Stephen Colbert makes surprise return to TV — and takes shots at CBS — with new hosting gig after “Late Show ”finale

Key points

• Stephen Colbert found a new TV hosting gig the day after The Late Show ended on CBS.

• The comedian guest-hosted the Michigan public access show Only in Monroe.

• Colbert took several shots at CBS on the show, which featured guests including Jeff Daniels, Jack White, Eminem, and more.

Stephen Colbert has already made his return to TV.

On Friday, just one day after The Late Show wrapped its 33-year run on CBS, the comedian popped back up on another late-night episode — on Michigan public access TV.

Colbert made the trek to Monroe, Mich., to guest-host the local show Only in Monroe, where he took several cracks at his former employers at CBS.

“It’s been an excruciating 23 hours without being on TV, so I am grateful to be able to be here on Monroe Community Media before they also get acquired by Paramount,” he said.

Later, he joked, “We don’t have any sponsors? And we actually lost a lot of money making the show tonight? Now I know how CBS felt.”

After making several Late Show–style quips related to local Monroe news, Colbert jabbed, “Viewers outside the greater Monroe area are able to view Monroe Community Media thanks to something known as streaming, which I promised not to learn about while I was on CBS. And evidently CBS also decided not to learn about it.”

Entertainment Weekly has reached out to representatives for CBS for comment.

Colbert also interviewed Michelle Bowman and Kaye Lani Rae Rafko Wilson, the usual hosts of Only in Monroe, asking them why the show went on hiatus for a period. “I understand you stopped making Only in Monroe for a while,” he said. “Why’d you stop? Was it ‘purely financial’ reasons?”

Colbert, who made the air quotes gesture as he said “purely financial,” was referring to CBS’ announcement last year that it was canceling The Late Show at the conclusion of its current season.

“This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night,” the network said in a statement in July. “It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content, or other matters happening at Paramount.”

However, many critics suggested that CBS’ choice to end The Late Show was politically motivated, as the network’s parent company, Paramount Global, had recently settled a suit filed by President Trump that some legal observers think should have been dismissed on First Amendment grounds. Skeptics questioned if the show’s fate was affected by the then-pending merger of Paramount Global and Skydance Media, which required approval from the Trump administration. The FCC approved the merger eight days after Colbert announced the show’s cancellation on air.

Colbert did not reveal his thoughts regarding potential political motivations for the show getting scrapped, but he told GQ that he recognized why others were dubious about the timing of the situation.

“I can understand why people would have that reaction because CBS or the parent corporation decided to cut a check for $16 million to the president of the United States over a lawsuit that their own lawyers, Paramount’s own lawyers, said is completely without merit,” he said. “And it is self-evident that that is damaging to the reputation of the network, the corporation, and the news division. So it is unclear to me why anyone would do that other than to curry favor with a single individual.”

Colbert’s conversation with the Only in Monroe hosts also touched on grief counseling, thyroid cancer, and bigfoot sightings. At one point he inquired, “Just asking for a friend: What did you do while you did not have a talk show?”

At the end of his interview with the two hosts, Colbert said, “If I still had a show, I would definitely let you guest-host mine. I know Byron Allen. Would you guys like to guest-host Comics Unleashed?”

He then FaceTimed Allen and asked him on the spot if Bowman and Rafko Wilson could guest-host Comics Unleashed as a favor.

Allen responded affirmatively. “Will you come sit in with me?” he asked the hosts.

In another segment, Colbert and Jack White, who served as the program’s guest music director throughout the ep, taste-tested two rival Monroe hot dogs.

Later in the episode, Steve Buscemi appeared in a pre-taped  “public service announcement” in which he clarified that he is “in no way associated with Buscemi’s Pizza & Subs in Monroe.”

Jeff Daniels then appeared as the show’s next guest. The Dumb and Dumber star taught Colbert how to make an absurd sandwich that included peanut butter, potato chips, and barbecue sauce.

Daniels and Colbert then jokingly discussed local community events in Monroe before ending the episode with a bang. In its final moments, Colbert announced that the Only in Monroe producers told him that “since they are no longer using this set, it would actually be helpful for me to destroy it.”

“Which is pretty great news,” he added, “because right now, for no particular reason, I would very much like to break something.”

Colbert, Daniels, and White then smashed the set with hammers.

The final moments also featured a huge virtual cameo. “Obviously, safety first,” Colbert said as Daniels poured lighter fluid into a dumpster containing the remnants of the set. “Before we spark this bad boy up, you always have to check with the fire marshal to make sure that it’s okay. Marshall, are you okay if we light this up?”

The show then cut to a video message from Eminem, whose real name, of course, is Marshall Mathers — get it?

“Stephen, Marshall here,” the rapper said. “You are absolutely clear to burn that motherf—er down, bro.”

Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with ourEW Dispatch newsletter.

The credits then rolled over a long shot of the dumpster burning the set debris. The show credited dozens of former Late Show staffers in the “Special Thanks” section.

Colbert previously guest-hosted Only in Monroe in 2015 after the conclusion of The Colbert Report to prepare for his next big hosting gig on The Late Show.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly