Stephen Colbert bid viewers an emotional farewell back in May during his final edition of “The Late Show,” a star-studded send-off that broke ratings records for the network that had axed the show.
Following the show’s cancelation by CBS, and his forced retirement from the late-night talk show game, Colbert has been keeping a decidedly low profile since then.
However, he recently re-emerged to share his thanks to television critics.
The TCA Awards
Colbert was on hand — virtually, at least —when he was honored at the TCA Awards, presented by the Television Critics Association.
Comprised of more than 200 entertainment journalists from throughout North America, the TCA recently announced the winners of its 42nd annual awards, which included two TCA Awards for Colbert.
This year’s awards were held virtually, and Colbert shared his thanks in a video that the TCA shared via social media.
“I couldn’t have been prouder of our folks,” Colbert said of his “Late Show” team after winning the award for Outstanding Achievement in Variety, Talk or Sketch.
“I can’t believe how focused they were and how hard they worked, and how much joy we had, given the fact that we knew that we were running straight into a brick wall at the end,” he observed.
“Hey, give my best to TV! I miss it,” Colbert cheerily proclaimed in a joking reference to CBS canceling “The Late Show.”
“A lot fond memories,” he added while waving goodbye to critics.
Career Achievement Awards
That, however, wasn’t his only award of the night. He returned with a second video, this one in recognition of winning the TCA’s 2026 Career Achievement Award, an honor that had previously been presented to such luminaries as Mel Brooks, David Letterman, Betty White and Oprah Winfrey.
“Hello TCA, Stephen Colbert here,” the former late-night host said.
“And since this is for the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award, I wanna class things up a bit with a bowtie and a blue blazer,” he said, just as the camera panned out to reveal he was sitting in his bathtub.
The reason, he explained, is because “it allows me to bathe in, to wallow in, as it were, the adulation I feel coming my way.”
He continued by joking, “I wasn’t entirely sure I would have a lifetime, let alone any achievements within it. The fact that you think that I did that is both shocking and just delightful. I was mostly just trying to have a good time with my friends, and fool people into not knowing that I mostly did not really know what I was doing. But I’m sure I’m the only one in Hollywood with imposter syndrome.”
What’s Next for Colbert?
While Colbert has yet to divulge his post-“Late Show” plans, the one thing he’ll be focusing on in the near future is co-writing the screenplay for the upcoming “Lord of the Rings” sequel with his son, Peter McGee.
In a video clip that “LOTR” director Peter Jackson shared via Instagram, Colbert described the film as “its own story that could fit into the larger story,” explaining that it will remain “completely faithful to the books while also being completely faithful to the movies that you guys had already made.”
He continued by stating, “You know what the books mean to me and what your films mean to me, but the thing I found myself reading over and over again were the six chapters early on in the Fellowship that y’all never developed into the first movie back in the day.”
Colbert added, “I thought, wait, maybe that could be its own story that could fit into the larger story. Could we make something that was completely faithful to the books while also being completely faithful to the movies? It took me a few years to scrape my courage into a pile to give you a call, but about two years ago I did. You liked it enough to talk to me about it … and I could not be happier that [Warner Bros.] loved it. As much as I love it, I knew I couldn’t do that [film] and do the show at the same time. But it turns out I’m going to be free starting this summer.”
