Stephen Colbert, the conservative political pundit, continues to misread signals from The Grim Reaper about his fate once "The Colbert Report" comes to an end. The real Stephen Colbert, the political satirist, will wrap up his Comedy Central show on Dec. 18 before moving on to CBS's "The Late Show."
Colbert announced his final show as his top story on Thursday night's episode. He then asked his "travel agent," Grimmie, where he would take his well-earned vacation when the show ended. The Grim Reaper first pointed to Colbert's burning fire place and then made devil horns with his bony fingers.
"So someplace warm with goat horns?" the host asked and then guessed, "Greece! Opa!"
The Grim Reaper visited Colbert earlier this month when the comedian announced he had only 32 shows left. Grimmie made several indications that death could come soon to the caricature Colbert by flipping over an hourglass and pointing at Colbert, pointing at a portrait of Colbert and then running his finger across his neck, and holding a sign with a skull and crossbones with the number 32 on it.
Another mystery is how "The Colbert Show" will close its final broadcast (whether or not he dies). Colbert gave one scenario that involved television's most famous endings from "Newhart," "St. Elsewhere," "Friends," "M.A.S.H." and "The Sopranos."
"Will I wake up next to Suzanne Pleshette, in a snow globe, after Rachel gets off the plane to be with me, while B.J. Hunnicut writes-out 'Goodbye' in rocks until we cut to black in the middle of a Journey song?" Colbert wondered. "Or will I just get sued for copyright infringement?"
The real Stephen Colbert will replace David Letterman on "The Late Show" starting in 2015. Letterman has not announced his final date yet, but CBS's other late-night host Craig Ferguson will wrap up "The Late Late Show" on Nov. 24.
The show booked Metallica for a week-long residency to close out the program, according to Rolling Stone. Ferguson will interview the band on Nov. 17 and they will perform every night for the rest of the week.
