What We Have Lost With 'The Late Show'

I don’t know that I’ll watch Stephen Colbert’s final episode of The Late Show tonight, which will also be the final episode of The Late Show’s 33-year run on CBS. I did, however, watch David Letterman’s. Last Thursday, the enigmatic, Santa-bearded comedian emerged from retirement for one last appearance on the show he created at CBS back in 1993. It was, as one might expect, a bit sentimental and a bit silly. The only two hosts The Late Show has ever known talked briefly about the death of the show, then about Letterman’s new dog, then about memories of his mother—who had been a frequent guest on the original version of The Late Show—and then the two adjourned to the roof, from which they hurled Colbert’s custom-made chairs, along with other sundry objects, in a bit they called “The Wanton Destruction of CBS Property.”