It’s back to school for late night! After a long summer holidays, most of the shows are back for Andrew Cuomo’s exit. The Late Late Show and The Daily Show are still off, both retooling for a post-pandemic look. And Jimmy Kimmel Live continues to rely on guest hosts. This week, they had David Spade and Kimmel’s ex Sarah Silverman for two nights each. Spade brought snark, Silverman brought her dad. We also found out during Silverman’s tenure on the show that Guillermo, the security guard/hype man of the show, contracted a breakthrough case of COVID and is recuperating at home. His case is mild. He said he’ll be back Monday, during a segment where Silverman sent him a bottle of Don Julio and all the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos he could eat.
Every show had something to say about Cuomo’s resignation (with two weeks’ notice). Seth Meyers unpacked the news with Amy Poehler. Stephen Colbert told him, “Don’t let the door hit you on the butt on the way out. But if it does, that door should also resign.” And John Oliver made fun of he ex-gov’s PowerPoint of Innocence. But it wasn’t all accountability for sexual harassment. Here’s what worked best this week in late night.
5. Winston Duke Has Fun With the Band
Winston Duke seized his fucking moment on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. The Us actor availed himself of the band, Jon Batiste and Stay Human, and asked them to let him play James Brown a little bit. You know, when Brown yells “Give it to me one time!” and the band plays one sting? Like that. He asked the band to give it to him once, two times, three times. Then, mid-anecdote, he asked for one more. Use your TV time to the fullest, Winston Duke. That shit is fun.
4. Andy Samberg Takes His Temperature
SNL alums made up a hefty chunk of guest-age this week on late night. Over on Late Night, Andy Samberg introduced a new character, Dr. Fauchberg, But his true bravura performance was as his rapidly deteriorated during the rest of the interview. Samberg got sick (not COVID) recently, and was losing his voice/getting a fever during his time with Meyers. How do I know he was getting a fever? He took his temperature with an ear thermometer — twice. They cut the seg after Samberg hit 100 degrees. Good call!
3. Poor, Poor Josh Gondelman
Speaking of good calls, Desus and Mero tried to teach their writer/sweetie-pie Josh Gondelman how to get good at catcalling. They were not successful. Perhaps catcalling isn’t a thing one should be good at? Desus & Mero has been branching out into these semi-scripted sketches lately, with the hosts getting bar mitzvah’d by Eric Andre last week. Last week, the two were pawns in Andre’s games of chaos. This time, Gondelman was the putz. It’s really something to see Gondelman try to holler. He’s Dunkin’ Boston, not Matt Damon’s daughter needs to intervene Boston, you know?
2. The Roots Reenact The Bachelorette
This week was also the finale of a buckwild season of The Bachelorette. Katie and Greg got into it during the finale, with Katie basically calling him a piss-poor actor. Seeing as the whole season was graced by the muse Thespia, The Tonight Show saw fit to do a dramatic reenactment of Katie and Greg’s finale beef, courtesy of Questlove and Tariq. Greg may not be Meryl Streep, but Tariq might be. He might very well be.
1. Molly Shannon Is a Charmer
Molly “I’m crushing in two shows and I have legs for days” Shannon went on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to show off both. Shannon brought out a softer side in guest host David Spade, who apparently took Shannon under his wing when he was on the way out and she was on the way in at SNL. They shared memories of Chris Farley, and the time Spade ate a full steak dinner during a table read. But the most enchanting moment was when Shannon discussed hiring a terrible plumber to fix her dishwasher because his voice triggered her ASMR. ASMR material is old hat at this point, but Shannon somehow found a new space for it to occupy.
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