Stephen Colbert dedicated a segment of The Late Show to spotlighting some of his staff members, begging viewers to hire them as the show nears its end.
The late-night host flipped a switch on his regular segment, “Rescue Dog Rescue,” in which Colbert and his celebrity guests help shelter dogs find forever homes by telling outlandish lies about each puppy. On Wednesday night’s episode, Colbert chose to focus on his staff instead, with a special “Rescue Staff Rescue” sketch.
The award-winning host called out several of his staffers, including editors, accountants, writers, and producers, and introduced each by sharing true stories about what they’ve done while working on The Late Show.
“I thought maybe I can do the same for my staff who’ll soon be looking for jobs,” Colbert said, introducing the segment. The show airs its last episode May 21 after CBS announced its cancellation in July, three days after Colbert slammed CBS parent company Paramount for settling a lawsuit from President Donald Trump for $16 million.
“I’m going to tell you about actual insane, humiliating, and wonderful things my staff had to do in service of comedy and the show to help make them even more hirable,” he said.
His staffers were each brought out to the audience with a special anecdote or facetious quip from Colbert. The late-night host said his segment producer, Jonah Meyerson, for example, “had the distinct honor of once being my butt double for a mockup.” Meyerson confirmed the tale, saying, “My wife has always said I have the ass of a 61-year-old man.”
Colbert later introduced one of his editors, Rachel Whitaker, saying, “Rachel is an exceptional editor who has added more fart sound effects into serious historical footage than she can possibly count.” He then prompted Whitaker to say where she went to college (Harvard) and what she should really call it (“Fartvard”).
Another producer, RJ Sachdev, once “sat shirtless in a hot tub with a raw turkey” for a sketch, Colbert shared. Sachdev laughed and told him, “My doctor says I have something called super double salmonella.”
Late Show viewers lauded the “Rescue Staff Rescue” segment on social media. “So great of Stephen to honor some of his hard working staff,” one user wrote on YouTube. “It’s easy to forget how many people are affected by the cancellation of the show. All the best to them. Hope they all land on their feet and go on to bigger and better things,” another user said.
Colbert’s audience gave the staff a standing ovation as the sketch ended.
“This is just some of my staff,” Colbert said as viewers cheered. “They are the best in the biz. Ladies and gentlemen, grab them now for a late-night show or whatever else.”
Colbert has been the host of The Late Show since September 2015, when he took over for longtime host David Letterman.
Colbert’s own future post Late Show became clearer after last week’s news that he is writing a new Lord of the Rings movie for Warner Bros. Studio.
The late-night host has paid tribute to his staff since news of the show’s cancellation. During his acceptance speech for a special award at the Writers Guild Awards in early March, Colbert thanked his writers, saying, “They are the best writing staff I have ever known at any show, and I have loved our time together, which wasn’t as much time as I would like.”
