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The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

2015–2026CBSComedy

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Two openings across eleven years: Manhattan shot in tilt-shift so the city reads as a model, then a drone run through the Ed Sullivan Theater and its backstage.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert rebuilt its titles: two distinct opening sequences are catalogued here across seasons 1–11, running between 37 and 53 seconds.

At 53 seconds at its longest, it opens well above the 38-second median for comedy sequences in this catalogue.

It arrived on CBS in 2015, when Murphy Brown, Late Show with David Letterman and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation were also on the network.

Only 139 of the 2,618 shows catalogued here changed their titles at all; The Late Show with Stephen Colbert did so once.

2 sequences
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All 2 opening title sequences

Seasons 1–6

53s

Manhattan in tilt-shift, the whole island reduced to a model railway, with the wordmark rising over it. This capture is the convention-week variant.

Seasons 7–11

37s

A drone run through the Ed Sullivan Theater and out behind it, ending on the wordmark held on a screen above the stage.

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