Museum of Broadcast Communications to acquire "Late Show with Stephen Colbert" set
The Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago already has one of Stephen Colbert's old desks, and now it will receive the whole "Late Show" set.
The CBS late-night show is donating the set to the museum.
Colbert, of course, has extensive roots in Chicago — graduating from Northwestern University, performing at Second City, and taking up residence in an apartment in the Old Town neighborhood. He went back and visited that apartment for a segment this week.
The Smithsonian also reportedly made a request for the set, but "The Late Show" said it has already been promised to Chicago.
The Colbert desk in the Museum of Broadcast Communications' possession was used by Colbert during a week during the 2024 Democratic National Convention when he broadcast live from Chicago. The desk was in the lobby of the CBS Chicago Broadcast Center at Block 37 for a while afterward.
The Museum of Broadcast Communications also has desks from NBC's "The Tonight Show" with Jimmy Fallon, and the same show of decades past with Johnny Carson. They are part of the exhibitions "The Johnny Carson Centennial" and "The Evolution of Late-Night Television."
Founded by the late television and radio producer, host, and political analyst Bruce DuMont, the Museum of Broadcast Communications is located at a pop-up site at 440 W. Randolph St. in the West Loop.
Colbert will take the stage one last time at the Ed Sullivan Theater for the final broadcast of "The Late Show" on CBS Thursday night, before the curtain comes down on more than 30 years of late-night TV history.
CBS announced back in July that it would end "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" and retire "The Late Show" franchise at the end of this season. The company said it was "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night."
