Stephen Colbert is reuniting with Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver for an “emergency” episode of Strike Force Five.
Stephen Colbert is bringing back Strike Force Five
The five late night hosts came together on Monday’s (11.05.26) episode of the Late Show just over a week before Colbert’s cancelled programme comes to an end.
During the episode, they announced plans for a special video episode of their podcast, which will be available on May 13.
The one off special will raise money for World Central Kitchen, which is a global non-profit which provides meals during humanitarian crises.
Strike Force Five was first launched in 2023 during the Hollywood strikes.
At the time, revenue from the 12 episodes supported out of work staff on the quintet’s various late night shows.
During the Late Show this week, Colbert asked his fellow late night hosts to make a case for the genre to continue to exist.
Kimmel quipped: “Why should you have to defend late night? I mean, why should that question even be asked?
“You don’t hear like Ryan Seacrest get asked that question about the Wheel of Fortune.”
However, he did offer an argument for its survival, pointing to the amount of people watching in different ways, including on YouTube.
He said: “Look at the figures, and the fact of the matter is more people are watching late night television now…
“People have a lot of different options, and yet they still keep coming to us.”
Fallon pointed to how integral and enduring late night has become as a platform.
He said: “Late night is one of those things that’s been around our whole lives where it kind of it’s just part of our lives.
“I never thought it was a job when I was growing up. I just thought Johnny Carson came with the television set.
“People wanna go to sleep, having a good laugh and go to bed happy.”
Meanwhile, Kimmel has confirmed he won’t air a new episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on May 21, “out of deference to Colbert’s sendoff”.
Instead, a repeat will air during the final episode of The Late Show.
He made a similar move on May 20, 2015 when David Letterman stepped down from the iconic programme.
He said at the time: “I have too much respect for Dave to do anything that would distract viewers from watching his final show.”
