Stephen Colbert makes surprise TV return with Jack White and Eminem
Stephen Colbert has made a surprise return to television, not 24 hours after the emotional, star-studded final episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Jack White and Eminem joined the former talk-show host on the Michigan public access station.
Colbert’s final show aired on May 21st after CBS cancelled the long-running series, citing it as a “purely financial decision”. Conversely, many believe the show’s end was politically motivated, given Colbert’s continued criticism of the Trump administration.
During his final monologue on the show, Colbert reminisced about his 2015 appearance on Michigan’s public access station, Only In Monroe. There, he carried out a test run of The Late Show for, according to him, “an audience of 12 people” alongside Eminem.
During the monologue, he then quipped, “Show business being what it is these days, that’s probably where you’ll see me next.”
True to his word, on May 22nd, he returned to the station at 11:35 pm. Appearing alongside regular hosts Michelle Baumann and Kaye Lani Rae Rafko Wilson, as well as Detroit musician Jack White, and actors Jeff Daniels and Steve Buscemi.
Colbert addressed the audience saucily, reflecting on the whirlwind 24 hours he had experienced: “It’s been an excruciating 23 hours without being on TV, so I am grateful to be here on Monroe Community Media before they are also acquired by Paramount.”
Colbert then introduced White as his volunteer “music director”, who sat on the side of the stage with a boombox and a reel-to-reel.
The 62-year-old then FaceTimed Byron Allen, whose show, Comics Unleashed, is replacing The Late Show on CBS. Buscemi appeared for a comical bit about a local pizza joint called Buscemi’s, which he insisted he had no connection to.
Colbert then had some fun with Daniels, who taught him how to make a pita sandwich using only ingredients found in the fridge.
For the episode’s conclusion, Colbert, White and Daniels dismantled the humble set and took it to a nearby dumpster for burning. However, the trio sought permission from “the fire marshal” first, which resulted in a call to Colbert’s 2015 Only in Monroe guest, Eminem.
Now involved in the antics and beaming in via FaceTime, the rapper ordered, “Stephen, Marshall here, you’re absolutely clear to burn that motherfucker down.”
Colbert seemed cheery as ever, given Trump’s continued criticism; the president likened him to a “dead person” and threw him in a bin in his latest AI-generated video.
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