The set of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” is being donated to Chicago’s Museum of Broadcast Communications after the late night talk show wrapped an 11-season run on Thursday.
The museum’s chairman and CEO David Plier confirmed the news in a Friday interview with WGN Radio. He added that the museum is also getting some of the show’s archives, part of the marquee that was outside of the Ed Sullivan Theater and its Emmys.
“We beat out the Smithsonian, which is even more exciting,” he told the outlet. “And it’s going to be part of our Evolution of Late Night Television exhibit.”
The donation of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” set was first reported by CBS News.
The move comes after MBC already has Colbert’s travel desk from the show’s coverage of the 2024 Democratic National Convention when he broadcast live from Chicago.
The museum also has Jimmy Fallon’s travel desk from NBC’s “The Tonight Show” when he went to Detroit, Minneapolis, and Los Angeles, as well as the desk of Fallon’s predecessor Johnny Carson.
“CBS has been very clear to the Colbert staff that today’s their last day, and the engineers and some of the other staff, it’s next Friday,” Plier added. “So, on Monday, they’re dismantling everything and throwing it on a truck on Tuesday, and it’s heading to the museum.”
Though Colbert was not born and raised in Chicago, he attended Northwestern University as a theater major and stayed in the city where he performed at the Second City comedy troupe, which would ultimately lead to his career in television on “The Daily Show,” “The Colbert Report” and “The Late Show.”
In his final week of “The Late Show,” Colbert returned to his first apartment in Old Town, where he met the current tenant, and stopped by the Old Town Ale House. He also hung informational signs around his favorite parts of the city.
The donation of Colbert’s set comes after CBS notably threw his predecessor David Letterman’s set in the dumpster after his show ended in 2015.
Letterman appeared on “The Late Show” earlier this month to express his frustration with CBS’ cancellation of the show, which it maintains was a purely financial decision.
During the interview, Colbert joined Letterman on the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater to participate in “wanton destruction of CBS property,” including furniture from the set, throwing items onto the network’s logo on the sidewalk below. At the end of his interview, Letterman had a message for CBS, noting, “Good night and good luck, motherf–kers.”
Though “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” has come to an end, you can still watch clips from the show at its YouTube channel here.
