Stephen Colbert is the current host of The Late Show, the CBS late night talk show first hosted by David Letterman starting in 1993. Following Letterman’s retirement last year, Colbert took over after a successful stint at Comedy Central with The Daily Show, where he served as a correspondent, and on his own program, The Colbert Report. He’s been on the job for a little over a year, so it makes perfect since that CBS’s golden boy would take the night off on November 8 to stay home and avoid the news host a live election special for premium cable channel Showtime.
Wait, what?
According to an official press release, Stephen Colbert’s Live Election Night Democracy’s Series Finale: Who’s Going To Clean Up This Sh*t? airs Tuesday, November 8 at 11 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. PT. Much like The Daily Show‘s groundbreaking “Indecision” election night specials, which covered presidential and most midterm elections between 2000 and 2012, Colbert’s Showtime special will emphasize his cable-infused broadcast sensibilities while freeing him up to say and do things CBS probably wouldn’t allow. Like, as the release suggests, “directly [quoting] a candidate without being bleeped.”
Along with an “eclectic group of guests” who’ve yet to be identified, the new special — in Colbert’s own words — will include “all the political comedy you love from my CBS show, with all the swearing and nudity you love from Showtime.” The one-hour program will air live from the set of The Late Show at The Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City, and will feature surprise guests and remote segments.
Just in case you’re still wondering about Colbert’s “taking a break” from The Late Show to film another network’s program at The Late Show‘s own studio, it’s all totally fine. Why? Because both CBS and Showtime are owned by the same parent company, the CBS Corporation. Plus it’s all being produced by Colbert, Late Show executive producers Chris Licht and Tom Purcell, and that other guy who’s supposed to be retired, Jon Stewart.