--- description: Stephen Colbert plays a late night host who winds up killed in the season 3 premiere of 'Elsbeth' title: Stephen Colbert’s Memorable Appearance on 'Elsbeth' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt21b8306c5b46b1fe/6998cabee1ba006a1b98e049/colbert.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Television](/tag/television/) ## Television Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Significance of Stephen Colbert’s Memorable Appearance on _Elsbeth_ ## Video: Elsbeth | Season 3 | Official Trailer [Watch (HLS stream): Elsbeth | Season 3 | Official Trailer](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mTcKnhu5.m3u8) (1:00)  _Published 2025-10-15. Stephen Colbert plays a late night host who winds up killed in the season 3 premiere of 'Elsbeth'_ by [Scarlett Harris](/author/scarlett-harris/) ## Scarlett Harris Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 13, 2025 1:30 AM CUT  Stephen Colbert and Amy Sedaris on Elsbeth Stephen Colbert and Amy Sedaris on ElsbethCBS by [Scarlett Harris](/author/scarlett-harris/) ## Scarlett Harris Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 13, 2025 1:30 AM CUT **_The following contains light spoilers for the Season 3 premiere of_** **Elsbeth.** Robert and Michelle King are known for predicting the future. The creators of _The Good Wife_ and its spinoffs, _The Good Fight_ and _Elsbeth_, among many others, have prophesized everything from [Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s divorce](https://www.vulture.com/2019/04/the-good-fight-melania-trump-divorce-episode.html "undefined") to [Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s rumored presidential dreams](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/nov/10/dwayne-the-rock-johnsonus-president-run-party "undefined"). An episode of _The Good Fight_ about censorship in China was even [censored in China](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/cbs-censors-the-good-fight-for-a-musical-short-about-china "undefined"). So it’s no surprise, then, that the season three premiere of _Elsbeth_, which airs on CBS on the Oct. 12, before resuming its usual Thursday night slot on Oct. 16, takes on the late night talk show controversies of recent months. The episode stars [Stephen Colbert](https://time.com/7305512/stephen-colbert-post-cancellation-monologues/ "undefined"), host of _The Late Show with Stephen Colbert_ also on CBS, as an infamously thorny late night host not unlike the fictionalized character of the same name he portrayed on _The Daily Show_ and _The Colbert Report_. This time, Colbert is the abusive boss Scotty Bristol of _Way Late With Scotty Bristol_, who berates his writers, helmed by a producer played by Amy Sedaris. Scotty, Sedaris’ character Laurel, and her husband, Mickey (Andy Richter) were all in an improv troop together when they were younger. Laurel uses this history to seduce and kill Scotty when he won’t grant Mickey time off to deal with his health issues. The well timed episode comes three months after it was announced that [_The Late Show_ would end](https://time.com/7317172/stephen-colbert-late-show-emmy/ "undefined") with its current season, concluding in May 2026\. The cancellation came after Colbert called CBS’s parent company, Paramount, settling a $16 million lawsuit with President Donald Trump a “big fat bribe” on the July 14 episode of his show. Paramount needed government approval from the Federal Communications Commission in order to go ahead with its merger with Skydance. In further late night commotion, in the aftermath of conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk’s assassination on Sept. 10, late night host Jimmy Kimmel had his show, _Jimmy Kimmel Live!_, [suspended](https://time.com/7318177/jimmy-kimmel-live-preempt-indefinitely-abc-nexstar-fcc-kirk-trump/ "undefined") for six days after commentating on Kirk’s death. If Colbert’s cancellation was qualified as a [“financial decision,”](https://time.com/7303448/late-show-stephen-colbert-cbs-cancel-paramount-trump/ "undefined") Kimmel’s suspension made it clear that a troubling precedent was being set for political censorship. According to star Carrie Preston, who plays the eponymous Elsbeth Tascioni, a quirky lawyer who appeared in _The Good Wife_ and _Fight_ turned internal investigator sent to monitor the New York Police Department and proves herself to have a savant-like knack for solving murders, the premiere episode was filmed the week after it was announced that _The Late Show_ was cancelled. “It looks like your writers have the biggest balls in the world to have me on and murder me,” Colbert [said](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lhCKoytm6o "undefined") on the Sept. 25 episode of _The Late Show_ on which Preston was a guest. “Do it twice in one week—I’m fine!” Though the episode doesn’t deal with government censorship, instead taking on the cozy [howcatchem](https://hiddenremote.com/posts/elsbeth-and-the-7-best-howcatchem-mystery-shows-on-tv-to-watch-01htdazkebqg "undefined") tone of the rest of the series, _Elsbeth_ does poke fun at the current political climate. For example, when _Way Late_ is preempted because of Bristol’s murder, Elsbeth jokes, “Oh no, what happened? Is it Greenland?,” referencing President Trump’s preoccupation with buying the European island. The cut-throat, so to speak, nature of comedy is also referenced, with several characters—including a detective who moonlights as a stand up comic played by _Merrily We Roll Along_’s Lindsay Mendez—incredulously remarking “this business” as increasingly dubious work practices come to light throughout the episode, like stealing jokes and hazing new hires. “It’s a hostile work environment but we are all so grateful to have a job,” one comedy writer says in what might be the most prescient line of all. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7325127/elsbeth-stephen-colbert-season-3-late-night/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7325127/elsbeth-stephen-colbert-season-3-late-night/"},"headline":"The Significance of Stephen Colbert’s Memorable Appearance on Elsbeth","datePublished":"2025-10-13T01:30:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-11T00:23:57.048Z","description":"Stephen Colbert plays a late night host who winds up killed in the season 3 premiere of 'Elsbeth'","url":"https://time.com/7325127/elsbeth-stephen-colbert-season-3-late-night/","keywords":["Television","freelance","culturepod"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt21b8306c5b46b1fe/6998cabee1ba006a1b98e049/colbert.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Scarlett Harris","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/scarlett-harris/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt21b8306c5b46b1fe/6998cabee1ba006a1b98e049/colbert.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Yes, And…","caption":"Yes, And…","creditText":"CBS","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/television/","name":"Television"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7325127/elsbeth-stephen-colbert-season-3-late-night/","name":"The Significance of Stephen Colbert’s Memorable Appearance on Elsbeth"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Elsbeth | Season 3 | Official Trailer","description":"Stephen Colbert plays a late night host who winds up killed in the season 3 premiere of 'Elsbeth'","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/mTcKnhu5/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2025-10-15T20:17:31.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mTcKnhu5.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/7325127/elsbeth-stephen-colbert-season-3-late-night/","duration":"PT1M","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/7325127/elsbeth-stephen-colbert-season-3-late-night/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```