Stephen Colbert’s run as The Late Show host over at CBS is coming to an end next week for “financial reasons” and not at all related to Colbert’s jabs at President Donald Trump. To help celebrate the end, Colbert invited the original Late Show host and creator of the program, David Letterman, onto the show to chat and then toss stuff off the roof of the studio.
On the May 14 episode of The Late Show on CBS, Letterman and Colbert teamed up and headed to the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater to toss actual CBS-owned property and items, like chairs, off the roof and onto the street below. And it was awesome, with the host and former host even tossing the items at a large CBS logo placed below the building to make it obvious, if it wasn’t already, that everyone involved hates CBS.
If you aren’t familiar with Letterman or his run as the host of The Late Show, you might be confused as to why they did this, beyond the fact that tossing stuff off a roof is fun. But this is actually a reference to the many, many times Letterman and crew tossed random items off the top of tall buildings, including the show’s theater located in NYC. In fact, this was such a popular recurring bit on the original version of The Late Show that, when Colbert started, the network warned him not to do it anymore.
“This is a true story,” said Colbert. “When I first got this gig, one of the first things they told me before we even moved into the offices is that I would not be allowed to throw anything off of the roof of the Ed Sullivan building, because evidently there was a problem with a previous tenant. I never did it, but we’re at the end here, so all bets are off.”
And yes, they dropped some watermelons off the roof, too. It’s strange how much nostalgia and warm fuzzy feelings washed over me watching Letterman toss shit off a roof.
Kotaku’s own managing editor, Carolyn Petit, was actually there when Colbert and Letterman dropped all this stuff from the roof and snapped this exclusive picture from the street below.
“I started crying this morning watching Letterman and Colbert throw watermelons off the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater. How is your day going?” posted Jesse Thorn, the host of NPR’s Bullseye.
And while I wasn’t moved to tears, I felt a lot of emotion watching two old guys toss a chair off a building. Now, if I want to enjoy content like this, it’s delivered to me via an algorithm on a vertical scrolling video app between commercials for bitcoins, and gambling screamed at me by bros holding tiny mics. But back in the day, this shit was just on your network TV and felt a lot more wholesome and cool.