S.C.’s Colbert offers final ‘Late Show’ good night

Charleston native Stephen Colbert ended his run as host of CBS’s “Late Show” last night with special guests like Jon Stewart, Elvis Costello and Paul McCartney — and some affectionate ribbing of the state he continues to call home.

Noting that the National Marine Mammal Network has erected billboards across the state in recent days offering him a job, Colbert said it was “flattering to be considered” and cracked: “It’s one of the only billboards in South Carolina that doesn’t say, ‘Repent now — the Bible is real. Dial 1-800-Hell4U. Cracker Barrel in 2 exits.’”

Over the show’s final month, Colbert has said a long goodbye with a bevy of famous guests.

For example, he and retired late-night host David Letterman threw furniture and melons off of the top of the theater where the show is taped. Musician David Byrne performed “Burning Down the House” on Tuesday with Colbert. Rocker Bruce Springsteen sang a song Wednesday. And last week, former President Barack Obama shared laughs with Colbert, 62, who attended Porter-Gaud in Charleston.

But it was McCartney — the “perfect last guest,” as the longtime host called him — who played Colbert out with a celebrity sing-along of the Beatles classic “Hello, Goodbye.”

Critics say the highly-rated show’s final curtain, which CBS said was cancelled for financial reasons and not due to President Trump’s public complaints about Colbert, marks the end of an era.

“Colbert presided over an era when political TV comedy could take a side and still succeed. Or actually, two eras, which almost perfectly coincided with his two shows: one that parodied politics, one made in a time when politics became a parody of itself,” wrote television critic James Poniewozik in The New York Times.

But on the host’s final night, the show’s sharp-edged political humor turned gentler and more personal, as when McCartney presented Colbert with a framed, autographed photo of The Beatles playing the same stage in 1964.

“Wow,” Colbert said, pretending to read aloud. “To Stephen — You’re better than The Beatles. Paul McCartney.”