WASHINGTON — Stephen Colbert will host the final episode of "The Late Show" on CBS on Thursday, May 21, ending the network's late-night franchise entirely. The show has aired on CBS since 1993, beginning with David Letterman before transitioning to Colbert as host in 2015.

Colbert revealed in July that CBS had decided to end the program. Paramount-owned network executives said the cancellation decision was financial and not tied to the show's content.

Jon Stewart, Steven Spielberg, David Byrne and Bruce Springsteen are among the guests scheduled to appear during the final week. As of Monday, guests for the final episode itself had not been announced.

On Monday, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and John Oliver appeared on "The Late Show." The hosts had previously collaborated on the Strike Force Five podcast during the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA strikes in 2023, with proceeds going toward supporting the crew members of all five late-night shows during the production pause.

ABC confirmed that "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" will not air a new episode on May 21 to give "The Late Show" its largest possible audience. NBC will air a rerun of "The Tonight Show" on May 21 instead of a new episode, with Fallon joining in showing solidarity by airing a rerun during Colbert's final broadcast.

After "The Late Show" ends, Byron Allen's "Comics Unleashed" will take the 11:35 p.m. Eastern time slot. The roundtable-style program has been in first-run syndication since its premiere in September 2006 and has aired for 20 consecutive seasons, featuring comedians including Sebastian Maniscalco, Tiffany Haddish, Gabriel Iglesias, Cedric the Entertainer and Nate Bargatze. Some episodes of the program that have aired on CBS are more than 10 years old.

The 12:35 a.m. slot will be filled by "Funny You Should Ask," a syndicated game show created by Allen and hosted by Jon Kelley. Allen's programs tend to avoid political humor and are designed for repeat airings.