Why The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is not new this week, August 5-9

Stephen Colbert on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (Image credit: Scott Kowalchyk/CBS)

It's an extended vacation for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, as the CBS late night talk show is not airing new episodes for the week of August 5-9. This is the second straight week that the show has not had a new episode, though reruns continue to air nightly on CBS at 11:35 pm ET/PT.

As we previously wrote in the post detailing the week of July 29-August 2, on the last new The Late Show that aired July 25, Colbert mentioned that he was taking a vacation. Evidently, it is an extended one. As far as why the show was taking the hiatus now, no official reason was given, but you don't have to look too hard to guess: the Olympics.

While the international sporting competition is only airing on NBC in terms of broadcast networks, so much programming has opted not to air new episodes and avoid competing with NBC's primetime broadcasts. That has included late night. In addition to Colbert, his fellow CBS late night host Taylor Tomlinson and her show After Midnight continue to air reruns, as is ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! NBC, meanwhile, has not been airing The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon or Late Night with Seth Meyers at all, as late night Olympics coverage has occupied their time slots.

We're still not sure when The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is going to return with new episodes, but the Olympics wrap up on Sunday, August 11.

In the meantime, here are The Late Show with Stephen Colbert reruns that are going to air this week:

Monday, August 5

  • Senator Bernie Sanders
  • Performance by OneRepublic
  • Original airdate July 18, 2024

Tuesday, August 6

  • Melinda French Gates
  • Saoirse-Monica Jackson
  • Original airdate July 24, 2024

Wednesday, August 7

  • The hosts of Pod Save America: Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor
  • Performance by Lake Street Dive
  • Original airdate June 18, 2024

Thursday, August 8

  • Jeremy Allen White
  • Ava DuVernay
  • Original airdate June 20, 2024

Friday, August 9

  • Senator Elizabeth Warren
  • Performance by Loudon Wainwright III
  • Original airdate July 16, 2024

To watch The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS you need a traditional pay-TV provider, a TV antenna, a live streaming service (ie Fubo, Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV) or a Paramount Plus with Showtime subscription, which gives you live access to your local CBS station. You can also watch these and other previous episodes of The Late Show on Paramount Plus with any type of subscription. 

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Michael Balderston

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.