Stephen Colbert announces ‘Colbert Report’ end date

We all knew it was coming, but now we have the date: “The Colbert Report” is ending on Dec. 18.

Stephen Colbert announced the show’s end date to his audience on Thursday’s show while pitching the paperback version of his book, “America Again.”

The book is coming out not a moment too soon. Because once “The Colbert Report” ends on Comedy Central, the conservative character Colbert has been portraying for nine years will be no more. When he moves his act to CBS to take over for David Letterman, Colbert will just be himself.

But when will fans get to see the new version of Colbert? That’s still a big mystery. He can’t take over until Letterman steps down, and Letterman still hasn’t set a final date for his late-night tenure.

In the meantime, Colbert says he’s planning to take a vacation courtesy of his “travel agent” Grimmy (who looks suspiciously like the Grim Reaper.)

He’ll be going somewhere hot (flames) and the people will have horns. No, it’s not Hell. It’s Greece.

Bon voyage, Stephen!

Meanwhile, Larry Wilmore is preparing to take over Colbert’s old post-”Daily Show” spot with “The Minority Report,” set to debut sometime in 2015.

You can watch Colbert’s announcement here.

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