May 23, 2016 - Emilia Clarke, Shiri Appleby, Cynthia Erivo

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Episode GuideEPISODE NUMBER: Season 1, Episode 148 (Monday, May 23, 2016)
GUESTS: Emilia Clarke | Shiri Appleby | Cynthia Erivo
STAFF CAMEO(s): Michael Brumm
SEGMENTS: Stephen Meets the Mother of Puppies | Guns, Shapes and Sex | RIP Victoria’s Secret Catalogue | The Late Show’s 2016 Commencement Speech | Emilia Clarke | There Are Worse Things Than Starbucks Spelling Your Name Right | Shiri Appleby | Cynthia Erivo Performs “I’m Here” from The Color Purple
SUIT REPORT: Grey Suit | White Shirt | Grey Tie

Shiri Appleby shares with Stephen some of the dirty laundry Jon Stewart aired about him, and let’s say his reaction is pretty priceless.

What a fabulous ladies night episode! Three femme guests, with a little sexy thrown in, what with that “steamy” Tetris block scene, Stephen’s lamenting of the Victoria’s Secret catalogue going away, and Shiri Appleby spilling the beans on our fearless host’s supposed “dark secrets.” You knew Stewart would dish! J/k, right? It would be funny to see Jon and Stephen in a reality show setting, I couldn’t think of anything more surreal.

Except the Donald Trump candidacy/presidency, which is barreling towards our country at a furious pace. Stephen admits as much this episode, covering Trump’s position-less position on guns in the classroom. Trump is unclear as to whether guns should be allowed in classrooms.

“I think we’ve just heard Donald Trump’s education plan: kids will learn math by counting how many different positions he takes in one sentence. “

A Late Show “Commencement Speech” grants us the opportunity to hear more of Stephen’s usually totally-off wisdom; few people could make dysfunctional, otherwise almost-deeply-troubling statements appear to be wholesome and conventional. Hence the brilliance of Stephen Colbert.

Speaking of the man himself, he was rocking a close-cropped new hair cut last night, which looks quite fetching. I don’t like when he gets too shaggy. This is one of the reasons I almost turned in my fangirl card during the hiatus. Well, not really.

What did you think of the episode? Let us know in the comments.

Tetris interlocking gets so NSFW on the Late Show that Stephen has to break out the fire extinguisher.

Stephen offers his unique and likely un-followable advice in his own Late Show commencement address.

  • Erika Bade

    I loved this episode! The monologue was one of my favorites, I had a bunch of laugh out loud moments. The commencement speech was so very Stephen, and Emilia Clarke was delightful! I am a big Game of Thrones fan so I was excited to see her, plus I’m reading “Me Before You”” in anticipation for the movie. I didn’t know she was so charming though!

    • Rita

      Colbert with those comebacks! “Well, he should know!” and “my favorite bitch” was also so very Colbert! I too loved this episode! So much fun 🙂

      • K.V. Lady

        Stephen’s top notch improv skills were at work there!

  • Shiri Appleby was so funny as she demonstrated what a reality show is really like. Stephen played along perfectly to Shiri’s shocking statements about Mr. Jon Stewart!

    Cynthia Erivo’s performance was so powerful. What a beautiful voice.

  • Vanessa

    Hi Guys, Been reading the Hub for a while , thought I’d join in the fun. Just sayin hi… Oh can u guys validate my Colbert Fangirl Card!?!?

    • Welcome to the Hub Vanessa!

    • Hi Vanessa! Glad that you’re joining in the fun. Thanks for commenting and welcome to The Hub!

    • Gina

      Validated. *punches card*

    • Vansen

      Welcome, Vanessa. I hope you’re enjoying LSSC as much as we are. 🙂

  • Roseha

    I loved the Starbucks cup bit (and I’ve never liked Starbucks, with their over-priced hipster coffee, so that made it that much funnier to me) but I wish they had found a way to film the segment without going so close up on the cups. I really missed seeing Stephen’s face as he read all those awkward typos.
    I’d love to see Jon Stewart show up as well. I’m sure he must be backstage sometimes in his EP role, so why not appear and converse a little with Stephen and the band?

    • sharilyn_j

      There are few things I enjoy more than watching Stephen and Jon together, but I fear any kind of non-special-occasion appearances would come across as a crutch. A few years in, once all the “the old show was better” bellyaching dies down, maybe they can take more opportunities. =)

      • K.V. Lady

        I know…I’m still having a hard time accepting that the Stewart/Colbert-era is over, especially since I jumped on the Stewart/Colbandwagon so late. I didn’t become a fan until 2013 🙁

        • Vansen

          Likewise. I only discovered Colbert when he appeared on The Daily Show finale. I’ve since hunted down every clip of Stewart/Colbert, and they’re just brilliant together. I’d love to see Stewart on the show more regularly, rather than just on special occasions. Both he and Colbert are exploring interesting new territory in their careers, and I’d love to see how that onscreen relationship evolves.

  • Vansen

    That was a great opening monologue on gun-free zones. Colbert’s comment about a living wage for teachers was a real zinger.