May 2026, and literally the very next day, he’s already gracing Monroe’s local airwaves. When he opened the episode, Colbert said he found even a single day off TV 'excruciating' – obviously tongue in cheek, but you get the idea. The best bit? He thanked Monroe Community Media for the gig, joking he’d snatched it up before Paramount could splash out and buy the station themselves. Frankly, with the way Paramount’s been flinging cash around (or not, depending on who you ask), it wouldn’t have been the daftest thing they’d done.

Sarcasm Levels: Approaching Maximum

Colbert didn’t hold back when skewering CBS’s recent decisions. Since his show was now sponsor-free and, in his words, lost 'a lot of money' just putting on the one episode, he smirked, 'Now I know how CBS felt.' If you were waiting for a dignified silence, you came to the wrong show.

He also couldn’t resist having a pop at the show’s accessibility: since Only in Monroe can now be watched by anyone, he quipped that perhaps this was a lesson both he and CBS had failed to learn. Because why keep things contained, when you can make them available... well, everywhere? There’s a little self-awareness in there for you.

Colbert’s Interview Tactics: All About the Innuendo

One of the more eyebrow-raising moments was when Colbert interviewed the show’s regular hosts, Michelle Bowman and Kaye Lani Rae Rafko. He asked why Only in Monroe had gone off air for a bit, slyly suggesting, ‘Was it purely financial reasons?’ It’s a direct wink at the line CBS peddled when they cancelled The Late Show: they said, quite insistently, that it was a 'purely financial' decision, and not at all about Colbert or how the show was doing.

Let’s pause: this is a show, by the way, that’s played host to the likes of Jeff Daniels, Jack White, Eminem, and a whole crowd of midwestern notables. Colbert’s clearly not above jumping into the community circuit, especially if it helps him get his last word on CBS.

Who Gets the Last Laugh?

To finish off, Colbert told the regular Only in Monroe hosts that, if he still had a show, he’d happily have them on as guest presenters. Since he’s now off that particular stage, he did the next best thing: he called up Byron Allen live – yes, that Byron Allen, whom CBS hired to fill Colbert’s slot with Comics Unleashed. On camera, Colbert asked if Bowman and Rafko could snag a guest spot there. Allen, good for a soundbite, replied:

'Will you come sit in with me?'

So, if nothing else, we’ve now got the prospect of two Michigan local TV hosts possibly getting primetime on CBS, all thanks to Colbert stirring the pot one last time. If he’s bitter, he’s hiding it behind a wall of sarcasm. In this line of work, that’s practically tradition.