A president, an astronaut, Muppets, and stars: Who appeared on final 'Colbert' episode?
The final episode of the Comedy Central program included Colbert meeting Abraham Lincoln and Santa Claus, a massive group sing-along, and... Colbert conquering death.
Stephen Colbert appears on 'The Colbert Report' in 2010.
Scott Gries/Comedy Central/AP
Not many late-night hosts can say they conquered death in the finale of their show.
But before the Dec. 18 final episode of Stephen Colbert鈥檚 Comedy Central program 鈥淭he Colbert Report,鈥� it became known that the planned guest for the show was 鈥淕rimmy,鈥� which could be assumed to be the Grim Reaper. And it was revealed during the episode that Colbert had apparently accidentally killed Death. Colbert brought back the segment 鈥淐heating Death With Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, D.F.A.鈥� and when Death grabbed him, Colbert shot 鈥淕rimmy.鈥� 鈥淲ait a second,鈥� Colbert said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have a guest tonight. Wait a second, I just killed Death! That means I am immortal!鈥� He became surrounded by blue lightning and wielded a sword.
But Colbert also included news of the day in the episode, including a segment about Syria and jabs at how the world hasn鈥檛 changed since the debut of his show in 2005. 鈥淎nother Bush governor is running for the White House, people on TV are defending torture, we are sending troops into Iraq,鈥� he said.
However, Colbert becoming immortal wasn鈥檛 the only unusual feature of the episode. A giant sing-along to the song 鈥淲e鈥檒l Meet Again鈥� included Colbert鈥檚 longtime colleague Jon Stewart of 鈥淭he Daily Show,鈥� Keith Olbermann, Gloria Steinem, Ken Burns, Mike Huckabee, Sam Waterston, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Cyndi Lauper, REM singer Michael Stipe, 鈥淭he Hobbit鈥� actor Elijah Wood, Bryan Cranston of 鈥淏reaking Bad,鈥� Arianna Huffington, Katie Couric, 鈥淭he Interview鈥� actor James Franco, George Lucas, former President Bill Clinton, 鈥淴-Men: Days of Future Past鈥� actor Patrick Stewart, and many, many more, with Randy Newman accompanying the crowd on the piano.聽
After the sing-along concluded, Colbert went to see Santa Claus, Abraham Lincoln, and Alex Trebek of 鈥淛eopardy!鈥� 鈥淪o I guess I鈥檒l be gone forever,鈥� he said as he got into Santa鈥檚 sleigh with the trio, then later thanked his staff, friends and family, the network, the show鈥檚 guests, and the Colbert Nation.聽
Colbert will debut on 鈥淭he Late Show鈥� on CBS sometime after current host David Letterman leaves in May.