Stephen Colbert 'The Late Show' series finale recap – Everything that happened

It's the end of an era for late-night TV.

"The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" aired its series finale Thursday, May 21, bringing Colbert's nearly 11-year run to a close and ending the late-night program that David Letterman began in 1993. CBS announced its controversial decision to cancel "The Late Show" in July.

The comedian began his "Late Show" run in September 2015, taking over after Letterman stepped away from the desk earlier that year.

The end of "The Late Show," over what CBS has described as financial difficulties, marks a major shift in the late-night comedy landscape and a troubling sign for a format that has been a television staple for decades. All eyes were on what Colbert, a vocal critic of President Donald Trump, would say amid continued questions about whether the cancellation of his show was politically motivated.

But despite all the controversy, Colbert chose to go out on a joyful, celebratory note, with help from Paul McCartney, who returned to the Ed Sullivan Theater more than 60 years after performing there with The Beatles.

Here's everything that happened during Colbert's "Late Show" series finale.

Here's how Stephen Colbert's 'Late Show' ended

In a lengthy pretaped bit, Colbert investigated a green portal backstage, which was used as one big metaphor for the end of "The Late Show."

Neil deGrasse Tyson explained this was an interdimensional wormhole, which was threatening all of late-night TV. "Your cancellation has created a rift in the comedy-variety-talk continuum!" he said. Jon Stewart came in and read a statement from Paramount, saying the company "strongly believes in covering both sides" of the black hole.

As Colbert tried to figure out what to do, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver appeared to offer advice.

"Without you, where will Americans turn to see a middle-aged white man make jokes about the news?" Meyers quipped, and Kimmel joked a portal opened up at his show last year but "went away after about three days," referring to his September suspension.

Elijah Wood was briefly shown after Colbert quoted "The Lord of the Rings," and Andy Cohen appeared to get sucked into the wormhole. After the late-night hosts encouraged Colbert to finish the show on his terms, he came back on stage and tried to get things on track, only for the wormhole to open a rift and suck Colbert inside.

After a commercial break, Colbert found himself inside a black void, where he sang with Jon Batiste, his original bandleader, Louis Cato and Elvis Costello.

The show's final minutes saw Colbert take the stage back at the theater to join McCartney, Cato, Costello and Batiste in a joyful performance of "Hello, Goodbye." This transitioned into a prerecorded moment backstage, where McCartney helped Colbert turn off the lights of the Ed Sullivan Theater. The wormhole then shrunk the theater into a snowglobe, à la the ending of "St. Elsewhere." The "Late Show" theme was heard playing out of the snowglobe in the show's final shot. And scene.

Who was Colbert's final guest on 'Late Show' finale?

The pope may not have made it for the "Late Show" finale, but a Beatle was in the house.

There had been speculation that Colbert, a devout Catholic, might have booked Pope Leo XIV for his final show, which he played into with a fakeout gag. After coming back from a commercial, Colbert acted like he was about to bring out the pope for an interview, only to learn that his holiness was refusing to come out of his dressing room because "we got him the wrong snacks." In media interviews, Colbert had described the pope as his "white whale" guest.

"The pope, who was definitely my guest tonight, has canceled!" Colbert said. "Who's going to be my last guest now?"

"Hey, Stephen, what about me?" said Paul McCartney, walking on stage to applause. The musician turned out to be Colbert's real "final guest." The pair sat down for a traditional "Late Show" interview, in which McCartney reflected on performing on "The Ed Sullivan Show" with The Beatles' in 1964.

"It's always fantastic to come back here," he said.

Bryan Cranston, Paul Rudd, Ryan Reynolds cameo on 'Late Show' finale

A number of stars made cameos during the show as part of a running joke where they were all under the impression they would be Colbert's final, very special guest.

In his monologue, Colbert explained that while he was considering having a "huge special" finale, he felt it would be more appropriate to do a "regular episode." As he started moving on to cover the news of the day, Bryan Cranston, donning a "Late Show" hat, interrupted from the audience and suggested he could be Colbert's last guest. "The thing is, we already have a pretty special one lined up," Colbert explained, leading Cranston to storm off.

Paul Rudd and Tim Meadows then made back-to-back cameos from the audience, both believing they were the special guest who Colbert had teased. "I have an extremely long poem I want to recite, and I don't want to run out of time," Rudd said before declaring that he brought Colbert the "traditional retirement gift": six bananas.

After the first commercial break, Tig Notaro showed up in the audience, feigning ignorance about the big night. "This is your last show? I have a very full life, Stephen," she said. Ryan Reynolds was sitting in the crowd, too, but Colbert explained he isn't the special guest, either.

Colbert opens 'Late Show' finale with emotional message

Colbert opened the show with an emotional, reflective message, prior to the theme song. In a cold open, he spoke about how making "The Late Show" "has been a joy" and said he can't "adequately explain to you what the people who work here have done for each other, and how much we mean to each other." He also stressed to viewers "how important you've been to what we have done."

"We love doing this show for you, but what we really, really love is doing the show with you," he said.

After the "Late Show" theme kicked in one last time, Colbert came on stage for his official monologue, which he started by quipping, "If you're just tuning into 'The Late Show,' you missed a lot!"

He spoke about the history of the Ed Sullivan Theater, where the show tapes, and said he's "honored" to have been a part of it. When the audience booed in response to Colbert mentioning it was the last show, he discouraged this reaction. "No, no, we were lucky enough to be here for the last 11 years," he said.

Fans exit the Ed Sullivan Theater post-finale

Outside of the famed theater in New York City, fans departed the finale taping, revealing the emotional episode they had just witnessed.

"It was a very sentimental show," Ray Lingenfelter from Eugene, Oregon, tells USA TODAY. "There were a lot of cameos. A lot of people popped up."

"Only 20% of the show seemed normal," adds Lingenfelter. “They were throwing a celebration. They were all very excited to be here and do it for so long. But you could tell some of their jokes about getting canceled became a little bit more pointed because they didn't want to go."

The show goes on with Ben & Jerry's

Despite "Late Night" ending, Ben & Jerry's confirmed on social media that Colbert's namesake ice cream flavor, Americone Dream, wasn't going anywhere.

"You can't cancel great taste. While we'll miss @colbertlateshow, Americone Dream will keep calm and carry on with a sweet new look coming soon to freezers!" the ice cream brand wrote on May 21. "And as always, proceeds support charitable causes through the Stephen Colbert Americone Dream Fund."

Since the fund launched in 2007, Colbert has raised over $7.5 million.

When is Colbert's last show on CBS?

The final episode begins airing on CBS at 11:35 p.m. ET. It will end at 12:54 a.m., according to CBS' schedule, making the show 17 minutes longer than usual.

Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon, whose shows air opposite Colbert's, will both be airing reruns on May 21 out of respect for Colbert's last show. Starting on May 22, CBS is replacing "The Late Show" with Byron Allen's "Comics Unleashed," a comedy panel show.

Colbert's final guests include Obama, Jon Stewart, Bruce Springsteen performance

During Colbert's final weeks on "The Late Show," he interviewed former President Barack Obama, reunited with his old "Daily Show" boss Jon Stewart, and brought Letterman back to his old stomping grounds. The former "Late Show" host joined Colbert for a segment where they gleefully threw things off the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater, reviving a bit from Letterman's run.

On May 20, Colbert's penultimate show included a performance from Bruce Springsteen, who said that the comedian is the "first guy in America who lost his show because we've got a president who can't take a joke."

CBS cancels Stephen Colbert's show

CBS announced the cancellation of "The Late Show" in July, with parent company Paramount Global saying it was "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night." Critics, though, have questioned whether politics played a part in the move.

Colbert is an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump, and the cancellation was announced while Paramount was going through a merger with Skydance Media that required Trump administration approval.

The cancellation of Colbert's show has sparked widespread outcry in the entertainment industry and led to conversations about whether late-night television will remain a viable genre in the years to come or whether the format could be on its last legs.

In a speech last year, former "Conan" host Conan O'Brien predicted that "late-night television, as we have known it since around 1950, is going to disappear."