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‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ Finale Recap

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Stephen Colbert is saying goodbye to The Late Show after over ten years and more than 1,800 episodes.

The comedian kicked off the show with an earnest piece to camera (and the audience).

“This show… I want you to know this show has been a joy for us to do for you. In fact, we call this show The Joy Machine. We call it The Joy Machine because to do this many shows it has to be a machine, but the thing is, if you choose to do with joy, it doesn’t hurt as much when your fingers get caught in the gears, and I cannot adequately explain to you what the people who work here have done for each other, and how much we mean to each other,” he said.

He referenced his old show on Comedy Central. “On night one of The Colbert Report, back in the day, I said, ‘Anyone can read the news to you. I promise to feel the news at you’. And I realized pretty soon in this job that our job over here was different. We were here to feel the news with you, and I don’t know about you, but I sure have felt [the news] and I just want to let all y’all know, in here and out there, how important you’ve been to what we have done. The energy that you’ve given us, we sincerely need that to have done the best possible show we could have for you for the last 11 years.”

Before joking about OnlyFans, he noted the history of the Ed Sullivan Theater. “We’ve been honored to have been just a small part of it, Nichols and May played on the stage. The Beatles made their American debut here, and, backstage, Elvis used the bathroom and didn’t die,” he added.

It comes as Colbert has lined up a star-studded finale with Paul McCartney, who famously played the Ed Sullivan Theater in 1964 with The Beatles, as musical guest and A-listers including Bryan Cranston, Ryan Reynolds and Paul Rudd appearing throughout the show. Follow along below through the course of the “extended” episode.

Colbert has been on an elongated goodbye tour since CBS made the decision to axe his show and the entire late-night franchise ten months ago.

Canceled three weeks before David Ellison officially took control of Paramount, the network stressed that it was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night” and “is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”

But since the cancelation came days after Colbert called Paramount Global’s $16M settlement of Donald Trump’s lawsuit a “big fat bribe”, it’s been hard for many to believe the two things were unrelated.

The Late Show began in August 1993 with David Letterman as host, having moved over from NBC after he didn’t get The Tonight Show gig. Letterman retired from the show in May 2015, and Colbert, who had previously starred on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, took over in September 2015.

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Zendaya Says Spider-Man 4 With Tom Holland Felt Like a Dream

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Zendaya reflected on working with her partner Tom Holland in two upcoming projects releasing this year in a new profile, where she said that returning for the latest Spider-Man film felt like “coming home.”

The Euphoria star and English actor met when they began working on Spider-Man: Homecoming, the first movie from the film franchise with Holland as its lead. With his fourth Spidey entry set to release this summer, the couple are also both starring in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.

Zendaya clarified in her profile with Elle that she does not have any scenes with Holland in The Odyssey, which allowed her to watch him act on set. “I could have cried, I was so proud,” she said.

The Emmy Award winner also gushed about their time collaborating on Spider-Man: Brand New Day, calling it a “dream.”

“And then Spider-Man was a dream; I get to go to work every day with my best friend, the person that I love,” she said of Holland. “We bring our dogs to work; it’s like a family affair. We grew up on those movies! It’s like coming home.”

Zendaya was also asked by the outlet if she’d confirm rumors that she and Holland have tied the knot, to which she said, “No, I’m not going to do that. They’re always searching for something.” Major speculation that they got married in secret sparked after her longtime stylist Law Roach told Access Hollywood at the 2026 Actor Awards that their wedding had already occurred.

“The wedding has already happened. You missed it,” he said, which prompted the reporter to clarify, “Is that true?”

“It’s very true,” Law Roach said with a laugh.

Zendaya has been asked about their alleged nuptials quite a bit as of late, particularly because of the wedding theming surrounding her starring turn in A24’s The Drama, which centers on an engaged couple who navigates a revelation before their wedding date.

The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day will premiere two weeks after one another (the former film opens on July 17; the latter releases on July 31). It’s been quite a busy year for Zendaya already, and aside from those two pending projects, she will close out 2026 with Dune 3 on Dec. 18.

Holland reflected on the business coming his way with the release of both The Odyssey and his fourth Spider-Man movie in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter. He discussed the aspects of promoting the films, and specifically noted that doing interviews alongside his partner as a bright spot of the whirlwind press cycle.

“I love how it’s changed because I think it feels like we’ve created an environment where people promoting movies can be more authentic to who they are… I’m someone that really protects my personal life at all costs, but I will always trade a podcast with a really, really fun host over sitting in a hotel room and doing a hundred interviews in a day,” said Holland. “That said, those can be really fun, too. When it’s Zendaya and Jacob [Batalon] and I together doing interviews, it’s always a hoot.”

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Canada Jacks Up Streamers’ Content Revenue Contributions; MPA Livid

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In what is shaping up to become a very heated rivalry, the Motion Picture Association didn’t quite use the word socialism today over a Canadian regulatory move, but they got damn close. The studios and streamers’ trade association did warn that “new rules” and financial contributions determined today by Canada‘s Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission for streamers “undermines the open, market-based system.”

So, as the Stanley Cup playoffs advance, it’s not just the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens and the Carolina Hurricanes who are in a Canada and USA skirmish

“The Motion Picture Association strongly condemns the CRTC’s decision to impose unprecedented, unnecessary, and discriminatory investment obligations on American streaming services operating in Canada,” MPA chief Charles Rivkin stated Thursday in an uncharacteristically fast response to the move up in the Great North

While legacy TV caught a break, Rivkin and his corporate bosses are pissed about the measure under the 2023 passed Online Streaming Act that’s going to make Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and others fork over 15% of the revenue they make in the Great North for “Canadian and Indigenous content”

Leaning into where the vast majority of viewers in Canada and elsewhere actually get their entertainment nowadays, the Commission insist their latest move is to “ensure that traditional and online broadcasters contribute to the creation of Canadian and Indigenous content in an equitable way that reflects their size and business models.”

“Contributions will be recalibrated so that traditional broadcasters will contribute 25% of their annual revenues to support Canadian and Indigenous content and benefit from greater flexibility in how they meet this requirement,” the CRTC announced Thursday after months of study and public impute across the second largest country in the world. “For major broadcasters, this will provide relief as their current requirements range from 30% to 45%. Online broadcasters will contribute 15%, which includes their existing 5% base contribution.”

As a part of the big hike for the streamers, the CRTC also are mandating “clear expectations for the discoverability of Canadian and Indigenous content so that it is made available and visible to audiences.” Centering on apps architecture, scrolling choices and algorithm, the independent agency says “this will make it easier for people to find this content on the platforms they use, while giving broadcasters flexibility in how they meet the new expectations.”

That didn’t win over the MPA, which has Disney, Netflix, Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios, Sony, Universal, as members, plus the likely soon to merge Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery.

“This burdensome framework unfairly targets global streamers with requirements that directly violate Canada’s obligations under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement,” Association boss Rivkin noted, with a nod to the currently under re-negotiation continental tariff free trade deal.

“The decision also undermines the open, market-based system that has helped fuel investment, job creation, and creative partnerships across North America,” the MPA CEO went on to say in flag flying for capitalism. “American studios and streaming services are already the top foreign investors in Canada’s film and TV ecosystem – delivering content to Canadian audiences and sharing Canadian stories with the world. This decision triples the cost of doing business in Canada and will spark even more inflation in the market, making further investment and innovation less attractive. For years, the MPA has consistently made clear that Canada’s Online Streaming Act is an unfair trade practice. We urge the Canadian government to reconsider this approach.”

Introduced in the 1960s and 1970s, the much maligned CanCon has proven one of the few barriers to total American media dominance that Canada (a nation where the vast majority of the population live within miles of the border) has been able to put in place. Even though the percentages and point-system, along with simulcast rules, can seem silly and out of touch with creative and investment reality, CanCom made possible global hits like Crave and HBO’s hockey romance series Heated Rivalry.

Clearly aware she has a hard sell down south with the new rules and coming to the cottage won’t cut it CRTC CEO Vicky Eatrides tried to put a positive Stateside spin on “today’s decisions are about building a stronger broadcasting system.” Without mentioning the long disputes, some of which are in court currently, between CanCon and American media companies, Eatrides added: “We are taking action to ensure stable funding for Canadian and Indigenous content, and to help make it more discoverable.”

As the MPA are quite likely to take their concerns to the Canada-pounding White House, the CRTC CEO may have some discoveries of her own soon.

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‘Ghosts’ Showrunners Talk Season 5 Finale Cliffhanger

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SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from the Season 5 finale of Ghosts on CBS.

Woodstone Mansion’s fate is up in the air in the two-part Season 5 finale of CBS’ Ghosts.

Sam (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) have to come up with a quick solution after they find out that the mayor sold his controlling stake in their bed and breakfast to a giant corporation that used to sell water but is now transitioning into AI, obviously, and they’ve decided the property surrounding Woodstone is a perfect place for a data center. No one in town is pleased, least of all the ghosts who would be doomed to an eternity of bright lights and noisy machines if that evil water conglomerate were to get its way.

The couple consults their town historian Joe, played by James Austin Johnson, about getting a historical landmark designation for Woodstone to prevent the planned demolition. But, that proves much harder than they anticipated when Joe asks for concrete evidence that something noteworthy actually happened in that mansion, which he says is pretty “run of the mill” for the area. Fortunately, a lot of really interesting people have died there. Unfortunately, none of them are interesting enough for Joe.

That is, except Nancy. Yes, the basement ghost. Turns out, before she arrived at Woodstone and contracted cholera, she was actually a princess. All Sam and Jay need to do is find proof. Jay, Pete (Richie Moriarty) and ghost babysitter Kyle (Ben Feldman) depart for London to locate said proof, while Sam stays behind to finish ideating on a movie franchise she’s about to sell. A lot going on here! Luckily, with a little help from everyone’s favorite mummy ghost Amunhotep (Farhang Ghajar), they’re able to find proof that Nancy was once royalty and that she died right there at Woodstone to save the day.

Just when everything is looking up, things start to get dicey again as Pete vanishes from the backseat of the car just moments before arriving back on Woodstone property.

In the interview below, showrunners Joe Port and Joe Wiseman weigh in on that cliffhanger, Nancy’s backstory, and more from the two-part Ghosts finale.

DEADLINE: I really enjoyed these last two episodes, and I feel like your answer is going to be, ‘well, look around,’ but I want to hear your inspirations for why Sam and Jay should go against this giant conglomerate that wants to build a data center in the Season 5 finale.

JOE WISEMAN: Well, you know, data centers are kind of having a moment. So, it actually turned out to be a very fortuitous villain for our heroes to bump up against. We’ve all dealt with faceless corporations, and they can be so difficult to deal with.

JOE PORT: I think also it’s become a big problem in rural communities where people move for peace and quiet. So that’s coming now to kind of bite Sam and Jay in the butt in this episode.

DEADLINE: Yeah, I recently saw a video about how loud they are. It had no idea. 

WISEMAN: Yeah, it’s also not great for our ghosts who won’t be able to get away from it. They’re facing this reality of noise and constant lights.

PORT: As bad as data centers are for humans, they’re worse for ghosts. 

DEADLINE: I also thought it was hilarious that Nancy is a long lost princess. How long has that been in your back pocket?

PORT: We’ve been just inspired by the phrase ‘Fancy Nancy’ for a few seasons now and wanted to do a back story kind of based on that, and just the idea of Nancy being a princess struck us all as very funny. It converged well with the need in this story, so we thought it was a good time to delve into that.

DEADLINE: I love just kind of getting away from Woodstone again for a minute and getting some of the characters out of New York. How is it for you to kind of get to write more of those little stories into the show and just get them in these other settings that we’ve never seen them in before?

WISEMAN: Oh no, it’s very fun. With Pete, it makes more sense. They’re easy to do, because we can have one of our ghosts go along for the ride, but yeah, no, but it’s always fun. It’s always fun to go to different sets and different locations and to meet some ghosts. I was happy that we were able to bring Amenhotep back, the mummy-bound ghost from our Halloween special. He was a crowd favorite, and it’s always fun to see people again.

DEADLINE: Speaking of Pete, should we be afraid about his fate? That was a pretty big cliffhanger to leave the season on.

PORT: We’ve teased Pete disappearing a couple times now, and it’s gonna be very interesting to figure out where he went and where he is and what he’s like now. It’s sort of an existential question that we’ve been wrestling with about what would happen if he disappeared. So we’re going to answer that question when we come back.

DEADLINE: What was exciting to you about leaving the season on such a big cliffhanger with one of your lead characters’ fates just so up in the air?

WISEMAN: As Joe mentioned, it’s something we’ve teased a couple of times, where we’ve had these close calls with Pete, and in this the stakes are real. One of our main characters just disappeared, and who knows, will he be back? Where has he been? It just seems to bring up a lot of enticing questions.

DEADLINE: Season 6 won’t premiere until the mid-season, but you’ll get those Halloween and Christmas specials. What are you looking forward to about that structure and getting to do these one-off episodes first?

WISEMAN: Well, I’m excited. They aren’t going to be free standing. We are going to deal with the Pete cliffhanger. They will sort of be part of the season, so I look at it as we’re just premiering a couple weeks later than usual, and…we’re getting an hour-long Halloween special for the first time. The Halloween episodes are always a fan favorite. They’re the writers’ favorite. They’re really fun to do. So we’re getting an hour, and then we’re doing another Christmas hour-long special, which we’ve done a few times now, and those always turn out great. So we’re just starting out next season with a bang, and I think they’re going to be promoted heavily, and we’ll get a lot of eyeballs and a lot of excitement for when we then do start airing ‘regular episodes’.

PORT: I thought it was a really clever solution to them having three comedies right now, and to have us come out of the gate on Ghosts with these two holiday specials, it’s really something kind of fun to write toward. It gives us a clear target. It’s sort of a very British solution, because they’re always doing movies after the season and Christmas specials after their seasons. This is obviously before our season, but it’s kind of a cool, clever way to dive into the season for us.

DEADLINE: Well, and you mentioned three comedies, two of them are yours. What are you looking forward to about Eternally Yours finally seeing the light of day?

PORT: Yeah, it’s so crazy for us, because we wrote this so long ago. It was 11 years ago, and it’s the reason they called us to develop Ghosts, because we had written this pilot, the supernatural comedy about vampires…and now it’s come full circle, and Eternally Yours is going to be on. I mean, the cast is incredible, Trent O’Donnell did a fantastic job directing. He did the Ghosts pilot as well. We have the room up and running, and the stories seem to be really flowing, and it’s going to be a very grounded show, despite having vampires. It’s really about relationships and marriage.

DEADLINE: Three network comedies is a good problem to have, I think, for CBS. Do you guys feel like comedy’s been resonating more with viewers recently?

WISEMAN: Yeah, it’s always hard to tell. We’re kind of just having our blinders on making the show and everything, but yeah, I think, you know, comedies are always in fashion. People need to laugh. There’s a lot in the world that people want to escape from, and like Joe was alluding to, Eternally Yours is going to have a similar DNA to Ghosts, where it’s going to be fun but grounded. We sort of have a sort of a positive worldview. We like to sort of end on or have emotional moments that have a positive worldview, and we’re not going to shy away from that.

PORT: But not positive when it comes to data centers.

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