When Stephen Colbert announced he was doing a public access special in Monroe, Michigan the night after his Late Show finale, nobody could have predicted what actually ended up happening inside that tiny studio. Eminem showed up. Jack White took over as volunteer music director. Jeff Daniels sat down for a full interview. And somewhere in the middle of all of it, Colbert destroyed the set and threw it into a burning dumpster.
Just another Friday night in television history.
Jack White, the legendary Michigan born guitarist and rock icon, joined Colbert as his self appointed volunteer music director for the broadcast, bringing an energy to the public access studio that the building has almost certainly never experienced before and probably never will again. White and Colbert together in that setting was the kind of unexpected pairing that works precisely because it should not work at all.
Jeff Daniels, another beloved Michigan native, sat down with Colbert for an interview that leaned hard into Michigan specific humor. The chemistry between the two was natural and warm, exactly what you would expect from two performers who clearly enjoy each other’s company and share a genuine appreciation for the absurd.
And then there was Eminem. When one of the most famous rappers on the planet makes a cameo on a public access television show in Monroe, Michigan, you know something genuinely special is happening. Colbert seized the moment perfectly, asking Eminem with complete deadpan sincerity whether music was a career or a hobby for him. The question landed as one of the funniest moments of the entire broadcast.
The set destruction deserves its own paragraph. Colbert physically demolished the studio set and threw pieces of it into a flaming dumpster outside. On public access television. The night after his final Late Show. This is either the most chaotic ending to a television career in history or the most perfectly Colbert thing that has ever happened. It is almost certainly both.
Michelle Baumann and Kaye Lani Rae Rafko, the regular hosts of Only in Monroe, were present throughout, giving the whole evening an authentic local television energy that made the celebrity appearances even more surreal and delightful.
