‘Elsbeth’: Stephen Colbert Joins Season 3 Cast — Everything We Know so Far

Elsbeth Season 3 has secured its first famous face for its roster of guest stars. Stephen Colbert will appear on the CBS procedural when it returns this fall, marking his first on-camera gig since the announcement of The Late Show‘s cancellation in July. His role won’t be a far cry from how audiences are used to seeing him — he’s playing a late-night host!

Elsbeth Season 3 is going to be new terrain now that Carra Patterson has exited as a series regular. The actor, who has played Kaya Blanke since Season 1, will return only as a guest star next season, a change revealed after the penultimate episode of Season 2 on May 1. The Elsbeth Season 2 finale served as her farewell, but she will be back in a limited capacity in Season 3.

CBS revealed its fall 2025 schedule on May 7 and its fall premiere dates on July 11, revealing that Elsbeth is one of the handful of shows that will get a special premiere event upon its return. Here’s everything there is to know so far about Elsbeth Season 3.

When does Elsbeth Season 3 premiere?

Elsbeth Season 3 premieres on a special night, Sunday, October 12, at 9:30/8:30c on CBS. It will air after the Matlock Season 2 premiere at 8:30/7:30c. Both shows will air two episodes in one week. Elsbeth Season 3 Episode 2 comes out on Thursday, October 16, at 10/9c. The series will continue to air new episodes on Thursdays at 10/9c after that. Matlock Season 2 Episode 2 precedes Elsbeth on October 16 at 9/8c.

The CBS Thursday primetime schedule from this past year is staying the same. Young Sheldon and The Big Bang Theory spinoff Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage starts it off at 8/7c, followed by Ghosts at 8:30/7:30c, Kathy Bates‘ Matlock at 9/8c, and Elsbeth at 10/9c.

According to CBS, Georgie & Mandy delivers 12.9 million multiplatform viewers. Elsbeth averages 11 million multiplatform viewers, up +3 percent year over year. Ghosts delivers nearly 11 million multiplatform viewers with streaming alone up +9 percent year over year. And Matlock is bringing in 16.9 million multiplatform viewers per episode. Given that, it’s no surprise there are no changes to the Thursday primetime lineup. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Who is in the Elsbeth Season 3 cast?

Michael Parmelee / CBS

Colbert joins the Elsbeth cast as the host of a fictional late-night talk show called Way Late With Scotty Bristol. Elsbeth guest stars typically join the fun to play the killer of the week, so maybe Season 3 will poke some fun at The Late Show‘s cancellation by having Colbert’s character murder a network executive who threatened to cancel his show. It wouldn’t be the first time Elsbeth has had a meta episode about a TV star killing their boss over a decision that impacted their career (check out the Laurie Metcalf episode in Season 2 for an example of that).

Related

'Elsbeth' Season 3 Guest Stars: 23 Actors We'd Like to See Play Killer of the Week (PHOTOS)

A full cast list will be announced at a later time, but expect Preston to return as the titular character along with costars Carra Patterson and Wendell Pierce, with Patterson as a recurring guest star indefinitely.

Showrunner Jonathan Tolins told TV Insider that they “don’t want to make too much of” Kaya’s exit “because she’s coming back. The character’s not leaving the world of the show. She’s coming back, just not every day.” Her departure was staged by having Captain Wagner (Pierce) secretly recommend the recently promoted detective to a special task force. She got the job without even applying, taking her dreams of being a detective to the next level. Training is beginning immediately in Washington, D.C., prompting Kaya’s quick move.

Season 2 introduced some new companion police officers for Elsbeth’s investigations. Tolins assures that they’re not interested in replacing Kaya altogether. They’re more interested in rotating partners for Elsbeth.

“I don’t want to shoehorn another character into exactly the same role that Kaya played in Elsbeth’s life,” Tolins told TV Insider. “I do think that Elsbeth usually must be working with a uniformed officer because she’s not a detective. She can’t just go to these places without someone. So we’ve started introducing some new characters. We had B as Nikki Reynolds and Ethan Slater as Chandler, and I think we’ll keep introducing some more.”

Michael Emerson’s (Preston’s husband) time on Elsbeth is officially done after his character, Judge Milton Crawford, was killed off in Season 2 Episode 18. Tolins said that the trial of his killer, Delia Kirby (Meredith Holzman), is not going to be part of Season 3.

It’s “a pretty open-and-shut case,” Tolins told us, given that Delia killed him in cold blood in front of scores of witnesses. It’s not like he didn’t have it coming, but as Elsbeth cried in response, they would’ve eventually gotten the villainous judge arrested in the end. Elsbeth’s presence at this murder will continue to impact the plot, however, despite the fact that her presence was mere coincidence.

Ben Levi Ross will likely continue his guest star role as Elsbeth’s son, Teddy. And here’s hoping that Elsbeth’s sweet romance with Ioan Gruffudd‘s Angus has the chance to continue in Season 3. They amicably parted ways after the Valentine’s Day episode, but he was mentioned again in the Season 2 finale when Elsbeth confirmed that they’re still in touch. With Patterson’s departure, it seems unlikely that Sullivan Jones will be back as her love interest/roommate, Cameron. But perhaps he’ll move to D.C. with Kaya for her training, thus keeping the door open to their relationship developing offscreen.

This show is known for its litany of exciting guest stars. A big batch of them appeared in the Season 2 finale for a Chicago-inspired rendition of the “Cell Block Tango.” Tolins said the show is interested in bringing back guest stars. Elsbeth being imprisoned herself was “a one-off” moment, Tolins explained, “but we are not done looking at what happens to some of our people after Elsbeth seems to be finished with them in their original episode.”

“We’ve talked quite a bit on the show about how many of these people actually are going to ever face real jail time or justice,” he added. “They’re so connected, they’ve got so much money and so many ways to delay punishment, so I think that’s something that’ll always come back.”

So, expect some returning guest stars on top of the new ones to come in Season 3. Stay tuned here as we continue to report the latest on Elsbeth‘s third season.

Elsbeth, Season 3 Premiere, Sunday, October 12, 9:30/8:30c, Regular Time Period Premiere, Thursday, October 16, 10/9c, CBS

More Headlines:

• Is Jimmy Fallon’s ‘The Tonight Show’ Also at Risk of Cancellation?
• 2025 MTV VMAs Nominations: Lady Gaga Leads With 12 — See Full List of Nominees
• ‘Elsbeth’: Stephen Colbert Joins Season 3 Cast — Everything We Know so Far
• ‘General Hospital’s Maurice Benard Gives Surprising Update About Retiring From the Soap
• ‘Wednesday’: How Did Season 1 End? What You Need to Remember Before Watching Season 2