James Corden brings together Kimmel, Colbert, Fallon, Meyers, Noah, and even Letterman for ‘Late Late Show’ finale goodbye

The war for late-night television has turned into a friendly neighborhood block party. Take Thursday’s final episode of “The Late Late Show with James Corden,” where departing host James Corden managed to bring together every single one of his network competitors – including fellow CBS host Stephen Colbert, NBC hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, and ABC host Jimmy Kimmel – for a funny sketch that called back to the end of “Newhart.”

The assembly of late-night Avengers started with Corden asleep in his bed, rolling over to find Meyers kneeling beside him. 

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“You can’t just leave a talk show,” Meyers said before Kimmel revealed himself. 

“If we’re going to let you leave, you’re going to keep our sacred secrets,” Kimmel added.

Asked what they meant, Meyers suggested how late-night hosts don’t actually watch a lot of the projects their guests are promoting while Kimmel discussed their fake laughs during celebrity anecdotes. It wasn’t long before Colbert and Fallon appeared too, goofing on Corden’s crutches as a host – like his reliance on musical theater. They also urged the exiting host to not look like he was enjoying his retirement from the circuit.

While discussing his future, Colbert suggested Corden might grow a giant beard, “a huge one, one that says God spoke to me from a bush.” At that moment, former late-night host and current bearded elder statesman David Letterman appeared, clearing his throat and wondering why he was even part of the bit.

The sketch continued from there, with Kimmel suggesting Corden shouldn’t “get any big ideas” and instead should keep to “corporate gigs, podcasts, maybe ‘The Masked Singer’ after leaving “The Late Late Show.” The all-star late-night confab concluded with Kimmel, Colbert, Fallon, and Meyers trying to split up Corden’s intellectual property – the gag being his only late-night breakthrough over the eight years hosting was just “Carpool Karaoke” – before Corden woke up from an apparent nightmare. 

But the post-script cut to six months later, with Corden and former “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah being unmasked on “The Masked Singer.”

While the current late-night hosts have always shown respect for each other, that Corden and his team were able to convince Letterman to appear has to count as a major victory. Back in 2015, before Corden took over as the host, Letterman goofed on Corden’s appearance and his lack of bona fides as a late-night host. 

Corden’s final “Late Late Show” was a star-studded blowout. The host, who said he’s moving back to his native England with his family, had Will Ferrell and Harry Styles on as guests, created an entire pre-taped sketch with Tom Cruise, and closed the evening with a heartfelt original musical number that left him emotional.

With Corden’s time on “The Late Late Show” complete, CBS will replace the host and series with a reboot of @midnight produced by Colbert.

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