{"id":24454,"date":"2026-05-14T08:31:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T08:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/?p=24454"},"modified":"2026-05-14T08:31:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T08:31:57","slug":"its-been-an-amazing-11-years-thank-you-mr-colbert-%e2%9d%a4%ef%b8%8f%f0%9f%92%ab-as-stephen-colbert-prepares-for-his-emotional-final-episode-of-the-late-show-with-stephen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/?p=24454","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s Been an Amazing 11 Years\u2026 Thank You, Mr. Colbert\u201d \u2764\ufe0f\ud83d\udcab As Stephen Colbert prepares for his emotional final episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on May 21, the internet is exploding over one last unforgettable reunion with the legendary Strike Force Five crew. \ud83c\udf99\ufe0f\u26a1\ud83d\ude31 Joined by Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver, Colbert delivers a chaotic, emotional, laugh-until-you-cry sendoff packed with outrageous confessions, brutal jokes, and viral moments fans can\u2019t stop replaying. \ud83d\ude02"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/ins>Strike Force Five reassembled on Monday\u2019s\u00a0\u201cThe Late Show With Stephen Colbert.\u201dStephen Colbert\u00a0joined \u201cLate Night\u201d\u00a0host\u00a0Seth Meyers, \u201cLast Week Tonight\u201d\u00a0host\u00a0John Oliver, \u201cLive!\u201d host\u00a0Jimmy Kimmel\u00a0and \u201cThe Tonight Show\u201d host\u00a0Jimmy Fallon\u00a0\u2013 aka the late-night podcast crew, Strike Force Five \u2013 for the final time before Colbert\u2019s\u00a0last show on May 21.<\/p>\n

Colbert introduced the crew as \u201cfour of my best television friends and co-hosts of the awards-ignored podcast,\u201d who immediately started the pandemonium onstage. Sitting on the couch, Kimmel explained the group\u2019s\u00a0Writers Guild of America 2023 strike\u00a0origin story.<\/p>\n

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\u201cStrike Force Five is and always will be a group of five individuals who went on strike along with their writers, who were paying their writers,\u201d Kimmel said. \u201cSo we did a podcast that paid a tiny portion of that. We did 12 episodes.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert\u201d and guests Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver, and Seth Meyers during Monday\u2019s May 11 show.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Colbert decreed the podcast group would do \u201can emergency episode\u201d directly after the show.<\/p>\n

Kimmel jokingly wonders why no one\u2019s canceling Paramount+ over Colbert cancellation<\/h2>\n

Colbert led a discussion about the future of late-night TV, asking the hosts to make their case for the hallowed but struggling institution in 2026.<\/p>\n

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Kimmel said, \u201cLook at the figures. The fact of the matter is, more people are watching late-night television now than, and I know everybody gets crazy, when Johnny Carson [was on].\u201d<\/p>\n

Kimmel said the numbers from TV, and sources like YouTube, \u201cadd up.\u201d As proof of strength, Kimmel pointed out that when ABC parent company\u00a0Walt Disney took him off air in 2025\u00a0for comments he made about the killing of Charlie Kirk, \u201cpeople canceled Disney+\u201d in protest.<\/p>\n

This led Kimmel to jokingly wonder why fans are not similarly canceling subscriptions to Paramount+ to protest the \u201cLate Show\u201d cancellation. \u201cWhy aren\u2019t you people canceling Paramount+? Because you didn\u2019t have it in the first place?\u201d he quipped.<\/p>\n

\u201cLate night is one of those things that has been around our whole lives. It\u2019s part of our lives,\u201d said Fallon. \u201cPeople want to go to sleep having a good laugh, and go to bed happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The crowd shot at \u201cThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Late-night hosts on facing Trump\u2019s wrath, Kimmel\u2019s\u00a0Melania Trump\u00a0controversy<\/h2>\n

All the hosts agreed they never expected to attract the attention of the president.\u00a0President Donald Trump\u00a0is a regular hate-watcher and social media commentator, who frequently calls for all of the major late-night hosts to be fired.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know what\u2019s even weirder? We\u2019re doing a job that his wife has strong feelings about,\u201d said Kimmel.\u00a0First lady Melania Trump slammed\u00a0Kimmel last month for jokingly calling her an \u201cexpectant widow\u201d on his show.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of us have avoided that part,\u201d Meyers quipped to Kimmel, while Oliver said it\u2019s \u201camazing to get a group text from [Kimmel] saying \u2018Oh boy,\u2019 and then a picture of Melania mad at him,\u201d referencing the Strike Force Five text message chain.<\/p>\n