Jimmy Fallon to Air Rerun During Stephen Colbert's Final Late Show

By

Kory Grow

Kory Grow

[

Contact Kory Grow on X

](https://twitter.com/korygrow)

View all posts by Kory Grow

May 12, 2026

_

John Oliver, Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, and Jimmy Kimmel appear together on ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.’

Scott Kowalchyk/CBS News/Getty Images

Following Jimmy Kimmel’s lead, NBC will air a rerun of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon _on May 21 when The Late Show With Stephen Colbert broadcasts its final episode, according to Variety. With no new competition, The Late Show, which CBS canceled after nearly 11 years on the air, stands to be the late-night leader for a final time.

Since September 2015, when Colbert took over _The Late Show _from David Letterman, Fallon and Colbert have been crosstown rivals, both broadcasting late-night talk shows from New York City in the same time slot. Kimmel, who has hosted _Jimmy Kimmel Live! _for more than a decade longer than Fallon and Colbert, provided competition from Los Angeles. Colbert set himself apart, though, with incisive and brainy political humor, which often propelled him ahead of the others in terms of ratings. That was a difficult feat in the era of attentions divided by cell phone screens.