Amid all the hand-wringing, finger-pointing, and high and low dudgeon over the Stephen Colbert saga at CBS, something has gone completely overlooked:
September 8th will mark Colbert’s tenth anniversary as host of The Late Show.
Yes, it will also be his last anniversary as host—and the last anniversary of any kind for the franchise—since CBS has decided to junk the whole enterprise.
But still.
Would people not celebrate Joe Superstar’s 20th season with the home team because he’s already announced it’s his last hurrah patrolling center field? Would that ever happen, even if Joe didn’t announce it but the team did instead, taking public note of his expiring multi-million-dollar contract, his diminishing stats, his creaky range in the outfield, and the dropping attendance figures affecting the bottom line?
No. There would still be “Joe Superstar Day” at the ballpark, where the fans could pay tribute to his great achievements, and the team could present him with a lovely, state-of-the-art, high-speed riding mower and a commemorative plaque to be hung on the wall outside the executive dining room on the loge level.
With just two weeks to go, network insiders say there are no plans for a “Colbert Day” at CBS, at least not in the way networks have traditionally feted their longtime late-night stars: with prime-time anniversary special.
You may recall that Jimmy Fallon, NBC’s current top late-night star, did get a prime-time special—two hours’ worth, no less—in May last year.
It was filled with highlights of sketches, musical bits, and memorable moments with guests—like Nicole Kidman needling Fallon about his missing her interest in dating him when they were both single, and Taylor Swift’s mother contributing a video of her iconic star daughter being goofy on painkillers after Lasik surgery.
Johnny Carson‘s anniversary specials were so baked into public consciousness that a pre-Larry Sanders Garry Shandling produced a pitch perfect parody of one in 1986, complete with a cameo from Carson himself.
David Letterman also got the big anniversary treatment at NBC, even after the network dissed him by selecting Jay Leno as the heir to Carson. That anniversary special coincidentally marked Letterman’s tenth year hosting Late Night on NBC—and it wound up having bizarre impact in the denouement to the drama of frantic negotiations at NBC to keep him from joining CBS.
NBC was still roiling internally over its Tonight Show call of Jay over Dave when the special was produced. Despite lingering bitterness in the Letterman camp, NBC still wanted another big Letterman prime-time special, because they always killed in the ratings.
But Letterman, scarred by NBC’s decision, decreed very late—on the actual night of the taping—that two NBC executives should be disinvited from the after-party scheduled to celebrate the anniversary. Months later, as NBC weighed a last-second switch back to Letterman, the hurt feelings apparently caused by the disinvitation came up as an issue in NBC’s negotiations with Letterman’s agent, Mike Ovitz.
No such intrigue is likely to surround Colbert’s 10th anniversary—unless you count the odd circumstance that he’s been canceled but is still on the air, and will be for another nine months. (That’s more Conan-esque, although in O’Brien’s case, he was only given a week of Tonight Show airtime to unload on his network.)
Jimmy Kimmel is another late-night star who was feted by his network in recent memory, when ABC threw a big prime-time special for his 20th in 2023.
Seth Meyers went smaller-scale for his 10th in February last year, airing a special show in his regular time period. But it included a visit from the President of the United States (the one he liked).
It’s highly unlikely Colbert would seek a similar booking this year—or that the man currently holding that office would show up. But given the support and sympathy he’s received across the entertainment world in the wake of CBS’s decision to break up with him, he could likely book some really big names if he wanted to.
The odd situation of ushering out a star with a still-strong following has already led to a ratings surge for Colbert’s Late Show—something that might be a clanging signal pointing to the same happening with a potential 10th anniversary show.
Imagine the comic possibilities: “Don’t miss the party! Stephen Colbert celebrates ten hilarious years with CBS — but no more!”
That boat has apparently sailed. Anniversary specials, like superstar “Days” at the ballpark, are hard to put together with only a couple of weeks’ notice.
Would CBS be open to doing something big—like one of those star-studded prime-time specials—for Colbert’s finale next May? Sources at the network aren’t ruling it out.
It just might not be as festive an occasion.
