It will be preserved in a museum in the city where the comedian began his entertainment career.

*The Late Show *set finds historic new home after Stephen Colbert cancellation

It will be preserved in a museum in the city where the comedian began his entertainment career.

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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May 22, 2026 2:42 p.m. ET

Stephen Colbert on 'The Late Show' in April 2026. Credit:

Scott Kowalchyk/CBS

- The set for *The Late Show With Stephen Colbert *will be donated to the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago.

- The museum already houses one of Stephen Colbert's old desks.

- *The Late Show* aired its final episode on May 21.

*The Late Show* is officially over, but Stephen Colbert's set will have a new home.

The Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago will get the just-wrapped show's backdrop, CBS News reported.

The institution already has one of Colbert's old desks, which the comedian used when he broadcast a week of *Late Show* episodes from Chicago during the 2024 Democratic National Convention.

The Museum of Broadcast Communications currently has a prominent focus on late-night television, with an exhibition dedicated to Johnny Carson's run on *The Tonight Show* as well as an exhibition titled "The Evolution of Late-Night Television" that features one of Jimmy Fallon's desks from his time hosting the NBC series.

Stephen Colbert on the finale of 'The Late Show'.

Scott Kowalchyk/CBS

Colbert's connection to Chicago dates back to his college years at Northwestern University, where he studied drama before graduating in 1986. The comedian also launched his early career as an entertainer in the Windy City at the Annoyance Theatre and Second City.

The host previously revealed that his staff would have to clear out their offices immediately after the final episode aired on Thursday. "I think they're gonna start tearing s--- out immediately," he said in a Strike Force Five video that premiered the week before the show's finale. "I know my staff is not paid the next day. They're out."

Colbert added, "I've already packed my office."

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In July, CBS announced that *The Late Show* would finish its run after its current season, claiming that the talk show's cancellation was "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night."

The show's grand finale on Thursday included guests Paul McCartney, Bryan Cranston, Paul Rudd, Ryan Reynolds, and Tig Notaro. Fellow late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, John Oliver, and Fallon also popped up, as well as Colbert's former *Daily Show* colleague Jon Stewart.

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At the beginning of his final episode, Colbert addressed viewers in the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City and those watching at home.

"I just want to let all y'all know… how important you've been to what we have done," he said. "The energy that you have given us, we sincerely needed that to have done the best possible show we could have for you for the last 11 years."

He continued, "Now I'll say to you what I have said to every audience for the last 11 years, and I have meant it every time: Have a good show. Thanks for being here. And let's do it, y'all."

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