How to watch the ‘Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ finale for free

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After over three decades, Stephen Colbert’s late night show is coming to an end.

It’s the end of an era for late night TV.

After a week of special farewell episodes, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” is officially coming to an end with tonight’s series finale.

“It takes a lot of bone marrow to do the show every day, and now I’ll be stepping down with enough time, enough energy to do other things that I want to do,” Colbert shared with People recently, saying the show’s cancellation may have “saved [his] life.”

Below, you’ll find everything you need to know to catch the final episode — for free, at that.

When is the last episode of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”?

The final episode of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” airs on CBS on Thursday, May 21, 2026, at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT.

How to watch the last episode of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”

To catch the show, you’ll need a live TV streaming service. One of our favorite options is DirecTV, which offers a five-day free trial and has several packages including CBS.

The show also streams live on Paramount+ for premium subscribers (and will be available on-demand the next day for ad-supported subscribers).

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Who is the guest on the last episode of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”?

While everyone from Martha Stewart to Aubrey Plaza has been part of the show’s last week so far, it hasn’t been announced yet who will appear on the finale. Colbert teased “something simple” in the People interview.

He announced the long-running series’ cancellation after nearly 33 years in July 2025, telling viewers, “I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away.”

Colbert told People the cancellation may have “saved [his] life.” Scott Kowalchyk /CBS

“I’ve had the pleasure and the responsibility of sharing what we do every day in front of this camera for the last 10 years and, let me tell you, it is a fantastic job,” he gushed on-air. “I wish somebody else was getting it.”

CBS claimed to Variety at the time that the cancellation of the series was a “purely financial decision.”

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