Stephen Colbert is saying goodbye to late-night as The Late Show ends its run on CBS.

The comedian will complete an 11-year tenure on Thursday, May 21, and ahead of the finale, he teased what audiences can expect.

“With The Colbert Report, I knew how I wanted it to end because, well, I picked the date,” Colbert said in an interview with People about ending his Comedy Central show.

He continued, “I remember I went to my assistant Amy Cole and I said, ‘Amy, what’s the last day of 2014 in production?’ And she said, ‘Oh, it’s December 18.’ I said, ‘Oh, good to know.’ I went down, and I sat at my desk, and I thought for a second, and I thought of the entire show. I was like, ‘Oh, okay. That’s what it’ll be.’ It kind of all came in one. We rewrote and noodled and everything, but I had the idea.”

Colbert chose the finale date for The Colbert Report. However, the end date for The Late Show was not of his choosing, which made things different for the comedian.

“This time, you know, wasn’t my choice, wasn’t my date. I think that’s why it didn’t come all at once,” he said. “One or two elements came to me like, ‘What about this? What about that?’ And then we’ve had meetings over the last few months.”

Colbert said that recently “it all just gelled,” and although he had “not written” his last episode when the interview took place and posted on May 19, he knew what he wanted, adding, “And luckily, it looks like it’s going to [happen].”

As the end date neared, Colbert said, “It’s getting much realer — every moment’s getting a little more precious. I tried never to take for granted being in the Ed Sullivan [Theater], having a Broadway theater, having that tremendous audience, or having the ability to work with the funniest people I know every day and make jokes about the things that make me most anxious every day.”

“But at the same time, you can’t really dwell on that ending because you don’t have time for it. Any more than you can think about walking and still walk, or swallowing and not choke on your own tongue. You just have to do the show.”