Before we get into the top-five late-night clips, three things feel of note this week:
âž½ Angelina Jolie made her return to late night after what she says was at least a decade. She went on The Tonight Show barefoot, talked about almost becoming a funeral director, and generally was the frank and open girlie we all fell in love with during the Girl, Interrupted/Tomb Raider press tours.
➽ Two different shows (The Daily Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live!) made separate and distinct O.J. Simpson jokes, seemingly out of nowhere. Why? Is it because he’s been dead for most of the year, that it’s the 30th anniversary of the murder, or the writers are following the social-media account Norm Macdonald Joke of the Day like I am? Many options.
➽ Technically this happened last week, but the column didn’t run on Black Friday, so we’re talking about it now: The season finale of Busy This Week had an interesting anecdote from Stephen Colbert about getting shitfaced with Dakota Johnson on his show. But maybe the story was actually about Jennifer Lawrence? Like all Dakota Johnson stories, the details are fuzzy and only raise more questions. But the main point is that people should be partying on late night more often. It’s good TV.
Now let’s talk heehees and hahas for this week in late night.
5.
Seth Meyers in the Hot Seat
Seth Meyers is one of the best interviewers in the game thanks to his adaptability. So him taking the “Colbert Questionert†is fascinating, because being malleable and a fun hang is actually a hindrance. You need the big swings, and you need to stand by them. Meyers’s answers are great, but the true delight is watching him go full “A Delight to Have in Classâ€-core with Colbert. Also, his joke about being the only child at a Temptations concert hits real good.
4.
Kyle Mooney’s Triumphant Return to Jimmy Kimmel Live!
This whole interview is giving off Local Boy Makes Good energy in the sweetest way. Kyle Mooney used to be a contributor to Jimmy Kimmel Live!, So having him return as a big-shot movie director is a chance for Kimmel to just bask in the talent he saw all along. It’s so nice. And Mooney brought a drink, which rocks. As we’ve already discussed this week, drinking on late night rules and should be encouraged.
3.
Stephen Colbert’s Daniel Craig Impression
Colbert asked to be in Knives Out 4, a reasonable request. Get that guy in there — he’s a great ensemble player! Daniel Craig is like, “Do you do any accents?†You can see Colbert’s improv mind whirring, and you can even clock the moment he settles on “pirate voice†as the way to go. But then to act like it’s his impression of Craig? Absurd, lovely, a great move. As perhaps the biggest Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law stan there is to be found, I will never turn down Colbert doing a weird voice. Great stuff.
2.
Ralph Fiennes Is Hateful and Miserable on WWHL
Ralph Fiennes and Stephanie Hsu recreated the RHOSLC Angie K./Meredith Marks fight from the Breakfast at Tiffany’s lunch, and boy howdy, does Fiennes go full Conclave on it. You can tell he has no idea what is going on, but he eats that text down. His Meredith Marks is much more befuddled than the genuine article, a move that honestly is more sympathetic than the duchess-from-on-high attitude she usually takes. Ms. Marks, take notes.
1.
Josh Thomas Comes for Big Paper
A crazy huge chunk of TikTok is people from America and Not America calling each other out for random shit: Americans only eat fast food; Europeans think they’re so healthy but their food-safety laws are a joke; Australians hate Americans but Americans are full Don Draper “I don’t think about you at all,†etc. It’s endless, and it seems to get high engagement, so if you’re looking to get internet famous, it’s a niche to consider exploiting. Australian (but naturalized American) On After Midnight, Josh Thomas called out America for its obsession with paper records — and he’s right! There are too many important tiny sheets of paper for this digital-ass country. It is insane that we have to get our registration out of the glove compartment when dealing with trigger-happy American cops. The paper our social-security cards are printed on is laughable. He’s right, and he should say it louder! The fact that the whole anti-paper tirade happens while he’s trying to untangle a big extension cord is the hat-on-a-hat doofiness we’ve come to expect from After Midnight. Thanks, CBS.
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