Stephen Colbert was off national TV for less than a day before popping back up on a very different kind of stage, resurfacing Friday night on local access in Monroe, Michigan. Less than 24 hours after taping the final episode of The Late Show at New York's Ed Sullivan Theater, he hosted a surprise, hour-long edition of Monroe Community Media's Only in Monroe, a low-budget special that stitched together big-name cameos, hyper-local jokes, and old-school public-access antics that quickly spread online.
The show aired at 11:30 p.m. last Friday and went all in on Michigan-centric humor and home-state guests. Jack White served as Colbert's "volunteer music director," and Jeff Daniels dropped by the studio, while pre-taped segments brought Eminem and Steve Buscemi into the mix, and Byron Allen called in via FaceTime, as reported by the AP. Colbert also joined the regular hosts for small-town bits, sampling chili dogs and huffing helium for high-pitched jokes that landed for the small studio crowd and the much larger audience that later found the episode online.
Small Station, Big Names
"It’s been an excruciating 23 hours without being on TV," Colbert cracked, adding that he was grateful to be "on Monroe Community Media before they also get acquired by Paramount," according to the AP. A local clip of the broadcast was later posted by FOX 2 Detroit, showing Colbert trading barbs with the show's usual hosts and leaning into the small-town, public-access vibe.
From Ed Sullivan to Local Access
Colbert taped his final Late Show at the Ed Sullivan Theater last Thursday, closing out his 11-year run on CBS with a star-studded finale that included Paul McCartney, as detailed by TheWrap. His quick detour back to community access echoed a 2015 guest appearance he made on Only in Monroe, a quirky prelude before he took over late-night in New York.
What It Means for Monroe
Monroe Community Media lists its studio at 120 E. First Street, 3rd Floor, Monroe, MI 48161, and notes that its public-access channels stream on YouTube and air on local cable providers. According to Monroe Community Media, the station maintains an online archive and live stream, which made it possible for viewers well beyond Monroe County to catch Colbert's surprise hour.
Colbert's low-budget encore played like a deliberate bookend to that earlier stunt and a reminder that in the era of viral clips, a small community station's late-night slot can turn into national news overnight. CBS has already filled the 11:35 p.m. time slot with Byron Allen's "Comics Unleashed," beginning last Friday, according to The Guardian, so Colbert's Monroe pop-in may be the opening scene of whatever comes next.
