Stephen Colbert did something for the first time on The Late Show series finale.

For 1,799 episodes, the host addressed the audience before every show, but on Thursday’s episode, he also spoke to the viewers at home in a heartfelt pre-monologue message.

“This show, I want you to know, has been a joy for us to do for you,” Colbert told the camera. “In fact, we call this show the ‘Joy Machine.’”

He explained, “We call it the ‘Joy Machine’ because to do this many shows, it has to be a machine. But the thing is, if you choose to do it with joy, it doesn’t hurt as much when your fingers get caught in the gears. And I cannot adequately explain to you what the people who work here have done for each other and how much we mean to each other.”

At that, the audience inside the Ed Sullivan Theater erupted in cheers, causing Colbert to take a moment to gather himself.

Harkening back to his first late-night television show, The Colbert Report on Comedy Central, he recalled his motto: “Anyone can read the news to you. I promise to feel the news at you.”

But at The Late Show on CBS, “I realized pretty soon in this job that our job over here was different. We were here to feel the news with you. And I don’t know about you, but I sure have felt it,” joked Colbert.

But as he got serious, he continued, “And I just want to let all y’all know…how important you’ve been to what we have done. The energy that you have given us, we sincerely needed that to have done the best possible show we could have for you for the last 11 years.”

Colbert concluded, “Now, I’ll say to you what I have said to every audience for the last 11 years, and I have meant it every time. Have a good show. Thanks for being here. And let’s do it y’all.”

The star-studded lineup for The Late Show‘s series finale included Paul McCartney, Paul Rudd, Bryan Cranston, Ryan Reynolds, and Tig Notaro.