Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel pulled off a late-night crossover Tuesday night. The two TV hosts swapped chairs — and swapped stories — about their careers and cancellations.
In episodes taped for “The Late Show” and the second night of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in Brooklyn, New York, the longtime friends took turns interviewing each other. The result was part comedy, but also a reminder of how much the late-night TV landscape is shifting.
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Colbert’s final countdown
Colbert, who is preparing for his final season on CBS, recalled the emotional moment when he had to break the news to his staff just minutes before taping.
“[My wife] goes, I’m coming to work with you tomorrow, because I think you’re telling your staff tomorrow,” Colbert told Kimmel. “And we get into the building, I go up the elevator, I walk through the offices. By the time I get to my offices, I have sweat through my shirt because I didn’t want to know anything my staff didn’t know. And I said ‘I’m going to tell my staff today.’”
He went on to say he didn’t want to tell them before that night’s show, thinking it would ruin everyone’s mood.
Still, Colbert went on to tape his normal show before telling his stage manager to make sure the audience didn’t leave.
“My stage manager goes, ‘Oh no, we’re done, Steve. We’re done.’ And I said, ‘Nope, there’s one more act of the show. Please don’t let the audience leave.’”
He delivered the news backstage to his staff, just before rushing back out to tell the audience. He had to record an intro explaining the show had been canceled.
“I always messed up on the sentence that told them what was happening,” Colbert told Kimmel. “And then I got to the sentence that actually told them what was happening, and they didn’t laugh.”
Kimmel on reinstatement: “I thought, ‘It’s over’”
Kimmel, meanwhile, opened up about what he thought would be his final night in late-night. He shared how ABC temporarily pulled “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air due to concerns over his monologue content following the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
“It was about 3:00, we tape our show at 4:30,” Kimmel recalled. He then got an “unusual” phone call from ABC, and since his office is filled with five other writers, he took the call in his bathroom.
“They say, listen, we want to take the temperature down. We’re concerned about what you’re going to say tonight,” Kimmel said. “We decided the best route is to take the show off the air.”
Kimmel said he assumed it was the end of his career.
“I thought, that’s it. It’s over, it’s over. I was like, I’m never coming back on the air.”
The audience had to be sent home, and musical guest Howard Jones ended up taping a song for a future episode. Kimmel joked about the irony of the song title, “Things Can Only Get Better.”
Chef Christian Petroni had been cooking meatballs and polenta all day for the show that Kimmel’s “disappointed employees” ended up eating.
As the two comedians reunited on “The Late Show” set, Kimmel’s sidekick, Guillermo, joined them on stage to pour shots of tequila. Colbert toasted: “To good friends, great jobs, and to late-night TV.”
Seth Meyers joins
During Jimmy Kimmel’s Brooklyn taping, Seth Meyers joined the late-night duo for a group photo, which Kimmel later posted to Instagram with the caption, “Hi Donald!”
All three hosts have been vocally critical of former President Trump in recent years.
Notably absent? Jimmy Fallon.
“The Tonight Show” host told CNBC Tuesday that he plans to keep politics out of his show.
“We hit both sides equally, and we try to make everybody laugh. That’s really the way our show works,” Fallon said.
Still, Kimmel made his stance on the Trump era clear Tuesday night.
“I hope we don’t ever have another president like this again.”
