List of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert sketches

• Cold Open

An opening sketch featuring an actual news story, but with fake network logos (often parodying CNN), followed by a comic segment parodying the story. Sometimes the sketch is a song parody.

• First Drafts

Colbert invites a member of the audience up to read holiday/special event cards and their "first drafts", which poke fun at the event in question.

• Meanwhile

Colbert delivers some lesser-known news and stories, such as Philadelphia Flyers' new mascot Gritty and Buffalo Wild Wings' new BBQ pumpkin spice wings. He always starts with an elaborate metaphor explaining the segment; usually using some kind of leftovers from his monologue to craft this segment. For the shows taped in Colbert's house during the coronavirus pandemic, this segment was re-christened "Quarantinewhile"

• Chopper Talk

Colbert discusses Trump's interviews in foreign countries.

• Chair Chat

A spinoff of "Chopper Talk", but focusing on general interviews.

• Real News Tonight

A parody of television newscasts, hosted by "Jim Anchorton" (John Thibodeaux) and "Jill Newslady" (Jen Spyra), that consists entirely of overly-positive fake stories designed to praise Donald Trump.[2][3] In 2017, when Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump began producing Real News Update videos that similarly presented positive coverage of Trump, Colbert presented an edition of Real News Tonight that featured her as a "special correspondent"—using clips of Real News Update to make it look like she was interacting with the show's existing "anchors".[4] On June 18, 2019, the Jill and Jim characters attended a launch event for Trump's 2020 re-election campaign at the Amway Center in Orlando, interviewing supporters for a segment that aired on the June 20, 2019 episode. Their press credentials had been revoked at the last minute, but they still managed to make it inside the event by registering online (also exposing exaggerated claims surrounding the attendance of the rally).[5][6]

• Midnight Confessions

Colbert examines his conscience to his audience. He starts with a disclaimer that while the things that he confesses are not technically sins, he still feels guilty about them.

• Bedtime Stories

On occasion when Colbert has an author on the show, he ends the episode by asking the author to read him a bedtime story. Authors who performed the sketch with Colbert include Jonathan Franzen and John Irving.

• The Big Furry Hat

Colbert dons a giant hat that comes down from the ceiling and makes a series of humorous proclamations that people must follow (e.g., "Actor Paul Rudd must begin aging like the rest of us"). On November 13, 2015, John Cleese joined him wearing a bigger and furrier hat.[1]

• Brain Fight With Tuck Buckford

During the child custody trial of InfoWars host Alex Jones, Colbert introduced a new right-wing pundit character by the name of Tuck Buckford as the host of a fictional show titled "Brain Fight" beginning with the April 17, 2017 episode. The sketches are based on infamous segments of Jones' radio show which have Colbert parodying his over-the-top style of reporting, mocking his conspiracy theories, including certain personal aspects of Jones' life based on testimonies from the court trial.[7]

• Cartoon Donald Trump

On the March 30, 2016 episode, Colbert declared that based on his behavior in the presidential debates and town halls, Donald Trump had become a "cartoonish version of himself". In response, Colbert interviewed a "slightly less cartoonish" version of Trump—an animated caricature of him portrayed with a childish demeanor.[8][9] The character was designed by Tim Luecke, voiced by Brian Stack, and is controlled using Adobe Character Animator—which allows Colbert to interact with the character in real-time. Late Show tested the technology with a character of Colbert's "Irish ancestor" (which was intended for, but cut from a St. Patrick's Day episode), and two days before the debut of Trump in a sketch featuring Colbert interacting with a cartoon bluebird who supported Bernie Sanders.[10][11] After Bill Clinton stated in his 2016 Democratic National Convention speech that the Republicans had created a "cartoon" version of her, Colbert introduced Cartoon Hillary Clinton.[12][13] Both Cartoon Trump and Cartoon Clinton have made appearances as recurring characters in later episodes, and Cartoon Trump was featured in an animated short during Colbert's election night special for Showtime.[14][11] Showtime later announced that Colbert would executive produce a satirical animated series based on the sketches;[15] the series, Our Cartoon President, premiered in January 2018.[16]

• Covetton House

Covetton House is Colbert's take on celebrity luxury brands, especially Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop. Each sketch typically features everyday products with fancy names and jacked-up prices. Some items are available for sale at Goop's website, with all proceeds going to charity.

• Doin' It Donkey Style

Stephen covers 2020 Democratic candidates for President. The segment begins with two animated flag-colored donkeys saying a one-line summary of a Democratic policy position (like "equal pay").

• Don and the Giant Impeach

Stephen covers the impeachment of Donald Trump. The segment begins with Trump saying a one-line summary of his position (like "witch hunt") as he runs away from a giant peach, parodying James and the Giant Peach.

• Fury Road to the White House 2020

Updates on the 2020 United States presidential election. The name and intro are a parody of Mad Max: Fury Road.

• Goin' Viral

Updates on the COVID-19 pandemic. The segment begins with a coronavirus saying a one-line summary of how to catch it (like "up top").

• The Hungry for Power Games

In a parody of The Hunger Games, Colbert dresses up as a version of Caesar Flickerman and mocks a candidate that has dropped out of the race from the 2016 United States Presidential Election.[17] The sketch has occasionally been reprised as "The Hungry To Leave Power Games", mocking departing members of the Trump administration such as Rex Tillerson and Scott Pruitt.[18]

• The Late Show Figure-It-Out-a-Tron

In a parody of Glenn Beck's use of chalkboards, Colbert brings out a chalkboard with names of people implicated in an ongoing scandal written all over it. He then tries to figure out the links between these people by drawing lines connecting their names. These lines form a humorous and often crude drawing related to the scandal, such as a penis or swastika.

• Piano 1-0-Fun! with Jon Batiste

Jon Batiste hosts absurd instructional videos.

• Stephen Talks with God

Colbert talks with God, as portrayed as an animated character projected on the ceiling of the Ed Sullivan Theater.[19]

• WERD

Colbert chooses a word or phrase as a theme for a rant on a topical subject or news item while humorous captions displayed in a sidebar either highlight or sarcastically undercut what he is saying. The segment is based on "The Wørd", a segment Colbert performed throughout the entire run of The Colbert Report. Colbert introduced The Wørd segment on The Late Show on July 18, 2016.[20] During the July 27, 2016 episode, Colbert indirectly stated Comedy Central had objected to his use of elements from the Report on Late Show; subsequently, the segment has been done under the name "WERD".[21]

• Wheel of News

Colbert spins a wheel with random topics of news to talk about. Based on Wheel of Fortune.

Colbert and a guest sit under the stars and have absurd conversations about topics. Such conversations include killing baby Hitler, what Santa does the rest of the year, and whether they would rather have feet for hands or hands for feet.

1. Scarlett Johansson (September 9, 2015)
2. Tom Hanks (September 30, 2015)
3. Bryan Cranston (November 6, 2015)
4. Jennifer Lawrence (December 14, 2015)
5. Will Smith (August 2, 2016)
6. Kermit the Frog (February 1, 2016)
7. Samuel L. Jackson (June 29, 2016)
8. Mel Gibson (November 1, 2016)
9. Ryan Reynolds (March 21, 2017)
10. Brad Pitt (May 16, 2017)
11. Nicole Kidman (November 1, 2017)
12. Justin Timberlake (November 29. 2017)
13. Benedict Cumberbatch (May 18, 2018)
14. Matthew McConaughey (January 23, 2019)

Colbert and a guest host a community calendar of events in the guest's hometown. Based from Colbert's special appearance at Only in Monroe, a local public access program in Monroe, Michigan, with Eminem as his guest.

1. Jeff Daniels—Chelsea, Michigan (March 11, 2016)
2. Nick Offerman—Minooka, Illinois (April 4, 2016)
3. Aaron Paul—McCall, Idaho (June 17, 2016)
4. Adam Driver—Mishawaka, Indiana (January 5, 2017)
5. John Oliver—Bedford of Bedfordshire, England (February 7, 2017)
6. James Marsden—Stillwater, Oklahoma (April 20, 2018)
7. Melissa McCarthy—Plainfield, Illinois (May 11, 2018)
8. Aubrey Plaza—Wilmington, Delaware (June 14, 2019)
9. Ty Burrell—Grants Pass, Oregon (March 6, 2020)
10. John Mulaney - The Internet (May 1, 2020)

Colbert and his lead guest hold a family meeting in character as the concerned "parents" of the USA.

1. William H. Macy (November 19, 2016)
2. Joe Biden (December 7, 2016)
3. Leslie Mann (January 31, 2017)
4. Nick Kroll (September 28, 2017)

Colbert and a guest talk in Colbert's "personal space"—a cardboard box, labeled "Personal Space," just big enough for their heads and the camera.[22]

Colbert and his lead guest try to help find homes for dogs up for adoption by making up stories about them (such as claiming one dog knows the lyrics to the Frozen song "Let It Go", but will not sing them).

1. Aubrey Plaza (February 2017)
2. Bryan Cranston (March 2017)
3. Jim Parsons (May 2017)
4. Ellie Kemper (August 2017)
5. Billy Eichner (October 2017)
6. Nick Jonas (December 2017)
7. Whoopi Goldberg (2018)
8. Emilia Clarke (April 2019)
9. Tom Holland (June 2019)

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