The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is about to turn off the cameras after 11 years on the air. When it premiered in September 2015, expectations were sky-high. Colbert was stepping into one of the most iconic roles in television, taking over for David Letterman. But behind the scenes of that debut night, things nearly fell apart entirely.
Recounting the story to his audience, Colbert described the first episode as “a little rough,” not because of the comedy, but because of the mechanics. After years of hosting The Colbert Report, he and his team suddenly found themselves navigating the far more complex world of network late-night production. “We knew our comedy,” he explained, “we just didn’t know how to produce the show yet.”
After taping the premiere, Colbert headed upstairs in the Ed Sullivan building to watch the episode’s final edit. But there was one major problem, as the show wouldn’t export. Every attempt to send the finished episode out for broadcast failed, crashing at exactly the same point early into Colbert’s opening monologue.
Just 20 minutes before the premiere on CBS, the issue still wasn't resolved. However, the mood in the editing room was oddly calm. Technicians reassured him it would all work out, despite having spent hours unsuccessfully trying to export the episode. Colbert, understandably, wasn’t convinced.
“I thought I might have the shortest late-night career,” he admitted, drawing laughs from the audience.
With minutes to spare, editor Jason Baker proposed a last-ditch solution. He would bypass the normal export process entirely and send the show directly from his editing machine to the broadcast center. It was a risky move by essentially airing the episode straight from a single computer.
Colbert and a small group broke into a nearby office where they could access a TV with a live CBS feed. As the broadcast passed the exact point where the export had previously failed, the room erupted. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was on the air, and the rest is late-night TV history.
The comedian described it as one of his fondest and most terrifying moments at The Late Show. Perhaps it was an early warning sign of just how unpredictable his run with CBS would become. From pivoting to politics to getting shown the door prematurely, nothing exactly turned out the way Colbert expected.
Despite everything, he has carried himself with a level of poise and professionalism that has helped make him one of the most beloved personalities on television. With his final episode just weeks away, hopefully, things can go off a little more smoothly.
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