Monday night marked the 10th anniversary of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” and the talk show host used the opportunity to enlist an Oscar-winning actress for a cameo and make another dig at Paramount for canceling the series in a pre-recorded bit that also paid homage to a comedy classic.
The segment opened with Colbert in bed waking up from a bad dream only for his wife, played by Julianne Moore, to wake up next to him.
“I dreamt that I hosted a network talk show for 10 years,” Colbert said when Moore asked what was the matter.
“That’s a long time,” she replied. Then Colbert zinged back: “I thought it’d be longer.”
Moore then quipped, “It must’ve been a dream because nobody watches those anymore.”
“That’s just the thing, people did watch this one,” Colbert responded (true: “Late Show” has the highest ratings in all of late night). “In fact, tonight we were supposed to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the show.”
“My husband remembering an anniversary? Now I’m the one who’s dreaming,” Moore said to a hearty laugh track.
The segment was an homage to the series finale of “Newhart,” which ended with Bob Newhart waking up in bed as his character from “The Bob Newhart Show” and revealing that the entirety of “Newhart” was a dream.
The move comes as “Late Show With Stephen Colbert” is now in its final stretch of episodes before the series ends in May. “The Late Show” was canceled by CBS mere days after Colbert blasted Paramount for paying Trump.
While the network said the decision was “purely financial,” the timing raised more than a few eyebrows: The axing came just after Paramount settled its “60 Minutes” lawsuit with the president for $16 million, thus paving the way for Trump-friendly FCC commissioner Brendan Carr to finally approve Skydance’s acquisition of the company one week later.
