On Tuesday night’s episode of “The Late Show,” Stephen Colbert reunited with Jon Stewart, who showered his former “Daily Show” correspondent with gifts in honor of his final week on CBS.
In the opening moments of the interview, Colbert was quick to reminisce about his early days on Comedy Central, and he presented Stewart with a photo from 27 years ago of them together behind the “Daily Show” desk.
“One of us has not aged as well as the other,” Stewart joked, referring to himself. “This looks like a double-blind study where they gave one of these people is getting age-defying peptides and the other one is getting a placebo.”
In light of Colbert’s looming cancellation, Stewart then shared some advice he got from David Letterman at the tail end of his short-lived late-night show, “The Jon Stewart Show,” which ran from 1993 to 1995 on MTV.
“He said, ‘Don’t confuse cancellation with failure.’ I thought that was profound,” Stewart recalled, before delivering the punchline. “But then he said, ‘But in this case it is also a failure.’”
As their chat wound down, Stewart began rolling out his two-part gift. Before the first big reveal, he told Colbert, “Everybody has been coming up with a bit. They sang you a song, they wrote you a poem. I am not talented, so I’m not doing any of that. And also, why do that? An ephemeral wind of nothing that blows away like humbug. You deserve something tangible. Something you’ve earned. You deserve a gift that benefits the sacrifice and work that you have put into this show, and that can show you the life you can lead and the life that I am leading now that I’m not really in show business. So, boys, bring it out.”
Upon Stewart’s command, stage techs rolled out two luxury recliners. As Colbert and Stewart plopped down, Stewart exclaimed, “You’re going to enjoy watching ‘Matlock’ in this motherfucker! Let me tell you something.”
Stewart then unveiled the cherry on top: “This tribute isn’t complete. Stephen, this tribute doesn’t represent the joy that you brought to me as my friend and the joy that you brought to this country as one of its leading entertainers. What this moment needs is something so much more. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Ms. Andra Day.”
Grammy-winning R&B singer Andra Day then stepped out from backstage and treated Colbert to a personal performance of her 2015 hit “Rise Up,” which closed out Stewart’s appearance on “The Late Show.”
The final episode of “The Late Show” airs Thursday on CBS at 11:35 p.m. Bruce Springsteen will be the musical guest for Wednesday’s show, but all other guests have remained under wraps.
Watch the entire interview below.