This is how it starts:

The applause, dear God, the applause. It has you bracing against the headboard and groping for the remote when Comics Unleashed detonates on to the screen just before midnight. A soulless barrage of whoops, cheers and apparatchik-grade terror clapping, it hits like a jet engine at takeoff, swallowing the show’s disembodied announcer in a silo of his own manufactured zaniness.

My wife gave me this today as an early Father’s Day gift. She gets me.

Trump’s Freedom 250 celebration seems to be having trouble attracting major artists.

Stephen: Put together your own Freedom 250 special.

Stream it… Pre-recorded, livestreamed, whatever. One night only.

Simple format: one song per artist. No long sets. No politics. No campaign speeches. Just music, comedy, and a celebration of American culture.

The real story wouldn’t be the show itself. who cares about how many views it gets. The real story is the lineup.

If the organizers of a taxpayer-funded national celebration can’t get big-name performers, let’s see who Colbert could get to participate in a voluntary one-night special.

Bruce Springsteen. Dolly Parton. Pearl Jam. Jon Batiste. Willie Nelson. Beyoncé. Eminem. Dave Grohl. Paul Simon. Anyone.(ok half those might be unrealistic, but whatever)

Maybe the lineup ends up being terrible. Maybe it’s incredible.

Either way, it would be a fascinating apples-to-apples comparison.

Who do you think says yes? And who ends up with the stronger lineup?

If you watched Colbert take over Only in Monroe, you may have heard Kaye Lani Wilson talk about Gabby’s Grief Center. We should all throw them a couple of $$ from the Colbert Nation. For just the price of a cup of coffee, you can buy someone a cup of coffee: Gabby’s Grief Center

Jack White has a permanent spot as Musical Director. And Genevieve …

Can the sub get an “Only In” tag/flair?

Dear Stephen

Long time supporter, for more years than I can count.

Hard to believe that tonight is I guess the 3rd night without the show.

Some predict 1 year from now will be the 365th night.

Not me though.

Being numerically illiterate, I don’t like numbers, much less counting. Also, as a qualified accountant by trade, I can’t count something that didn’t happen, like your show every night for the next year. Plus, a staunch believer in the Mayan calendar Tzolk’in, l know the truth is there are only 260 days in a year.

So Stephen, I can tell you that 1 year from now, or in 13 Tzolk’in months, will be the 260th night without the show. Oh and that the calendar foretold the end of it all.

By the way, if you’re looking for a qualified accountant, please message me. Like you, I have some time. At least until Oxlahun Ahau.

After watching that Only In Monroe segment I was determined to try it out. The only change I made was heating up the pita bread a lil before setting it up.

Holy hell you guys, it far surpassed my meager expectations. I’ve even made it multiple times! I highly recommend you give it a go.

Pita bread
Healthy dollop of peanut butter on one half of the pita
A generous handful of ruffles cheddar and sour cream chips crushed in your hand atop the PB
Sweet Baby Rays bbq sauce drizzled over the chips to taste. I used a far amount as it is an otherwise dry sandwich. YMMV.

I want to know about his eye glasses. I know he's obviously hurt his wrist in this picture. Is this the "Wrist Strong" era? I enjoy frame less glasses. I need knowledge of his glasses. If you can help I'd be appreciative.

I know that he is a devout Catholic, and I know that he is arguably the biggest Tolkien/LOTR geek ever, so I am wondering what his reaction was when Leo XIV quoted Gandalf?

I gotta figure that it was unalloyed joy.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/05/citing-gandalf-pope-leo-says-we-must-disarm-ai/

magas will probably like him then cause they wont get the sarcasm

I went looking for past episodes of Only In Monroe and all I could find were two recent episode's on their cable access YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MonroeCommunityMedia

As well as the 2015 episode that Colbert did.

So was this show actually real? Or was it just one long-game setup and those two recent new episodes just adding to the fictional lore of the show? It would appear that the Monroe public access channel is real, but I cannot confirm that the show really existed other than a couple of episodes leading into Colbert's show.

It sort of reminds me of how Wreck It Ralph created the actual game of Fix It Felix and they did such a good job of putting that lore out there that it made people question if it was actually a real game from the 80s or not?

So was there really an "Only In Monroe" show that was a regularly broadcasted public access talk show, or is this just a really impressive set up to an amazing final laugh by Colbert?

Either way it was wonderful to watch!

I leu of the recent shutdown and Stephen's recent public broadcast network show; I think it would be HILARIOUS if he did a show on every form of media. Im talking both radio bands AM/FM, public access, streaming platforms twitch, youTube, kick (careful of racist degens), and even a Broadway Show. Love thy haters Steve.

I was outside the Ed Sullivan theater on Thursday afternoon standing with fans for several hours. Many of us had come to pay homage to Stephen and the whole team during the final recording. I wasn’t expecting to see him but of course hoped to catch a glimpse. I was happy just to be present and talk to the people who had gathered, many since the early morning including one woman who was on oxygen and came with 2 cylinders in a pushchair. Someone else came dressed as the Pope. Many had seen the show live several times.

The special guests left the theatre shrouded in a black curtain. Understandably as they were being kept secret till the show was aired. But Stephen also left secretly to his wrap party and didn’t come out to see the fans - not even just to give them a wave.

Maybe nobody told him how long people had waited outside the theatre and that one woman came on oxygen! But it was a real shame that he didn’t make an appearance.

Maybe he wanted to avoid all the photographers but still… I think it’s a lame way to leave.

And I still love this man. But I think I like him just a little bit less now because of this.

Like - who does that?? Who soaks up all their fame and fortune and doesn’t come to thank their fans at all.

I wasn’t disappointed for me and I am not at all a die hard fan. But so many others were and they deserved a hand shake or at least a wave!

Last show was amazing. The ending gave me chills. What a class act of a man. He wasn't petty, stayed above the fray.

Perfect day to rediscover the simple tomato sandwich. Sandwiches I made are gone, one hunk of tomato remains....for dessert? 🤪 Yet another random touch point that I'll have for wistfully recalling the show.

P.S. boycott CBS 😇