An opening sketch featuring an actual news story, but with fake network logos, followed by a comic segment parodying the story. Sometimes the sketch is a song parody.
First Drafts
Colbert invites a member of the audience up to read holiday/special event cards and their "first drafts", which poke fun at the event in question.
Meanwhile
Colbert delivers some lesser-known news and stories, such as Philadelphia Flyers' new mascot Gritty and Buffalo Wild Wings' new BBQ pumpkin spice wings. He always starts with an elaborate metaphor explaining the segment; usually using some kind of leftovers from his monologue to craft this segment. For the shows taped in Colbert's house during the coronavirus pandemic, this segment was re-christened "Quarantinewhile"
Chopper Talk
Colbert discusses Trump's interviews in front of an operating Marine One Helicopter.
Chair Chat
A spinoff of "Chopper Talk", but focusing on interviews where Trump is sitting down.
Former
Real News Tonight
A parody of television newscasts, hosted by "Jim Anchorton" and "Jill Newslady", that consists entirely of overly-positive fake stories designed to praise Donald Trump. In 2017, when Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump began producing Real News Update videos that similarly presented positive coverage of Trump, Colbert presented an edition of Real News Tonight that featured her as a "special correspondent"—using clips of Real News Update to make it look like she was interacting with the show's existing "anchors". On June 18, 2019, the Jill and Jim characters attended a launch event for Trump's 2020 re-election campaign at the Amway Center in Orlando, interviewing supporters for a segment that aired on the June 20, 2019 episode. Their press credentials had been revoked at the last minute, but they still managed to make it inside the event by registering online.
Midnight Confessions
Colbert examines his conscience to his audience. He starts with a disclaimer that while the things that he confesses are not technically sins, he still feels guilty about them.
Bedtime Stories
On occasion when Colbert has an author on the show, he ends the episode by asking the author to read him a bedtime story. Authors who performed the sketch with Colbert include Jonathan Franzen and John Irving.
The Big Furry Hat
Colbert dons a giant hat that comes down from the ceiling and makes a series of humorous proclamations that people must follow. On November 13, 2015, John Cleese joined him wearing a bigger and furrier hat.
Brain Fight With Tuck Buckford
During the child custody trial of InfoWars host Alex Jones, Colbert introduced a new right-wing pundit character by the name of Tuck Buckford as the host of a fictional show titled "Brain Fight" beginning with the April 17, 2017 episode. The sketches are based on infamous segments of Jones' radio show which have Colbert parodying his over-the-top style of reporting, mocking his conspiracy theories, including certain personal aspects of Jones' life based on testimonies from the court trial.
Cartoon Donald Trump
On the March 30, 2016 episode, Colbert declared that based on his behavior in the presidential debates and town halls, Donald Trump had become a "cartoonish version of himself". In response, Colbert interviewed a "slightly less cartoonish" version of Trump—an animated caricature of him portrayed with a childish demeanor. The character was designed by Tim Luecke, voiced by Brian Stack, and is controlled using Adobe Character Animator—which allows Colbert to interact with the character in real-time. Late Show tested the technology with a character of Colbert's "Irish ancestor", and two days before the debut of Trump in a sketch featuring Colbert interacting with a cartoon bluebird who supported Bernie Sanders. After Bill Clinton stated in his 2016 Democratic National Convention speech that the Republicans had created a "cartoon" version of her, Colbert introduced Cartoon Hillary Clinton. Both Cartoon Trump and Cartoon Clinton have made appearances as recurring characters in later episodes, and Cartoon Trump was featured in an animated short during Colbert's election night special for Showtime. Showtime later announced that Colbert would executive produce a satirical animated series based on the sketches; the series, Our Cartoon President, premiered in January 2018.
Covetton House
Covetton House is Colbert's take on celebrity luxury brands, especially Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop. Each sketch typically features everyday products with fancy names and jacked-up prices. Some items are available for sale at Goop's website, with all proceeds going to charity.
Doin' It Donkey Style
Stephen covers 2020 Democratic candidates for President. The segment begins with two animated flag-colored donkeys saying a one-line summary of a Democratic policy position.
In a parody of Glenn Beck's use of chalkboards, Colbert brings out a chalkboard with names of people implicated in an ongoing scandal written all over it. He then tries to figure out the links between these people by drawing lines connecting their names. These lines form a humorous and often crude drawing related to the scandal, such as a penis or swastika.
Colbert talks with God, as portrayed as an animated character projected on the ceiling of the Ed Sullivan Theater.
WERD
Colbert chooses a word or phrase as a theme for a rant on a topical subject or news item while humorous captions displayed in a sidebar either highlight or sarcastically undercut what he is saying. The segment is based on "The Wørd", a segment Colbert performed throughout the entire run of The Colbert Report. Colbert introduced The Wørd segment on The Late Show on July 18, 2016. During the July 27, 2016 episode, Colbert indirectly stated Comedy Central had objected to his use of elements from the Report on Late Show; subsequently, the segment has been done under the name "WERD".
Wheel of News
Colbert spins a wheel with random topics of news to talk about. Based on Wheel of Fortune.
Recurring sketches with guests
Big Questions with Even Bigger Stars
Colbert and a guest sit under the stars and have absurd conversations about topics. Such conversations include killing baby Hitler, what Santa does the rest of the year, and whether they would rather have feet for hands or hands for feet.
Colbert and a guest host a community calendar of events in the guest's hometown. Based from Colbert's special appearance at Only in Monroe, a local public access program in Monroe, Michigan, with Eminem as his guest.
