It’s been a truly momentous year for the late night talk show circuit with Letterman and Leno announcing their retirement from their longtime posts, creating a veritable mosaic puzzle of moving host pieces including the start of new eras at The Tonight Show and Late Night, a round of new Daily Show hires, and the crowning of Stephen Colbert as David Letterman’s soon-to-be Late Show successor. The world of late night now extends beyond the major networks, and 2014 saw TBS’s Conan and The Pete Holmes Show, Comedy Central’s Daily Show, Colbert Report, and @midnight, and HBO newcomer Last Week Tonight delivering their fair share of memorable celebrity interviews, pretaped segments, and recurring bits. In no particular order, here are some of our favorite late night clips of the year:
“Stephen Colbert” says goodbye
Joan Rivers makes her final late night appearances
Todd Glass tells Jon Stewart about the time he busted out of the shed
Conan O’Brien visits the American Girl store
Jessica Williams gives NYC women some anti-street harassment tips
John Oliver interviews Stephen Hawking
Cameron Esposito bravely advocates for straight people on Conan
“Second Chance Theatre” debuts on Late Night
New Material Seinfeld drops by The Pete Holmes Show
Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, and Lisa Kudrow act out Friends fan fiction with Jimmy Kimmel
Jenny Slate tells Seth Meyers about her college stoner days
Buddy Cole appears as a Colbert Report correspondent
The State reunites on @midnight
David Letterman enjoys getting yelled at by Billy Eichner
Samantha Bee does an epic one-woman show on The Daily Show
Max Weinberg and Conan O’Brien have a glorious late night reunion
Paul Rudd lip syncs Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” on Tonight Show
Late night pays tribute to Robin Williams
Sarah Silverman tells Jimmy Kimmel about her new boyfriend
Chelsea Handler says goodbye to Chelsea Lately
Michael Che makes his final Daily Show appearance
Amy Schumer visits David Letterman
Stephen Colbert defies the language barrier with Pussy Riot
Kristen Wiig disguises herself as Harry Styles on Tonight Show
Hannibal Buress talks custom jumpsuits and “Fedora Basketball” with Seth Meyers
John Oliver interviews Ugandan LGBT activist Pepe Julian Onziema
Jon Stewart and John Cleese discuss why nothing matters and there is no hope
Chris Hardwick celebrates his sober anniversary with some photos of “Peter Hardwick”
Norm Macdonald auditions for Late Late Show on Conan
Nathan Fielder explains Dumb Starbucks on Jimmy Kimmel Live
John Oliver’s epic takedown and evisceration of a piñata
