After Elsbeth packed about as many guest stars as possible into the musical Season 2 finale, the upcoming Season 3 premiere in the fall 2025 TV schedule will be star-studded as well. The Late Show‘s Stephen Colbert, Elf alum Amy Sedaris, and longtime talk show sidekick Andy Richter will all help leading lady Carrie Preston kick off the third season on CBS. Celebrity guest stars are usually the killers on the hit drama, and I thought I had my mind made up about how Colbert would be included. Now, after CBS released some first looks and details about the premiere, I’m rethinking my theories.
The Season 3 premiere of Elsbeth is called “Yes, And…” and will air on Sunday, October 12 before returning to its usual Thursday night time slot for the rest of the season. According to CBS, this is what fans can expect:
Elsbeth dives into the world of late-night comedy when backstage tensions rise between a talk show host (Stephen Colbert), his head writer Laurel (Amy Sedaris) and her on-air sidekick husband, Mickey (Andy Richter). Also, Elsbeth meets a new police officer (Lindsay Mendez) who is an aspiring stand-up comic when off the clock, on the third season premiere.
When one celebrity is starring in an episode, like when the Season 2 premiere featured Nathan Lane for one of my favorite Elsbeth episodes of all time, they’re usually the murderer. With three celebrity guest stars to start Season 3… well, I’ve had questions, and the new photos have added some new twists. Let’s start with my first theory, which is also the one I’m the most confident has now been ruled out.
News of Stephen Colbert coming to Elsbeth first broke shortly after CBS’ controversial cancellation of The Late Show, but the timing was such that I suspected Colbert’s role in the episode was in the works before his talk show was cancelled. My knee-jerk reaction was to think that the Colbert Report alum would be playing himself and just making a cameo for a little bit of CBS crossover to promote The Late Show.
With confirmation that Colbert will be playing a character by the name of Scotty Bristol as well as the photos that prove Colbert isn’t just in and out of the episode in a single scene, I consider myself 100% wrong for this first theory.
Theory #2: Colbert’s Scotty As The Killer
The first of the newly-released images that I saw from Elsbeth‘s Season 3 premiere was the one above, with Elsbeth looking like she’s a little starstruck by Stephen Colbert’s character. Elsbeth doesn’t usually get involved in cases before the big death of an episode, so it seemed to me like a pretty clear sign that Colbert would be the latest celebrity that the drama recruited to play a killer. But then I kept looking at images and reconsidered, bringing me to an option that might be the funniest of them all.
New Theory: Stephen Colbert Plays The Murder Victim?
While I originally thought that “backstage tensions” arising between Colbert and Sedaris’ characters pointed towards him as the killer and her as the victim, I’ve mostly moved on from that theory thanks to the above photo. If you ask me, that looks like Scotty is deep in his cups and feeling no pain, while Laurel looks a little bit more calculating with her dominant pose. Maybe I watch too many crime dramas, but Scotty looks like he’s vulnerable enough for a little bit of murder, Elsbeth-style.
Plus, there are more images of Amy Sedaris and Andy Richter together and/or with Elsbeth than there are of Colbert, and the two will be playing a married couple. Instead of Scotty killing Laurel or Mickey, maybe it’s much more lucky that the couple will be the culprits. And since this is Elsbeth, the crimes tend to be laced with a fair amount of humor. There’s something morbidly funny to me about Colbert potentially playing a smarmy host and then being killed by his own writer and sidekick… just after The Late Show got the axe. Besides, I can totally picture Colbert’s style of humor fitting in on Elsbeth.
Find out how long he lasts with the Season 3 premiere of Elsbeth on Sunday, October 12 at 9:30 p.m. ET on CBS, followed by a switch back to the usual 10 p.m. ET Thursday time slot on October 16. If you want to revisit earlier episodes of the hit drama, you can find both seasons so far streaming with a Paramount+ subscription.
