All Stephen Colbert's final guests, including Paul McCartney surprise
Bryan AlexanderThe stars showed up for Stephen Colbert to bid farewell to his final "The Late Show."
During the finale on Thursday, May 21, Colbert welcomed a superstar list of guests to the Ed Sullivan Theater for his final taping. From Paul McCartney and Ryan Reynolds to Paul Rudd, here are all of the celebrities who made appearances on Colbert's last show.
Colbert's first guests included Bryan Cranston, Paul Rudd
Bryan Cranston made the first cameo, interrupting Colbert during his monologue and eventually tossing his "Late Show" hat when told he would not be coming on the stage. "What the hell am I here for?" Cranston joked, storming off.
Later in the monologue, Rudd interrupted Colbert from the audience. "I'm just curious when my interview starts," said Rudd. "I have an extremely long poem I want to recite, and I don't want to run out of time."
Rudd, too, was disgruntled to find out he was not Colbert's last guest.
Tim Meadows was sitting in front of Rudd in the audience and thought that he, too, was Colbert's last guest.
Ryan Reynolds was surprised he wasn't Colbert's last guest
The gag continued after the next commercial break. Ryan Reynolds, in the audience, was shocked he hadn't claimed the last guest spot. "Ouchie," said Reynolds.
"Well, you know, in that case, I'm just happy to be here, you know, pay my respects to one of the world's greatest entertainers on his last night at the Ed Sullivan Theater," Reynolds said.
When Colbert thanked him, Reynolds corrected him. "I was talking about your keyboardist Corey Bernhard."
Tig Notaro also appeared in the theater crowd. "I just like to be at historic events," the comedian said.
The real final guest? Paul McCartney
"I was just in the area, doing some errands," McCartney said, after taking a seat on Colbert's couch, before the two engaged in a long interview.
“I just remember the girls in the balcony,” McCartney said of his return to the Ed Sullivan Theater. As some women yelled from the crowd, McCartney pointed to them and said, “Not you.”
McCartney said he was not good with life changes, and revealed he hates that he has to update his iPhone.
Neil deGrasse Tyson, Jon Stewart help with sci-fi crisis
Summoned backstage for an emergency, Colbert ran into physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.
"Thank God, you're here," Colbert told Tyson, who responded, "Actually, thank science I'm here."
Tyson went on to explain that there was a green portal backstage serving as an interdimensional wormhole, which was threatening all of late-night TV. "Your cancellation has created a rift in the comedy-variety-talk continuum!" he said.
Fellow Comedy Central partner Jon Stewart also came in to read a statement from Paramount, saying the company "strongly believes in covering both sides" of the black hole.
Strike Force Five, Elijah Wood and Andy Cohen show up
Strike Force Five − "Late Night" host Seth Meyers, "Last Week Tonight" host John Oliver, "Live!" host Jimmy Kimmel and "The Tonight Show" host Jimmy Fallon − all reassembled to investigate the green portal serving as a metaphor for the end of "The Late Show," and to offer advice to Colbert.
"Without you, where will Americans turn to see a middle-aged white man make jokes about the news?" Meyers joked, as Kimmel quipped about a portal opening at his show last year, but it "went away after about three days," referring to his September suspension.
When Oliver made a slight about "more 'Lord of the Rings' crap" from Colbert, the camera moved to show mustached Elijah Wood backstage, who pretended to be insulted by the dig.
Andy Cohen also made an appearance, with the Bravo host being sucked into the wormhole at the end of the segment.
McCartney ended the finale with "Hello, Goodbye"
Colbert appeared in an acoustic segment, playing with Elvis Costello, Jon Batiste and current band leader Louis Cato.
Following their song, McCartney appeared onstage to conclude the finale in a spectacular way: a performance of The Beatles' hit song "Hello, Goodbye," with Colbert, Batiste, Costello and Cato adding vocals.
The week leading up to Colbert's finale featured a starry line-up
It wasn't just the finale that had star power. Colbert also welcomed an elite group of guests to his show in the days leading up to the finale.
Former President Barack Obama was the sole guest on May 5, with another segment from the interview airing on May 13. The Strike Force Five podcast reunion with fellow late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver landed on May 11.
Original "Late Show" host David Letterman returned for the entire May 14 show to throw CBS property off the Ed Sullivan Theater roof. Longtime friend and former Comedy Central colleague Jon Stewart and director Steven Spielberg appeared on the May 19 episode.
On May 20, Bruce Springsteen was the star musical guest. A host of celebrities also took part in the "Colbert Questionert," each sitting in Colbert's host chair, asking the departing host a single question before handing things off to the next person.
The guests included: Billy Crystal, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Josh Brolin, Martha Stewart, Mark Hamill, Jim Gaffigan, Jeff Daniels, Tiffany Haddish, Amy Sedaris, Ben Stiller, Aubrey Plaza, James Taylor, Robert De Niro and "CBS Evening News" anchor John Dickerson.