Stephen Colbert hosts "The Late Show" on Sept. 2, 2025.

Stephen Colbert is celebrating a decade as host of "The Late Show" amid the iconic CBS program's final year.

On the Sept. 8 episode of "The Late Show," the comedian, 61, reflected on the 10-year anniversary of the day he took over for David Letterman behind the late-night desk on Sept. 8, 2015. Throughout the show, he poked fun at the fact that the celebration comes less than two months after CBS' shock decision to cancel "The Late Show" and end the late-night franchise in May 2026.

"Tonight is the 10th anniversary of 'The Late Show,'" Colbert said in his opening monologue. "Of course, every anniversary has its traditional gift. The first anniversary is paper, the fifth anniversary is wood, and the 10th anniversary is cancellation. Thank you, Paramount, for remembering!"

Colbert opened the Sept. 8 show with a sketch where he wakes up in bed next to Julianne Moore and says he dreamed that he hosted a late-night show for 10 years.

"That's a long time," she says.

"I thought it would be longer," he quips.

Later, Colbert looked back on key events of the last 10 years – or at least the events he chooses to remember. While reflecting on the leadership of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who formerly played the president in a TV comedy, Colbert jokingly hinted he could run for president after "The Late Show" ends.

"It shows just what you can achieve when a former TV comedian runs for president," he said, drawing cheers from his studio audience. "Which brings me to an important announcement: Starting in June of 2026, after I leave 'The Late Show,' I will answer the call of destiny and get really into model railroading."

In the same segment, where Colbert went through major events by year, he joked that "something happened (but I) don't want to talk about it" in 2024 and that in 2025, "(I) also don't want to talk about it for a related reason," alluding to the election of President Donald Trump and cancellation of "The Late Show," respectively.

While interviewing Cillian Murphy on the 10th anniversary show, Colbert again joked about his uncertain future after the actor said he hasn't worked this year. "Anyone got a job?" Murphy joked, leading Colbert to quip, "That's my line."

"The Late Show" was previously hosted by Letterman from 1993 to 2015. When he was tapped as Letterman's successor, Colbert had spent almost a decade hosting Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" as a fictional conservative pundit, a role he previously played on "The Daily Show." The jump to "The Late Show," then, represented a risky shift for the comedian, who would be performing as himself for an audience accustomed to seeing him in character.

During his first episode in 2015, Colbert praised Letterman and stressed that he is "not replacing" him.

"His creative legacy is a high pencil mark on a door frame that we all have to measure ourselves against," he said. "But we will try to honor his achievement by doing the best show we can, and occasionally, making the network very mad at us."

Why is Stephen Colbert being canceled?

While Colbert took some time to find his footing in the role, the gamble ultimately paid off. Over time, he drew strong ratings and became known as the most politically outspoken of the major late-night hosts, being particularly critical of Trump when he took office in 2017.

But in a shocking move in July, CBS announced it had canceled "The Late Show." Rather than finding a new host to succeed Colbert, "The Late Show" will end in 2026. Critics accused CBS of being motivated by politics in yanking a prominent Trump critic from the air.

However, the network said it was "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night."

Colbert has received support from all of his fellow late-night hosts and from his predecessor, with Letterman slamming the cancellation as "pure cowardice." Jimmy Kimmel also told Variety he doesn't believe claims that Colbert's show was canceled because it was losing large amounts of money a year.

Colbert has not revealed what he plans to do next after "The Late Show" ends, though in an interview with comedians Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers, he hinted he could pursue podcasting. While none of the other late-night shows were canceled in the wake of CBS's decision, former late-night host Conan O'Brien recently predicted that late-night TV "is going to disappear."

But O'Brien added that Colbert "is going to evolve and shine brighter than ever in a new format that he controls completely."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stephen Colbert jokes about running for president in 10th anniversary 'Late Show'

Reporting by Brendan Morrow, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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