James Corden Gets A Funny Farewell From Stephen Colbert, David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon & More

James Corden announced he'd be leaving "The Late Late Show" back in April 2022, telling Deadline at the time that he was "so immensely proud of the show," before revealing he'd been "really been thinking about it for a long time, thinking whether there might be one more adventure."

Alas, the adventure has mercifully come to a close after eight years of Corden gracing our screens. The "Cats" star took over from previous "Late Late Show" host Craig Ferguson in March 2015, and has been providing us with his unctuous brand of late night shenanigans ever since — penetrating the culture with memorable segments such as Carpool Karaoke and ... y'know, probably some others.

For his send-off, Corden managed to bring together all the late night talk show hosts for a sketch in which they, too, struggle to recall any "Late Late Show" bits that aren't Carpool Karaoke. Of course, they do a lot more than that. This is, after all, the end of an era. And as CBS gears up to replace the British host and his show with a reboot of internet-themed game show "@midnight," the late night gods gathered to bid Corden adieu, in a lighthearted sketch that certainly is a sketch.

'You can't just leave a talk show'

James Corden's final "Late Late Show" aired Thursday night, with a spectacular farewell episode that saw Corden joined by guests Will Ferrell and Harry Styles, and which opened with the host stuck in a stairwell. And the hilarity didn't stop there. Amid a message from President Joe Biden, and Corden's mom getting a bit upset, the talk show hosts sketch debuted, depicting the British star tucked up in bed before being awoken by none other than "Late Night" host Seth Myers.

Myers, who's perched by the side of Corden's bed, announces, "I need to talk to you about you leaving," before revealing that "you that you can't just leave a talk show." Things escalate from there as the pair are joined by Jimmy Kimmel, who admonishes his late night colleague for leaving the show before ominously telling him that "We need to know you're going to keep our secrets." The trio are then joined by Corden's fellow CBS host Stephen Colbert, as well as Jimmy Fallon and David Letterman. (The latter claims he doesn't "need to be in this bit," which he basically isn't beyond that brief line.)

From there, the sketch rattles through some jokes about Corden doing too much singing and dancing, the aforementioned jab about Carpool Karaoke — which became its own show in 2017 — being his only memorable contribution to late night TV, and something about "The Masked Singer." It basically amounts to a Corden roast without being too harsh on the departing host. Pretty tame stuff all around, but nice to see all the boys together. Shame Conan wasn't around, though.

Cheerio, James

The final "Late Late Show" episode wrapped with James Corden telling audiences how his show has always been about bringing "a little bit of light and levity at the end of your day." Which I'm sure it has — though most viewers likely discovered the show on YouTube, where Corden's giddy brand of humor has been perfectly suited to algorithms serving up the next slice of inoffensive virality. Things came to a close with Corden at the piano, where he belted out some jokes about his staff before getting choked up as he delivered his signature "Thanks for watching, that's our show" line for the last time. And that was it. As quickly as he invaded U.S. TV, he was gone.

Corden's congenial late night persona has been marred by a string of controversies in recent years, including when he was branded a "tiny cretin of a man" by Balthazar restaurant owner Keith McNally for allegedly mistreating staff. McNally eventually walked back his comments after seemingly smoothing things over with Corden, but that was far from the only controversy to befall the "Gavin & Stacey" co-creator.

However, none of his troubles seem to have stopped the man, with the "Peter Rabbit" actor threatening to unleash some of his own original stories when he told Deadline, "There's still some other things that I feel I want to do. I'd like to try and write. There's some [stories] I'd like to tell. I'd like to see if I'm capable of it." That's despite Jimmy Kimmel's suggestion in the sketch that he "stick to corporate gigs, podcasts, maybe 'The Masked Singer.'" Whatever he does next, even if it's nothing, I'll always remember him for the performance Andrew Lloyd Webber hated and from this gem of a clip from Vic Berger IV.