Stephen Colbert Signs Off 'The Colbert Report' with a Song

Goodbyes are tough and when you are the host of a late night talk show and it is your final episode you cannot afford to give in to emotions or nostalgia; you are expected to be witty and humorous. Stephen Colbert, the host at Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" did just that.

"If this is your first time tuning in to 'The Colbert Report,' I have some terrible news. This in fact is your last time tuning in to 'The Colbert Report.' Until 10 years from now, when they reboot it directed by J.J. Abrams," Colbert announced during the finale episode, CNN reports.

"The Colbert Report", a long-running satirical news show, aired its last episode on Thursday night. Colbert is replacing David Letterman on CBS' "The Late Show" in May 2015.

The format of the "The Colbert report" was very different from other shows that the viewers watch and love, and its last episode was expected to be unforgettable.

During the nine years and 1,447 episodes of the show, Colbert presented himself as a right-wing, slightly dim and a very-confident anchor.

The highly-anticipated episode managed to surpass the viewership record of its all previous episodes. As many as 2.5 million viewers tuned in to see the news show on Thursday and the number might grow considering there are a few who couldn't watch the episode at such a late hour (11:30 p.m.) and some might have recorded it and will watch it days later.

"In the annals of history, or whatever orifice they stuff it in, let no one say what we did together was not important or influential or importulential. You see from the beginning of my show, it was my goal to live up to the name of this network, Influence Central. And if all we achieved over the last nine years was to come into your home each night and help you make a difficult day a little better ... man, what a waste," added Colbert, BBC repports.

The half-hour episode included a joke on bears and also a segment that was sponsored by the "grossly irresponsible" pharmaceutical conglomerate 'The Prescott Group'. It also featured some famous guest stars who sang, "We'll meet again." The guests were Andrew Sullivan, Jon Stewart (obviously), Michael Stipe, Arianna Huffington, Gloria Steinem, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tom Brokaw, James Franco, Katie Couric, Big Bird and a number of muppets including Cyndi Lauper and Barry Manilow.

During Thursday's episode, Colbert put up a sketch during the regular segment and named it 'Chetaing Death with Dr. Stephen Colbert, D.F.A.', which was like a death scene for his alter ego, the self-centred blowhard 'Stephen Colbert'. After killing his alter ego, Colbert supposedly became immortal and got into Santa's sleigh.

Replacing "The Colbert Report", Comedy central is launching "The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore", which will premiere at the same time as Colbert's show from 19 January onwards.