Way back in 2015, Stephen Colbert emerged from the Colbert Report- to-Late Show transition period to host a one-off episode of a public-access show in Monroe, Michigan, called Only In Monroe. Now, fresh off his 11-year run on The Late Show, Colbert has returned for a second one-off, and it is an absolute joy-maker of an hour. Something that’s particularly useful for those mourning the premature end of Colbert’s run on CBS, including the host himself, I suspect.

I don’t want to spoil the thing to talk about the thing. I’ll just list some references from the episode without context, and you’ll watch, discover the connections, and be delighted all the same.

Soupy chilli
A Marshall-approved dumpster fire
Shots
Sucking helium from the tank
A dreidel or buttplug flag
Pizza in no way authorized by Steve Buscemi
”Genevieve!”
Jack White
The phrase, “Come out to the library and crank it into a sock.”

Late nights’ inherent polish and strict adherence to tradition isn’t my favorite thing. When it can feel like 1 AM in a friend’s basement, where any stupid idea is given a runway to see if it can fly? That’s the good stuff, and that’s what Colbert is offering with this single episode.

No one knows what’s next for him, besides his Lord Of The Rings script project, but I hope we see Colbert occasionally drop things like this that are lo-fi and loose. It’s so weightless and silly. It must be as good for the soul to make as it is to watch.

Check it out!

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