The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: next episode, guests and everything we know about the talk show

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is CBS's entry in the late night talk show field, with the former host of The Colbert Report bringing his satire and comedy to audiences at the end of their day. That's in addition to featuring guests from the world of entertainment, politics, business and more.

Colbert took over The Late Show from the retiring David Letterman in 2015. Over his run to date the show has been nominated for 26 Emmys, including Outstanding Variety Talk Series/Outstanding Talk Series every year since 2017.

Keep up with when the next episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is and who is going to show up as a guest right here, as well as what else you need to know about it.

When is the next The Late Show with Stephen Colbert episode?

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is back after a week off, with new episodes airing Monday, April 29, through Thursday, May 2, at 11:35 pm ET/PT on CBS. Guests for the April 29 episode include Hacks season 3 star Jean Smart and Gayle Rankin, currently on Broadway's Cabaret.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert guests: April 29-May 3

Here is the full slate of reruns for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert for April 29-May 3

Monday, April 29

• Jean Smart

• Gayle Rankin

Tuesday, April 30

• Jeff Daniels

• Hannah Einbinder

• Béla Fleck sitting in with Louis Cato and the Late Show Band

Wednesday, May 1

• Carol Burnett takes "The Colbert Questionert"

• Phil Keoghan

• Performance by Jacob Collier

Thursday, May 2

• John Leguizamo

• Laura Coates

Friday, May 3

• TBD

About Stephen Colbert

Before taking over the tonight show, Stephen Colbert was a comedian best known for his time on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and then hosting his own spinoff news satire, The Colbert Report.

On The Colbert Report, Colbert played a character with an overly-enthusiastic sense of patriotism commenting on the daily news. The show won seven Emmys and a Peabody Award, which honors "excellence in storytelling that reflects the social issues and the emerging voices of our day."

Outside of The Colbert Report and The Late Show, Colbert has some other acting credits, including Strangers with Candy, Monsters vs Aliens, The Mindy Project, Rick and Morty, Our Cartoon President and Girls5eva.

Colbert is also a massive fan of Lord of the Rings, which he will often incorporate into his show when he has the chance.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert band

Leading The Late Show band is Grammy-nominated multi-instrumentalist Louis Cato. Throughout Cato's career, he has worked with the likes of Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, John Legend, Talib Kweli, Snarky Puppy, David Sanborn, George Duke, Bobby McFerrin, Marcus Miller, John Scofield and A Tribe Called Quest. He also has his own solo record, Starting Now, and another record, Reflections, expected to come out later in 2023.

How to watch The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

To tune into The Late Show with Stephen Colbert live, you need access to your local CBS channel. That can be done with a traditional pay-TV cable package, a TV antenna that receives local broadcast feeds or a live TV streaming service that carries CBS, like Fubo, Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV.

Cordcutters also have the ability to tune in live if they sign up for Paramount Plus with Showtime, which gives them access to their local CBS channel's feed. If you subscribe to the base Paramount Plus plan, then you can watch The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on-demand.

YouTube also offers clips from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert the day after each episode. But if you want to see the full episodes, you need to have one of the above options.