Late night television can’t get rid of Stephen Colbert that easily.
After it was revealed that CBS canceled the comedian’s long-running late night talk show, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, The Hollywood Reporter learned on Sunday that Colbert has landed another hosting gig on a separate CBS show.
Colbert is set to make a guest appearance on an upcoming season three episode of the crime comedy, Elsbeth, which returns Oct. 12. Vulture reported that Colbert will play the host of a fictional late night talk show called Way Late with Scotty Bristol.
Elsbeth, starring Carrie Preston, Wendell Pierce and Carra Patterson, is a murder-of-the-week show. It follows astute but unconventional attorney Elsbeth Tascioni (Preston), who utilizes her singular point of view to make unique observations and corner brilliant criminals alongside the NYPD.
Colbert’s episode was filmed this week; however, his guest appearance has been months in the making. In February, during Pierce’s appearance on The Late Show, Colbert asked the actor if he could help him land a role on Elsbeth, as he’s been wanting “to be a corpse on one of these shows.” Pierce happily responded, “I can make that happen. I know a guy who knows a guy. We can get you on.”
Colbert joins the list of other stars who have made appearances on the crime comedy, including Nathan Lane, Keegan-Michael Key, Laura Benanti, Matthew Broderick and Retta, among others.
Last month, CBS cited a “financial decision” amid a declining linear TV landscape for the cancellation of The Late Show, which is set to conclude at the end of the 2025-26 season. However, the show’s cancellation announcement came after Colbert criticized Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, for agreeing to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit from President Donald Trump, who sued over former Vice President Kamala Harris’ 60 Minutes interview. The network said in a statement that it wasn’t a factor in the decision to end the show.
Sources previously told THR that Paramount believed the lawsuit posed a threat to the Paramount-Skydance merger, which was awaiting approval by the FCC under the Trump administration. After more than a year, the deal was approved by the federal agency at the end of July.
Vulture was first to report the news of Colbert’s guest role on Elsbeth.
CBS declined to comment.
