Everything you missed in James Corden’s farewell The Late Late Show episode

It’s been eight years of James Corden making celebrities eat bull penis, forcing them to perform in the middle of Burbank crosswalks, and of course, helping him drive to work every morning. Eight years of that beloved couch filled with different talents making each other laugh, and eight years of James being totally obsessed with musical theatre.

Last night, The Late Late Show with James Corden had its final curtain, and just like his Emmy-winning Carpool Karaoke with Paul McCartney, we laughed, we cried, and we sang along. A bevvy of celebs joined him in sending him off back across the waters to the UK, including his besties Tom Cruise, Harry Styles, Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, David Letterman, and Trevor Noah.

Of course, Mission Impossible star and lifelong daredevil Tom Cruise had to come back for one more segment. Last year, when Top Gun: Maverick hit the cinemas, Tom took Corden up in his own fighter jet. Now, Corden wanted to make Tom the fish out of water, and made him perform during a Broadway performance of The Lion King. Now we all know Tom is a huge box office star, but could he hack it in front of a live audience?

 Tom shocked us all, he was not only an elephant, he also played Pumba! Way back in 1986 we heard Tom sing briefly in the original Top Gun, and now, 35 years later, he sang not only “Hakuna Matata,” but also Elton John’s hit “Can You Feel The Love Tonight?” And he was, for the most part, on key!

All the other late night hosts came to pay homage, this time in the form of a nightmare, because obviously having Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, and *checks notes* David Letterman in the same room would constitute a nightmare!

“I need to talk to you about you leaving," Seth said during Corden’s bad dream segment. "We're here to tell you that you can't just leave a talk show."

"Having a late-night talk show makes you part of a very exclusive club and if we're gonna let you leave, we need to know you're going to keep our secrets," Kimmel insisted.

"James, have you thought this through?" Colbert then asked. "What other job will allow you to break into song every single night?"

"I don't sing and dance every night," Corden insisted, but all the other hosts were not having his lies. "You do."

David Letterman then appeared, thinking he didn’t have to appear in the sketch, and the hosts told him that from now on, he was only allowed to do The Masked Singer appearances. Cut to a few months later, and Corden finds himself unmasked on The Masked Singer alongside fellow former talk show host Trevor Noah.

Nightmare indeed!

As the final show continued, the special guests didn’t end there. Corden was surprised with a special message from Biden, who said,  "James, congratulations. 1200 shows in eight years. After the day you spent working for me at The White House, I'm surprised you lasted eight years at any job.”

“To you, Reggie and the entire team, thank you for all the joy you brought to homes across America and special thanks for never asking me to sing in the car…We'll miss you pal. I can't wait to see what you do next."

Harry Styles and Will Ferrell then showed up for one last chat on the sofa, and of course played one final round of "Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts." After all the speculation that One Direction might reunite on Corden’s final show, Styles was of course asked if fans would ever see that fateful day happen, and he responded, "I feel it's not a yes or no question…I would never say never to that."

When the compilation clips of his greatest hits began to roll, Corden introduced it, choking back tears. And only he was crying, of course. It’s not like we were crying or anything. *sniff*

We’re not crying, YOU’RE CRYING.

Corden, all choked up, said the final words of the show, “Thanks for watching, that's our show."

Will Ferrell then struck the set with a sledgehammer. Which was fitting.

Thanks for the memories, James!

Stream the final season of 'The Late Late Show with James Corden' on CTV.ca.