The Late Show With Stephen Colbert has begun its annual summer hiatus, and it seems fans are going to have to wait longer than we expected for new episodes to return to CBS’s lineup.
When it was announced that The Late Show was kicking off its annual summer break, no initial timeline was provided for when the show would return with fresh episodes. The initial thinking was that we’d be looking at a 2-week break, as the show only took two weeks off last July when signing off for its summer break. Unfortunately, that will not be the case this year, as the show won’t be returning until September. Yes, we said September.
As confirmed by EW, The Late Show will not return with a new episode until Tuesday, Sept. 2. That means this year’s summer break will run for three weeks and will keep the show off the air for the majority of August. If you’re wondering why CBS landed on Tuesday, Sept. 2 instead of Monday, Sept. 1, the decision seems to be a result of the Labor Day holiday, which falls on the first Monday of September.
While we hate that we won’t be getting new episodes of The Late Show for the remainder of the month, there is at least a few pieces of good news for fans.
CBS might not be airing new episodes of The Late Show, but it will be bringing fans reruns. Fans looking to still enjoy ending their day with Colbert can catch reruns of the show each weeknight until new episodes begin on Sept. 2. It’s unclear how CBS has selected which episodes to re-air, but the first week in the show’s hiatus brought about some amazing encores, including Colbert’s July interview with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Once we get through this summer hiatus, The Late Show should air new episodes with little interruption. In fact, last year, once Colbert returned with new episodes, The Late Show aired nightly through November when the show took a few days off around the Thanksgiving holiday.
Colbert’s return in September will be bittersweet as it will effectively mark the beginning of the end for The Late Show, which will come to an end in 2026 after more than 30 years on CBS. Fortunately, we’ll have several months to come to terms with CBS’s decision, and Colbert is sure to deliver a stretch of incredible, can’t-miss episodes during his farewell tour.
His time on CBS might be coming to an end, but Colbert has proven he’s not about to change up his approach to The Late Show. Fans can look forward to Colbert continuing to deliver biting commentary in his monologues and amazing interviews right up to the show’s final taping in 2026.