The set from CBS’s “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” has arrived in Chicago for permanent display at the Museum of Broadcast Communications, preserving a major piece of late-night television history after the show’s cancellation.
The Chicago Tribune reports the complete set — including Colbert’s desk, chairs, credenza, stage columns and other elements — was delivered Thursday at noon in a large white truck to the museum’s pop-up location at 440 W. Randolph St. in the West Loop. The artifacts made a day-and-a-half journey from a New Jersey warehouse.
Museum chairman, president and CEO David Plier called the acquisition “a very big deal,” describing the set as the new crown jewel of the institution’s collection.
“The Late Show” ended its run on a high note. The star-studded May 21 finale drew 6.74 million viewers, according to Nielsen — the highest audience of Colbert’s 11-year tenure. CBS donated the set to the Chicago museum, where Colbert launched his comedy career.
 |
| David Plier |
Delivery was not without drama. An enormous crate holding the desk required multiple movers to extract from the truck and maneuver down the busy sidewalk before it could be wedged through the front doors and taken to the main floor. The set arrived about an hour late and sat in the truck for another 30 minutes while a separate moving team was assembled.
Earlier doubts about obtaining the full set arose after the May 14 episode, when Colbert and former host David Letterman dropped guest chairs and a desk from the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater. Those were extras, Plier confirmed.
The museum, a 40-year-old institution focused on broadcast history that has faced its own near-closures, now aspires to become a national repository for late-night TV artifacts.
Founded in 1987 by the late Bruce Dumont, the Museum of Broadcast Communications has occupied several homes, including River City, the Chicago Cultural Center and a River North building it ultimately lost to a real estate developer in 2023. After more than two years dark, it reopened last October in the current West Loop pop-up space.