Stephen Colbert and John Oliver reunited on Tuesday and made a toast to “late-night shows” amid uncertainty about their future.
Oliver was a guest for the first episode of the 11th and final season of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which was abruptly cancelled by CBS earlier this year.
In his 21st appearance on The Late Show, Oliver, who hosts Last Week Tonight, chuckled when Colbert produced two flutes of champagne.
Making a joke about their respective Funko Pop figures, Oliver raised a toast: “To Funko Pops. While supplies last”.
In response, Colbert said, “To late-night shows. While supplies last”.
After taking a sip, Oliver added: “Gentlemen, it was an honour playing with you.”
Beyond this, neither Colbert nor Oliver discussed the plight of late night TV in the US during their chat.
Instead, it was mostly dominated by Oliver’s obsession with the Bravo reality series The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.
“I will say we have spent a long time talking about a Bravo show which is technically NBC Universal, so CBS are not going to be happy,” he wryly joked.
US late-night shows have come under increased scrutiny in recent months following the cancellation of The Late Show, which has been on the air since 1993 and was originally hosted by David Letterman.
Colbert broke the news to his audience during a taping in July, saying: “I want to let you know something I found out just last night. Next year will be our last season. The network will be ending The Late Show in May.”
To resounding boos from his fans in the audience, the comedian and TV personality added, “Yeah! I share your feelings. It's the end of The Late Show on CBS. I'm not being replaced. This is all just going away.”
In May, Colbert used the show to heavily criticise his network’s corporate bosses over concerns that they could be breaking anti-bribery laws by seeking to settle a lawsuit with President Donald Trump to get his administration’s approval for a merger.
However, there has since been speculation that the cancellation was announced to appease Trump, as Paramount, which owns CBS, relied on the presidentially controlled Federal Communications Commission to approve its $8bn sale to Skydance.
Colbert has since been mocked by Trump, who suggested that Jimmy Kimmel could also lose his job.
Writing on his Truth Social platform, the president said: “I absolutely love that Colbert’ got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings.”
He added: “I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert! Greg Gutfeld is better than all of them combined, including the Moron on NBC who ruined the once great Tonight Show.”
In response, Colbert did not pull his punches, telling the president: “Go f*** yourself.”
