It was nearly impossible to get all of them, but here are some of the famous faces we spotted: Jeff Daniels, Sam Waterston, Keith Olbermann, Tom Brokaw, Katie Couric, Ken Burns, Howard Stern, Cory Booker, Bryan Cranston, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Charlie Rose, Tim Meadows, the Cookie Monster, James Franco, Toby Keith, Big Bird, Andy Cohen, Christiane Amanpour, David Gregory, Randy Newman, Willie Nelson, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Mandy Patinkin, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Cyndi Lauper, Andrew Sullivan, Ric Ocasek, Michael Stipe, Kareem Abdul Jabar, Barry Manilow, Bill DeBlasio, Jeff Tweedy, Patrick Stewart, Stone Phillips, Arianna Huffington, Alan Alda, George Lucas, Alexai Lalas, Henry Kissinger, Elijah Wood, Mike Huckabee, Bob Costas, Nate Silver, Dan Savage, Thomas Friedman, Matt Taibbi, Mark Cuban and Paul Krugman.
There were many more, plus those not in studio: members of ##### Riot; Vince Gilligan; and then Bill Clinton wishing Colbert well.
The whole thing was was followed by a final, pre-taped segment: Colbert on a roof, pondering what he would do now that he would live forever. All of a sudden, Santa appeared on his sleigh. With Abraham Lincoln.
Colbert wondered why Santa was here and if he could help him figure out what to do with his life. Santa and Lincoln pointed him toward the man with all the answers …”Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek, sitting in the back seat. Delighted, Colbert hopped in Santa’s sleigh with Trebek, who assured him: “We’ll always be there for the American people whenever they need us the most.”
“Yeah,” Colbert responded. “But aren’t you Canadian?”
“I’ve had dual citizenship since 1998,” Trebek replied.
“Yeah,” Colbert said kindly. “That’s not the same.”
Cut to: Alex Trebek shaking Colbert awake, still on Santa’s sleigh. Time was running out so Colbert finally got serious, thanking everyone for nine great years. He gave a shout out to Colbert Nation. “We couldn’t have done it without you,” he said. He added: “That was fun!”