Jimmy Kimmel Live Airs Rerun as Stephen Colbert's Late Show Concludes

Stephen Colbert's run on The Late Show is drawing to a close. The CBS late-night program will bow out with its final episode on Thursday, May 21, marking the end of the network's late-night talk show after its cancellation last year.

In a notable gesture, Jimmy Kimmel Live will not air a fresh episode that evening. Instead, ABC's late-night fixture will present a rerun, effectively stepping aside for Colbert's sendoff. Both shows typically occupy the 11:35pm ET time slot, so Colbert will face reduced competition as he wraps up his tenure.

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, meanwhile, remains scheduled to air a new episode at the same time on May 21.

This marks the second time Kimmel has made room for a competitor's finale. In 2015, he similarly opted out of airing original content when David Letterman signed off from his own iteration of The Late Show, choosing instead to rebroadcast an episode and directing viewers toward Letterman's farewell broadcast.

The move underscores a tradition of professional courtesy within late-night television, with hosts occasionally prioritizing a peer's milestone moment over their own programming schedule.