Wired Word Lesson of the Week

The Wired Word

Topic for Sunday, June 7, 2026:

Stephen Colbert Heads Out the Door:  This week we look at the end of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to consider how humor and satire are used in the Bible, and what place they may have in the life and ministry of the people of God.

In the News

Individuals are encouraged to read the news below related to this topic before the June 7th bible study to be prepared for an engaging conversation:

The series finale of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which turned out to be the most-watched episode during Colbert's 11 years as host, aired on Thursday, May 21. For nine consecutive years, the franchise has been the top-rated late-night talk show in the industry.

CBS canceled the show last summer shortly after Colbert described the $16 million settlement of President Donald Trump's lawsuit against its parent company Paramount Global a "big fat bribe."  At the time, Paramount was seeking the administration's approval for its $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media. CBS stated the decision was based on financial concerns, as television viewers increasingly move to other platforms, such as YouTube, podcasts, streaming services and social media, to view content at their own convenience.

In the show's farewell, which lasted several episodes, Colbert was joined by David Letterman, who founded the show in 1993, and other late-night hosts: Jon Stewart, John Oliver, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel. Other guests included Billy Crystal, Josh Brolin, Oprah Winfrey, Jake Tapper, Ben Stiller, Steven Spielberg, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, Colbert's former bandleader Jon Batiste, Bruce Springsteen and former Beatle Paul McCartney.

James Poniewozik, writing for The New York Times, described the energy in Colbert's satire as "hopeful despair," and called the final episode "a cancellebration." Religious ethicist Liz Bucar lamented, "We are losing a great American prophet. [One of those] intermediaries who ... name what is real when institutions that are supposed to protect people are instead protecting power."

In his tragedy, King Lear, William Shakespeare wrote, "Jesters do oft prove prophets." He meant more than the idea that court jesters foretold the future, of course, but also that they predicted what consequences might follow certain courses of action, and that they told the truth, using humor to make points that might otherwise not be heard.

According to a FOXnews commentary, accusing late-night talk shows in general -- and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in particular -- of political bias, "Over the last few years, Colbert's show told 87% of its political jokes about Trump and the Republicans."

"I don't have any problem with Trump being a Republican," Colbert asserted. "I have a problem with Trump being a complete narcissist who is only working for his own interest and does not appear to care if the entire world burns. ... I think calling late-night partisan is just roughing the ref. And we don't even want to be refs, but they perceive us as refs. I reject the partisan description. Partisan means you're never, ever going to make a joke about a Democrat, and that's just not true. There's just no comparison of how fertile the fields are."

Journalist Mary McNamara acknowledged that the comedian could be "unkind," but noted that Colbert has made a real effort not to respond to attacks with anger, but instead to "turn the other cheek," expressing gratitude, encouragement and hope in times of disappointment and distress.

For years, Colbert has doggedly called for Christians to live out the faith they claim to believe. While hosting The Colbert Report in 2010, he said, "If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it. Goodness gracious, doesn't that get straight to the heart of the matter?"

In 2022, Colbert told singer Dua Lipa, "If there's some relationship between my faith and my comedy, it's that no matter what happens, you are never defeated. You must understand and see this in the light of eternity, and find some way to love and laugh with each other." In another interview, he pointed to the death of Christ as the foundation of his hope: "It's loss but not defeat. That sublime feeling of joy can also come in moments of great sorrow, strangely because you're sharing it with other people."

In the last week of The Late Show, Jon Stewart told Colbert what David Letterman told him decades ago when an early show of Stewart's was cancelled: "Don't confuse cancellation with failure." In his final appearance on Colbert's show, Letterman remarked, "You can take a man's show, but you can't take a man's voice."

But columnist McNamara evoked the image of Atticus Finch warning his son never to kill a mockingbird, whose only purpose in life is to sing its heart out. She compared that deed to the elimination of Colbert's voice, which she said "existed only to sing to us. Perhaps not in the key some of us wanted to hear but then, some folks find mockingbirds annoying, too."

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