Stephen Colbert is in his post-"Late Show" era.
The comedian, 62, made a rare, virtual appearance three months after the end of his CBS late-night show to accept a pair of Television Critics Association Awards on Thursday, Aug. 20.
The critics association gave the award of outstanding achievement in variety, talk or sketch to "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," so the host sent in a video acceptance speech, which appears to have been filmed in his kitchen at home. Sporting a beard and casual attire, Colbert said that he and the rest of the team at "The Late Show" are "honored" by the recognition.
"I couldn't have been prouder of our folks," Colbert said. "I can't believe how focused they were and how hard they worked, and how much joy we had,
given the fact that we knew that we were running straight into a brick wall at the end."
Colbert ended by acknowledging that he misses being on television. "Thanks again, and hey, give my best to TV! I miss it," he said, waving goodbye. "A lot of fond memories."
After a nearly 11-year run, "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" aired its final episode on May 21 after CBS canceled the show in 2025. The network has said the move was a financial decision and denied speculation that it was politically motivated due to Colbert's frequent criticism of President Donald Trump.
Colbert himself was also personally honored with a TCA career achievement award. He accepted that honor via a separate video message, which he filmed while lying in an empty bathtub, wearing a blazer and bowtie.
"Since this is for the lifetime achievement award, I thought I would class things up a little bit with a bowtie and blue blazer, and come to you from the bathtub for this particular acceptance, because it allows me to bathe in – to wallow in, as it were – the adulation that I feel coming my way," he joked.
Colbert continued that he "never in a million years" imagined he would receive a lifetime achievement award.
"I wasn't entirely sure I would have a lifetime, let alone any achievements within it," he quipped. "The fact that you think that I did that is both shocking and just delightful. I was mostly just trying to have a good time with my friends, and fool people into not knowing that I mostly did not really know what I was doing. But I'm sure I'm the only one in Hollywood with imposter syndrome."
The TCA career achievement award has previously gone to recipients including Mel Brooks, David Letterman, Betty White and Oprah Winfrey.
Colbert has mostly been keeping a low profile since the seres finale of "The Late Show," though the day after his last episode aired in May, he guest-hosted a Michigan public access show called "Only in Monroe." The gag was a bookend to a joke from more than decade earlier: Colbert guest-hosted the same show in 2015 while waiting to begin his stint on "The Late Show."
Colbert hasn't detailed his next steps, though it was announced prior to the end of "The Late Show" that he would be writing a new "Lord of the Rings" movie with his son. In June, Colbert stepped out to attend the opening ceremony of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. He sported a tan suit, a cheeky reference to the controversy sparked by former president Barack Obama wearing a tan suit during a 2014 press conference.
In September, Colbert is set to receive the anti-censorship award at the 47th annual American Book Awards during a ceremony set to be held at the University of California, Berkeley.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stephen Colbert makes rare appearance after end of 'The Late Show'
