Stephen Colbert's final show on Comedy Central will feature New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, as the comedian ends his nine-year run on Thursday and gets ready to replace talk show host David Letterman next year.
Colbert has rarely performed out of character as a dim-witted conservative talk show host on his Emmy-winning late night "Colbert Report." He was named the new host of the "Late Show" after Letterman announced his retirement earlier this year after more than 30 years hosting late night television,
noted WCBS-TV.
The New York Times reported that "The Grim Reaper" will be Colbert's last guest, but it's not known if he will officially kill off his conservative talking head persona.
"In a culture as fickle and fast as ours, it ought to be impossible to keep a running joke aloft for nine years and still have it play in a vibrant and smart way night after night, but that's what comic actor Stephen Colbert and his crew achieved with 'The Colbert Report,' which ends its run Thursday on Comedy Central,"
wrote Hank Stuever of the Washington Post.
Stuever wrote that the more interesting question will be how will Colbert emerge from his current "Colbert Report" character that made him famous and allowed him to snag the precious "Late Night" gig in the first place.
"For months now, fans inside and outside of 'The Colbert Report's' cozy echo chamber have wondered whether Colbert will literally act out the death of Stephen Colbert on Thursday night," Stuever wrote.
"What a relief it may be, for the real Colbert and for his viewers, to slay this giant ego in dramatic, pompous fashion. Everything about 'The Colbert Report' was a put-on, a fake, but the grief of losing it is real," Stuever wrote.
The New York Times reported that Colbert enters the mainstream late night fray with "friendly" rivalries. He's friends with NBC's "The Tonight Show" host Jimmy Fallon, showing up at his premiere on that show. Colbert is not only friends with his ABC rival Jimmy Kimmel, but they share a manager in James Dixon, noted the Times.
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