While bidding farewell, Stephen Colbert tried to stick it to CBS one last time on “The Late Show.”
During a segment on the series finale, the comedian, while discussing recent lawsuits filed by the copyright owners of the music from “Peanuts,” decided to run a gag in which his band “illegally” played the iconic theme.
“‘Peanuts’ is a powerful brand and corporation in and of itself. Anyone illegally using that music is going to have to pay through the nose,” he said as the band played the music from the “Charlie Brown” franchise, before mock calling out his band leader. “Louis, Louis! Is the band right now playing the same ‘Peanuts’ music I just said people were being sued for, for using without permission? Is that what you’re doing?”
‘The Late Show’ is over. Stephen Colbert isn’t done.
Louis Cato confirmed as the band continued to play one of Vince Guaraldi’s famous tracks.
“Oh no, I hope this doesn’t cost CBS any money!” Colbert said.
However the “Charlie Brown Christmas” song, titled “Linus And Lucy,” is under a BMI license, which CBS holds.
The farewell episode of the late-night show included legitimate digs at CBS, including during a pretaped bit in which Colbert investigated an interdimensional wormhole threatening all of late-night TV, which was spawned by the show’s cancellation. Jon Stewart came in and read a statement from CBS’ parent company, Paramount, joking that the company “strongly believes in covering both sides” of the black hole.
Why did Stephen Colbert get cancelled?
CBS announced its controversial decision to cancel “The Late Show” in July, over what the network has described as “purely a financial decision,” though critics of the move have long questioned if the cancellation of his show was politically motivated.
Contributing: Liza Esquibias and Brendan Morrow, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stephen Colbert uses ‘Peanuts’ music against CBS in copyright gag
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