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Paul McCartney was Stephen Colbert’s final guest on The Late Show on Friday night. The rock giant met the comedy legend for a conversation about the Beatles’ first performances in America to the origins of McCartney’s upcoming album “The Boys of Dungeon Lane”.
After a failed Chicago hot dog led to Colbert’s original guest – “the Pope” – dumping the late-night host, McCartney stepped in, who happened to be running “a few errands” in midtown Manhattan. After recalling his first visit to the Ed Sullivan Theater – the Beatles’ historic US debut – McCartney spoke about the band’s first impression of America. “America is where all the music we loved came from: rock & roll, blues, the whole package. Even if you go back to Fred Astaire – they all come from America,” McCartney said. “That’s how we saw it. America was simply the land of the free, the greatest democracy.”
After giving Colbert a meaningful look, the musician shared some amusing memories from his childhood in Liverpool, talked about his aversion to change and revealed that his favorite post-show snack was a “cheese and pickle sandwich.”
The wormhole appears
Then, a few moments and a commercial break later, a loud, rumbling noise took over the speakers, McCartney was led offstage, and Colbert went to investigate the “technical glitch.” As the late-night host made his way behind the scenes, he was greeted by a giant green wormhole and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. Tyson calmly explained that the wormhole was created by the “two conflicting realities” – that his show was the best on late-night television and that it was being canceled at the same time.
Soon after, Jon Stewart joined Colbert to confront him about his denial that the Late Show was really over. This was followed by a warm appearance by the men from Strike Force Five – including Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and John Oliver. In a moment, Colbert had the epiphany: “I think I understand it now. It looks like the end, and I wish it wasn’t – but that’s out of my hands. All we can decide is what we do with the time we’re given.”
Unfortunately, before he could get McCartney back on stage to finish the interview, the wormhole appeared again – this time over the entire studio – sucking up the audience, furniture and crew just before Colbert cut to the next commercial break. If Colbert’s going to leave, he’s taking all late night television with him, people.
