Before we get into the funniest clips of the week, I want to highlight two non-humorous moments in late night. The first was Evan Rachel Wood’s interview on The Daily Show. She was on the show to plug her two-part documentary about surviving sexual assault and intimate violence, Phoenix Rising. Trevor Noah gave Wood space to collect her thoughts, make little asides, and explain herself fully. I admired how Wood got her point across about the need for time to process sexual assault and trauma on her own terms. She only intermittently made eye contact with Noah, who never seemed to demand it.
The second clip was a longform interview on The Problem With Jon Stewart. Stewart interviewed former Disney head Bob Iger about the nature of prime-time news coverage — which was a rather high-key moment of press, given the quagmire current Disney head Bob Chapek finds himself in this week. Bob No. 2 is embroiled in walkouts, the HRC refusing Disney’s money, and a still-simmering class-action lawsuit. Meanwhile, Bob No. 1 is defending the fourth estate in an exquisitely tailored suit. So that’s a funny juxtaposition.
Here’s what else was funny this week.
5. Brian Cox Has Never Been Happier
This clip from Jimmy Kimmel Live got all the way into non-late-night sectors of social media, and for that it should be lauded. But we are kidding ourselves if we think this isn’t still Sydney Sweeney’s monologue. Cox could play Cassie, but Sweeney should play Logan Roy. Just for a week, to see what it’s like. This was a fun moment for Cox, but Sweeney can and should do every role he’s ever done. Marvel’s William Stryker, the Captain in Super Troopers, Macbeth. She’d crush.
4. Cue Card Wally Gets His Flowers
Wally Feresten, a.k.a. Wally the Cue Card Guy, has become one of 30 Rock’s most treasured features. It goes: skating rink, Rainbow Room, Wally. And then that mural Diego Rivera painted … but then the Rockefellers took it down. And don’t you want to see Wally in full Midsommar floral regalia? I do. The pleasure of this bit is simple: a sweet man surrounded by pretty flowers, not especially bothered about looking silly. Thank you, Wally.
3. Jimmy Fallon Gets Back to His Roots (Not Those Roots)
Jimmy Fallon brought some throwbacks to The Tonight Show during his “Audience Suggestion Box†segment. When was the last time you saw Hashtag the Panda? Or the Ragtime Gals? Both are stalwarts at Fallon’s Universal Orlando ride, but on TV? Not so much. The “Suggestion Box†format gives space for Fallon and crew to be as silly as they want to be. It feels like old Late Night Fallon, a fun energy to inhabit. Plus, Seth Rollins seems to be having fun. Go off, sir. Stomp that leprechaun.
2. Minnie Driver’s Love Story
This is just a classic talk-show narrative. Minnie Driver describes a scrape she got into when delivering supplies to her mobile-home community during one of California’s many fires. She enlisted a documentarian to help her get supplies past the Coast Guard, who had banned all ship-to-shore transportation. The fella helped her out, the Coast Guard was evaded, and the trailer park that Driver inhabits when in Cali was supplied. But the twist? That dude is the love of her life. Minnie Driver is a raconteuse.
1. Patti Harrison Is an Artiste
Patti Harrison usually puts her interviewer on the defensive; there’s a lot of “What does that mean?†energy. But Seth Meyers is too much of an improviser at heart to let it get him down. He delights in Harrison’s prickliness, and he also delights at the boobs she draws on a car. Apparently Bowen Yang let it spill that Harrison is at the forefront of automobile illustration, and we can’t disagree. She’s taking the form into exciting, horny spaces. Cars should have rockin’ tits more often. Why is nobody else saying this? Why is Patti so brave?
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