Stephen Colbert returns to his true passion: Hosting public access television in Michigan

The resulting hour of television is a genuine delight, as Colbert delivers deadpan monologue jokes to a silent team of camera people actively working not to laugh, casually reveals he has a similarly dry Jack White serving as his musical director, and has a delightful time gently grilling the show’s usual hosts, working nurses Michelle Baumann and Kaye Lani Rafko-Wilson. And also some slightly more high-profile guests, including FaceTime-ing with his CBS replacement Byron Allen, running pre-taped bits with Steve Buscemi, and sitting down with Jeff Daniels for an interview/taco tasting. (Also, Eminem, who Colbert interviewed during the 2015 installment of the show, popped in for a second to add his blessing.)

Colbert finished out the episode by getting his Eric André on, as—at the request of the show’s producers, who were no longer using it—he, Daniels, and White took hammers to the show’s set and then burnt the whole thing down. It might not have been as high-budget as getting Paul McCartney in to talk Ed Sullivan history before making an extended St. Elsewhere joke, but it did feel like a true expression of Colbert’s slightly suppressed comedy gremlin side getting a chance to poke out and have some anarchic fun in the final moments of his recent run on TV.