After nine years, Thursday night was the final episode of The Colbert Report as Stephen Colbert will be replacing David Letterman on CBS next year. The wonderful sendoff of an episode began with a segment about Syria, and ended with Colbert riding off into the night sky with Santa Claus, Abraham Lincoln, and Alex Trebek. Yes that sounds absurd, but if you've watched The Colbert Report over the years, you'll know this is par for the course.
But before he signed off, Colbert assured the Nation that this wasn't goodbye, and began singing Vera Lynn's "We'll Meet Again." He was eventually joined by a cavalcade of guests that stopped by to serenade him off the air, among them Bryan Cranston, Willie Nelson, Tom Brokaw, Jeff Daniels, Big Bird, Keith Olbermann, Katie Couric, Michael Stipe, James Franco, Cookie Monster, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Barry Manilow, Patrick Stewart, George Lucas, and of course good buddy Jon Stewart among dozens of other actors, singers, musicians, journalists, and political figures. It was a touching tribute, and I think even out of character, CBS late night will be in good hands.
