After his final “The Late Show” aired on CBS May 21, Stephen Colbert made a surprise appearance the next night on what you might call his last last show.
As spotted first by LateNighter, Colbert guest-hosted an “Only in Monroe” episode that aired at 11:35 p.m. Friday, May 22, his second trip to the public access show from the southeast Michigan city.
Colbert’s first appeared on “Only in Monroe” in July 2015, where he interviewed Eminem a few months before he took over “The Late Show” from the retiring David Letterman.
Although it wasn’t revealed when Friday’s episode was filmed, it featured a lineup of Monroe-centric content and Michigan guests.
Detroit rocker Jack White as the volunteer musical director. Chelsea’s favorite son Jeff Daniels dropped by to make the pita bread sandwich with peanut butter, hand-crumbled Ruffles sour cream-and-cheddar potato chips and Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce that he described while taking the “Colbert Questionert” on “The Late Show” in March.
The regular hosts of “Only in Monroe,” Michelle Baumann and Kaye Lani Rae Rafko Wilson, who was Miss America in 1988, also appeared and joined Colbert in drinking shots of Cain & Grain from the River Raisin Distillery in Manchester.
Actor Steve Buscemi popped up in a public service announcement for the Buscemi’s Pizza in Monroe to clarify he has no connection to the Michigan stores, saying, “All I know is Buscemi’s exists. I exist. We have the same name. And that’s where any connection ends.”
And Colbert had a quick FaceTime chat with Detroit native Byron Allen, who now has taken over “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” timeslot with back-to-back episodes of his syndicated “Comics Unleashed.”
Colbert said he so enjoyed “the last time I was here to take a Michigander that I just had to come back Mich-again.”
During Thursday night’s farewell episode of “The Late Show,” which drew a whopping 6.74 million viewers, Colbert alluded to his 2015 “Only in Monroe” stop, calling it “technically our first show … for an audience of 12 people.”
Added Colbert, “Show business being what it is these days, that’s probably where you’ll see me next.”
Monroe Community Media hinted at Colbert’s return in a recent Instagram post.
Friday’s “Only In Monroe” episode ended with the set, described as a version no longer used by the show, being destroyed by Colbert, White and Daniels and burned in a flaming dumpster.
Colbert said he wanted to get the OK for the blaze from a fire marshal. Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, then appeared via video and gave the all clear to burn the set.
Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds at jhinds@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Stephen Colbert hosts Michigan public access show ‘Only in Monroe’ again
Reporting by Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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