Stephen Colbert plays a parody of a late-night talk show host in the Elsbeth Season 3 premiere, airing on Sunday, October 12, on CBS. Carrie Preston reveals to TV Insider that this episode was filmed one week after The Late Show was abruptly canceled, which raised concerns about whether Colbert would even be allowed to guest star on the CBS procedural.

Colbert’s casting was already locked in when The Late Show was canceled on July 17.

“For months and months, the producers and the writers had been looking to get him on the show,” Preston tells TV Insider. “And then [Jonathan] Tolins, our showrunner, he specifically wrote this episode for Steven Colbert, and then it just happened to be that they announced his show was ending right before he came to do the episode.”

Colbert’s Elsbeth episode was written before The Late Show cancellation, Preston confirms, and no changes were made to the script after. She says that the cancellation was announced one week before Colbert was to start filming.

“The script was ready to go. This happened the week before,” Preston explains. “As a matter of fact, we were worried that he might not be able to come and do the episode at the last minute because he was dealing with a lot of stuff, but he was very true to his word and his commitment, and he showed up and he was incredible.”

Colbert guest stars as the host of a fictional late-night talk show called Way Late With Scotty Bristol in the Elsbeth Season 3 premiere. Amy Sedaris and Andy Richter costar as the married couple who serve as Scotty’s head writer and show sidekick. Get your first look at Colbert, Sedaris, Richter, and more guest stars in the Elsbeth Season 3 trailer here.

Colbert’s final Late Show airs in May 2026. CBS has maintained that the reason for the show’s shocking cancellation was purely financial, but there’s a public consensus that CBS axed the show to capitulate to President Donald Trump, as CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global, was hoping for the FCC to approve its merger with Skydance. The merger was approved on July 28.

Elsbeth, Season 3 Premiere, Sunday, October 12, 9:30/8:30c, Regular Time Period Premiere, Thursday, October 16, 10/9c, CBS