When David Letterman said goodbye to The Late Show back in 2015, he did so of his own accord. Stephen Colbert would later say the two hosts “perfectly overlapped” and him landing the gig was a beautiful bit of fate. Just a little over a decade later, Colbert also said goodbye to The Late Show, though this time it wasn’t his choice to step down. Instead, CBS had unceremoniously cancelled the series.Now, I’ve been flashing back to some comments David Letterman made when he was asked about missing the “adrenaline hit” The Late Show (and late night in general) provided. He’d spoken to GQ about what he missed while hosting, and it’s hitting harder now that Colbert is going through the same basic thing. Yeah, I do [miss it]. And everyone does. Some people really do thrive on it; some people couldn’t do it if their life depended on it. If I can make somebody laugh just walking into a drugstore to buy gum, that’s helpful to me. The whole "missing it" bit makes me wonder how Colbert is feeling in the summer after saying goodbye to his show on the 2026 TV schedule. It's fall(ish) now, and insiders have said it's been "hard." If Letterman's comments hold true, it's that adrenaline hit, that sense of purpose that may be missing, and that he had to find out in the big world. For Letterman, the remedy was simple. Find ways to make strangers laugh in random moments. Of course, when Letterman retired he was in his late sixties, ready to sit back and work at a more leisurely pace. He didn’t quit entirely, of course, and has put together some legendary interviews for Netflix’s My Guest Needs No Introduction. Instead of months of grueling nightly TV though, Letterman will produce 3-6 episodes per season, with five seasons airing between 2018-2025. The pace is not exactly rapid.Stephen Colbert is already moving forward a lot harder when it comes to workload. Even before his exit, he announced he and his kid were working on an LOTR script, and he mentioned in an interview he was recently in New Zealand where those productions film. He's also taken some guest stints and more. At 62 and with several hosting gigs under his belt, Stephen Colbert could also doubtless go into partial retirement… if he wanted. That doesn't seem to be his next chapter. Letterman was clearly a different situation when he exited. For years he’d developed a tough reputation from his own guests, and has been asked about whether or not he was “too mean” before. Mindy Kaling and others were given advice about what to do and not do while appearing on The Late Show. For his part, Letterman’s said he’s spent his retirement trying to be a “better person.” Maybe it’s only because I went through show business, I got that out of my system eventually, that I can concentrate on being a better person. Probably couldn’t have reached this point if I had not gone through the exercise of trying to succeed in show business. … Personally, I just feel like I have greater humanity than I did when I was in show business. It was all single-minded and great pressure, real and imagined. I felt like it’s all on me and all that. Letterman was among Colbert’s champions when the show was dropped, getting candid about the money situation, and he even likened it to an adult store going up in one’s childhood neighborhood. Despite the pressures and political rumors surrounding Colbert’s exit, late night’s nice (and philosophical) guy doesn’t have this existential stuff to deal with. (Probably because he got through so many Colbert questionert’s during his time on air.) Still, it will be interesting to compare what the two men did after their runs on The Late Show Ended, starting with those beards.