Heartwarming / The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

General

• In general, whenever Stephen's wife, Evie, is mentioned or appears. Stephen is absolutely besotted with Evie and the two are as perfect an example of Happily Married Sickeningly Sweethearts as can be found. Seeing the two show their love for each other on TV is so heartwarming it could burn a hole in a viewer's chest.

2015

• On an appearance on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, Stephen talked about how he asked his wife, Evelyn, to be in the audience for every show for the first few weeks because he'd gotten so used to playing the character of Stephen Colbert (who was in a very unhappy marriage with a woman named Lorraine) and he wanted to see her and remind himself that he was no longer a character but his genuine self.
• September 8th: The pilot episode.
  • The opening sequence has Stephen and a bunch of his staffers singing an a capella rendition of the "Star-Spangled Banner" in various locations around the country, ending on a baseball field. The umpire shouts, "Play ball!" and whips off his mask to reveal — none other than executive producer Jon Stewart, giving his colleague and Heterosexual Life-Partner one last sendoff into his new gig. "Play ball," indeed.
  • Stephen comes bounding out onto the stage, beaming like his next ten Christmases and birthdays have all come at once, to an uproarious chant of "STE-PHEN! STE-PHEN! STE-PHEN!!" As Stay Human (his house band) goes into a jazzy swing number, he dances around the stage like a schoolboy, the music nearly drowned out by the cheers of the crowd. It's full-on, totally adorkable, unabashedly genuine Colbert in all its glory, and he basks in a good thirty seconds of cheering before he even starts to try to calm the audience down. But his smile is what makes it — he's just so happy!!
• September 9th: The show's first live performance is an absolutely massive performance of Sly and the Family Stone's "Everyday People" that perfectly sets the sincere, kind, and communal tone of the show.
• September 10th: Joe Biden's appearance on the show was a very subdued affair, with Stephen and him having a discussion about his late son Beau Biden, Biden's faith, and the incredible amount of strength people going through loss require simply to function. The Vice President's eyes were clearly brimming with tears. Then Biden turned it around and they briefly discussed the tragedy in Stephen's life as well as how Stephen and his mother had to support each other in the wake of the deaths of Stephen's father and two of his brothers.
• September 16th: Stephen had a surprise for his first guest Carol Burnett: his other guest for the evening, Kevin Spacey (a big fan of Carol's) came out early and did a perfect impression of Carol's old friend and hero Jimmy Stewart while reading a sweet poem for her.
• September 25th: Stephen's interview with Malala Yousafzai is just as lovely and heartwarming as you'd expect anything involving Malala Yousafzai to be. She gets a standing ovation when she comes onstage, and Stephen himself is visibly awestruck by her.
• September 30th: John Oliver appears on the show, and naturally, the two old friends have a blast reminiscing.
• October 2nd: Stephen starts the show by discussing the mass shooting in Oregon, and talks about the nature of pretending, and the 2 main ways people think of solving the issue. However, he says that the thing we can't do is keep pretending that it won't happen again, because that's insanity.
• October 15th: Who's the last person Stephen talks to right before the start of every show? Jon Stewart.^note While having him show up at the studio every day is probably an exaggeration, there are these things called cell phones. Or, more likely, Stephen merely thinks of Jon before every show (so he's "there in spirit"). Either way, it's adorable.
• November 16th: Stephen opens his first show after the Paris attacks by replacing his usual intro music with "La Marseillaise", and skips the intro monologue completely, instead cutting straight to a credits montage of Paris (shot with the same gorgeous stop-motion tilt-shift technique used in the regular opening montage of New York), voiced-over by Stephen himself. Meanwhile, "Colbert Cathedral" is covered with computer image tributes to France, including red, white, and blue lights instead of the usual color scheme on the sign above the stage. Stephen then speaks of how New Yorkers especially understand how Paris is grieving, calls back to France's show of sympathy in the days after 9/11, and promises that we stand with them now. And then he spends his whole monologue gently riffing on the French - because he's a comedian, and that's what he does, and no terrorist attack is going to take that away from them.
• November 19th: If you went to the taping on this particular day, you saw a moment of sweetness that was never meant to make it to air. The warm-up comedian who comes out before Stephen typically pulls random people out of the audience, lets them take part in some of his antics briefly for the fun of it. Near the end of his act, he noticed a young woman with some disability (perhaps down syndrome) who was very excited to be attending a taping of The Late Show, brought her up on stage, let her sit on a chair next to Colbert's desk and made her feel incredibly welcome to be at a taping of the show.

2016

• January 14th: Stephen's tribute to Alan Rickman.
  Stephen: He played so many characters who we, the audience, could see lived on the threshold of letting those around him know how he felt, the ways that he was hurt and couldn’t reveal, and that is a rare and beautiful gift to share with an audience, and the world is poorer for his loss.
• February 4th: Much like John Oliver's appearance, Stephen's interview with his fellow The Daily Show alum Samantha Bee is a touching reunion, reflecting upon their time together as correspondents.
• February 15th: Stephen pays tribute to the controversial Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia by sharing the story of how, after Stephen's 2006 White House Correspondents Dinner performance, Scalia was amused by a joke aimed directly at him.
• March 11th: Stephen ends the show by allowing a teenaged audience member the opportunity to ask his girlfriend out to the prom.
• May 2nd: Stephen starts the show by congratulating Larry Wilmore for his performance as Host at the White House Correspondents Dinner on April 30th.
• July 4th: from a conversation with an audience member, who asked him how he knew his wife was "the one."
• November 8th: The 2016 election show.
  • Stephen ends the show with a plea for unity, followed by Stephen and the audience singing "My Country Tis of Thee".
  Stephen: The people who designed our democracy didn't want us in it all the time. Informed, yes. Politicking all the time, I don't think so. They designed an election that was meant to confuse us and bore us a little bit. That's why the Electoral College exists. And C-SPAN. And the State of the Union begins with 20 minutes of shaking hands with grandpas. But now, politics is everywhere, and that takes up precious brain space that we could be using to remember all the things we actually have in common.

2017

• Chance the Rapper, Jon Batiste, and Ziggy Marley performing the Arthur theme. Colbert in his dream gets to visit the Arthur world, to "learn about cooperation" and getting along with others.
• Matthew McConaughey came on and gushed about Exit 57, a very short-lived sketch series Stephen starred in from 1995 to 1996. Stephen was impressed and moved at the fact that McConaughey is such a fan that he can recite sketches from memory while Stephen himself can't remember much about the show. They then, at McConaughey's request, perform an old sketch from Exit 57 using a script that was pieced together from a cassette recording.
• Stephen's opening monologue after the Las Vegas shootings in October 2017.

2018

• When Steve Carell dropped by close to the holidays, Stephen Colbert went above and beyond in getting his old friend a gift. He found up an old Fabio CD they used for sketch when they were both starting out at Second City and got Fabio, himself, to autograph it. Fabio also sent over an autographed photo as an extra.

2019

• Stephen and surprise guest Oscar the Grouch deliver a duet that wouldn't be out of place on either The Late Show or Sesame Street.
• Stephen cheekily asks Keanu Reeves an off-kilter question about what happens after they die. Keanu responds that at the very least he knows that they'll be missed by those who love them. Cue Stunned Silence from Stephen, a big "aaawww" from the audience and a grateful handshake between the two.
• For the 75th anniversary of D-Day, Stephen read a poem written by his uncle who participated in D-Day but did not survive the war.
• In the wake of Bernie Sanders' nasty health scare of October, Stephen manages to spin a punchline out of it:
  "He's being treated for an arterial blockage. It was always a risk... for those who would want a president to have a heart." (audience cheers)
• One for the audience. When Stephen talks about a story about how Donald Trump and Mark Burnett were in talks for a new The Apprentice series after Trump's presidency that would be themed about his tenure in the White House, Stephen joked that one of the tasks would be "Abandon the Kurds".^Context In reference to how at the time Trump was in hot water for ordering the U.S. troops to pull out of helping the Kurds in Syria (after the Kurds had helped the troops there for years) after Turkey (who considers them terrorists) had suggested so. This caused quite a loud "Awww!" from the audience out of grief, which even took Stephen aback (leading him to quip, "It's an all-Kurd audience tonight").
• The end of the "Once Upon Impeachment" Christmas special, particularly in contrast to the few-if-any-punches-pulled special of the previous year:
  Santa: Because the more we talk about naughtiness, the more it can seem like the only thing left that exists. And so Mr. Chairman, I would like to submit something for the record. The following entries from the Nice List! Ah, Lindsey Graham, November 1961. Little Lindsey sat next to a boy at lunch who also had no friends! Remember how that felt, Lindsey?
  Graham: Yes, it felt good! [sniffles] Feelin' good feels good! I want to live, Clarence!
  Santa: And here's one from Rudy Giuliani! Oh, Rudy, our red-nosed lawyer. In September 2001, Rudy was an inspiration to an entire nation! Remember that, Rudy?
  Giuliani: Someone remembered I used to be nice! It's a Christmas miracle! God bless us, everyone!
  • Subverted when Santa gets to Donald Trump:
  Santa: And finally, Donald Trump: I've got nothing! But Mr President, there's still time. Why, you've got a whole year left to resign!
• This quote on his relationship with his wife Evie is simultaneously heartrending and the most heartwarming thing ever.
  Stephen: The most harrowing idea would be that I spend any part of my life without her. Because that would be a level of loneliness, and irreplaceable, irredeemable emotional desolation that I could not possibly contemplate. And I understand why old men die like a month after their wives go, because how I will actually die is she will die first and I will not last a year.

2020

• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Stephen had to shoot episodes in isolation, with most of the staff and crew forced to work remotely. However, his wife, Evie, stayed by his side, sitting in a chair just off camera. This gave his humor a more intimate touch as he'd riff specifically to make her laugh.
  • This has also led to her appearing on screen occasionally, showing just how much of a Happily Married Sickeningly Sweethearts couple they are.

2021

• June 10, 2021: In the last show before returning to the Ed Sullivan Theater for the first time since the start of the pandemic, Stephen thanks the staff and crew for their hard work throughout that time, and the viewers for their loyalty.
  Stephen: While we accept that we had to spent the last 15 months in quarantine, I think it's crazy to let that define who we are. Americans like to see each other in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But we've learned that each of us is a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal. Sincerely yours, A Late Show.
  (Stephen pumps his fist as Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)" starts playing)
• June 14, 2021: Stephen and his crew make a triumphant return to the Ed Sullivan Theater in front of a live audience for the first time in over a year and both Stephen and the audience are simply ecstatic to be back on the set and celebrate the progress of things going back to normal since the pandemic began. Stephen's wife, Evie, had become a huge fan favorite for her infectious laughter and supporting Stephen when he was doing the show away from the theater. Evie appeared on stage for the show's return with thunderous applause and the audience chanting her name, to Stephen's absolute joy.
  Stephen: [on Evie's rapturous reception] Oh my God, that made me so happy.

2022

• Stephen bids a fond farewell to Chris Licht, his showrunner. After confessing he didn't know what to make of Chris at first, due to the man's background being in hard-news journalism, Stephen sings the man's praises, saying Chris worked hard to learn as much as he can and made sure Stephen and the crew had the resources and freedom to make the show the way they want.
• April 4, 2022: In the first show following Jon winning 5 Grammy Awards, Stephen starts off by recounting the previous night's events and, while maintaining his comedic face, is clearly elated for his friend's accomplishment.

2023

• May 2, 2023: The show went into hiatus in support of the 2023 WGA strike, which later expanded to a joint strike with SAG-AFTRA. During this time, Stephen co-hosted the podcast Strike Force Five with fellow talk show hosts Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, John Oliver, and Seth Meyers, with the proceeds benefiting their show's out-of-work staffs.
• October 2, 2023: The show returns for the first time since the end of the 2023 WGA strike, with Stephen congratulating the writers for succeeding in their protests.
• October 25, 2023: Stephen gets the chance to interview all four members of Talking Heads together in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Stop Making Sense. The whole band is still incredibly fond of the musical journey they've shared, with Chris Frantz even confessing that the importance of protecting the legacy of their film and music transcends the decades of discontent which has kept them from performing together.
• November 20, 2023: David Letterman returns to the Ed Sullivan Theater for the first time since his retirement.

2024

• January 17, 2024: Stephen points out that this is episode #1447, which matches the run of The Colbert Report.