Why The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is not new this week, July 1-5

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

Stephen Colbert and his team are continuing to enjoy some summer vacation, as for the second week in a row The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is not airing new episodes on CBS. Instead, reruns are going to air at 11:35 pm ET/PT on the network from Monday, July 1, through Friday, July 5.

Like with the week off from June 24-28, CBS offered no official reason for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airing reruns all week, so it just seems that this was a pre-planned break for the late night talk show. With the Fourth of July taking place on Thursday, it makes sense that the show used the holiday to work in an extended hiatus. 

At this time it is still not clear when The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is going to begin airing new episodes, but the earliest possible date would be Monday, July 8. While you wait, here are the reruns for The Late Show that are going to be airing this week:

Monday, July 1

  • Chris Hemsworth
  • James Dyson
  • Original airdate May 23, 2024

Tuesday, July 2

  • George Stephanopoulos
  • Michelle Buteau
  • Original airdate May 15, 2024

Wednesday, July 3

  • Jake Gyllenhaal
  • Chloe Fineman
  • Original airdate June 11, 2024

Thursday, July 4

  • Alicia Keys
  • Stephen Merchant
  • Special appearance by Laura Benanti
  • Original airdate June 3, 2024

Friday, July 5

  • Interview with and performance by Billie Eilish
  • Original airdate May 21, 2024

If the planned reruns don't appeal to you, you can also watch previous episodes of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Paramount Plus.

Once again, Colbert isn't the only late night host taking the week off. His CBS partner Taylor Tomlinson and her show After Midnight are also airing reruns all week. So are the other major talk shows on other networks. NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers are once again off. On ABC, after Martin Short filled in as a guest host for a week, Jimmy Kimmel Live! is going with reruns for this week. HBO's weekly late night program, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, is also on an extended break. Even Comedy Central's The Daily Show is taking the week off.

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.