Stephen Colbert retires his 'Report'
NEW YORK — Stephen Colbert is dead.
Stephen Colbert is immortal?
Long live Stephen Colbert!
Nine years of Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report” came to an end Thursday night along with its mythical presiding pundit, as the real-life Stephen Colbert bade the audience farewell.
He was last seen gliding through the clouds in the backseat of Santa’s sleigh beside Alex Trebek (don’t ask).
Before that, after offing the Grim Reaper and declaring himself immortal (don’t ask), he led a glorious singalong in the studio with a room of luminaries ranging from “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart, Andy Cohen and Big Bird to George Lucas, Arianna Huffington and Henry Kissinger.
With Randy Newman at the piano, the gathered sang the poignant pop standard whose lyrics go, “We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when. But I know we’ll meet again, some sunny day.”
Actually, Colbert fans know they’ll be meeting him again in a few months, this time playing himself as the new host of CBS’ “Late Show” taking over for David Letterman, who exits in May.
But none of that mattered during Thursday’s bittersweet finale.
At the top of the show, Colbert greeted his followers and set straight any newcomers: “If this is your first time tuning into ‘The Colbert Report,’ I have some terrible news. ...”
He announced as “a little happy news” for Colbert Nation that a raffle for his flashy anchor desk and his adjoining fireplace set had raised $313,420 for charity.
In discussing his legacy — something this delightfully self-absorbed host was always happy to do — Colbert fired back against the “thinkerati” who, he charged, were questioning his impact.
