Stephen Colbert's Final Colbert Report Guest Is the Grim Reaper—Is He Killing His Character's Persona?

Fellow comedians Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel and Ricky Gervais weigh on whether future Late Show host will make caricature Colbert's farewell a final one

By Rebecca Macatee Dec 17, 2014 6:26 PMTags
Stephen Colbert, GrimmyComedy Central

Fans of The Colbert Report know it will soon be time to say goodbye to Stephen Colbert—well, the right-wing persona he's inhabited on the show, that is.

Colbert, the real person, has confirmed he won't be in character when he replaces David Letterman as host of CBS' Late Show in September. But what does that mean for the Colbert caricature we've known all these years? Based on the fact that The Grim Reaper (otherwise known as Grimmy, "Stephen's colleague and lifelong friend")  is booked as the final Colbert Report guest for Thursday's finale, his fellow comedians and fans alike are speculating on whether he might actually kill off his character!

Conan O'Brien, who has worked with Colbert in and out of character, told the New York Times there's "something really cool about Stephen saying, 'This needs to stop at some point, so let's stop now."

The Conan host praised Colbert, the real person, for breaking out of what he called the American tradition. "Our system is, if there's another nickel to be found in it, you keep playing that character," he said, "just beat it to death—and then do it another 10 years."

"You always have performers saying, 'I think I'll go out on top, while it's still great,'" he went on. "This is one of the few times when a performer is saying, ‘I want to get out while it's still great,' and it's actually true."

But do his pals and colleagues really think that means killing off the ridiculous persona that made him into a household name? "I think that's a really funny idea," Jimmy Kimmel told the Times. "And it would make it clear to people that he's not that character anymore."

Ricky Gervais agreed, saying, "As surreal as that would be, it does make people get it. 'I was that character, and that character is dead now. Do you get it? This is me now.'"

We'll find out soon! The final Colbert Report airs this Thursday at 11:30 p.m on Comedy Central.