Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Andrew Sanford | News | May 12, 2026
Late-night television is charming at its core. Yes, it’s funny, and sometimes emotional. There are ads and promos involved. Sometimes, the conversations are awkward. But, when it’s really singing, you feel like you are in the room with people who are just having fun and having a chat. They’re talking to each other and working the room at the same time. It’s absolute magic that I will hate to see go, but it felt like I saw the last bits of its life floating away last night in the best way possible.
Strike Force Five reunited for what was thought to be one night only (more on that in a sec). Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver were all guests on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and it was one of the best half hours of television I have seen in some time. Part of the job of a late-night host is to help guests be their authentic selves, and when you have five guys who all do that, you end up with people who are being themselves from the moment they get through the curtain.
One of the first things that happens is Jimmy Fallon gets the group to pose together for a picture, turning what can occasionally make him obnoxious into a real strength in the moment! Meyers pretends to be disaffected at first, tapping into his pretend smarm that he does so well. Oliver is just giddy for what feels like the entire time, giggling at everything but not hesitating to get serious to drop a joke. Kimmel both displays his wonderful edge (he makes a joke about a young wife dying that… almost made me topple over) while also getting called out as the most likely to cry. Meanwhile, Colbert is drinking it all in, while displaying a tiny bit of the f*** it energy he’s been building up these last few weeks.
The whole thing was wonderful and yet bittersweet. Seeing these four men from Colbert’s past show up to support him this way made the whole thing really feel like the end for the first time. It was like a character in a sitcom running into old guest stars in the last two or three episodes of the show. It felt like a sendoff, which sucks. But, if he’s got to go, at least he’s going out with a bang, and by letting us know who among them has the highest rating on Wikifeet. Still, just because Colbert’s show is ending doesn’t mean Strike Force Five is.
One of the most exciting parts of the interview (aside from Jon Stewart being named designated survivor, should anything happen) was the announcement that a special video episode of their podcast would be recorded immediately after they were done. It will go up on Wednesday, and I could not be more excited to see what they talk about. There were certainly a few shots fired on Colbert, but I have a feeling that they will be a bit more free-wheeling when it comes to what they put on their own YouTube channel.
On a last note, one of my favorite things about this segment was the group making a case for late night, a question Colbert has been frustrated to be asked in the months leading up to his show’s ending. While they certainly do make a quick case for it, I’d argue that the entire segment does so the best. This is quintessential, charming, late-night television. It can’t always be that, but no other medium is perfect every time either. But if you want to see what makes late-night TV great, then look no further than this interview.
