Plus James Acaster chatting with Seth Meyers and incredible contestant chemistry on After Midnight.
What was the biggest news story in late night this past Monday? It was that Jimmy Kimmel did a good job at the Oscars. Everyone gave Kimmel kudos, and Kimmel spilled some behind-the-scenes tea about the size of John Cena’s envelope and the trials and tribulations of trying to get a dog to remain chill for a three-hour ceremony. It was fun hearing how, in some ways, the Oscars are just another night to the long-tenured Jimmy Kimmel Live! staff. Kimmel is good at the Oscars not just because he’s done it before, but because his writers and crew are vets at this point.
Besides the Oscars, I want to shout out a lovely gay week on late night. There was a Las Culturistas sweep, with Bowen Yang on Late Night With Seth Meyers and Matt Rogers on After Midnight (more on that later). And Kristen Stewart did double duty on Late Night and The Late Show. It was clear both Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers just love talking to her, and she them. Which is huge, because I feel like press hasn’t always been the easiest experience for her. Here’s who had the most fun on this vibey, pre-spring break week in late night.
5. Stephen Colbert Confronts the Shower Witch
What the fuck was this? Like Messi the dog, you can’t expect Colbert to stay perfectly still and approachable throughout an entire election year. You gotta let him get his zoomies (high-concept sketches involving Amy Sedaris in a wig) out, or else he’ll start barking and wreck up the place. Shout-out to Jon Hamm for doing this, I’m assuming, with no questions asked. Double shout-out to the website that gives you a 1-800 number that mails you a QR code that gives you the website address, starting the vicious cycle anew.
4. Angela Bassett Did the Thing on The Tonight Show
On the podcast Podcast: The Ride, there is a piece of lore about the time co-host Jason Sheridan did an edible and lost his shit at the Las Vegas Hofbräuhaus. At one point, he compared the hat a polka fellow was wearing to Pharrell’s big hat (you remember the one), and it set him off. The reference was just out of date enough to make it extra funny. Angela Bassett doing the thing, and that thing, being nailing the water-bottle flip challenge, is like that guy was wearing two Pharrell hats. It’s like the rake joke from The Simpsons: It’s funny, then it’s tired, then it’s cringe, then somehow it’s better than it’s ever been.
3. Incredible Vibes on After Midnight
Give Matt Rogers, Caroline Rhea, and James Davis a sitcom, like, yesterday. The chemistry between these After Midnight contestants is unreal. Rhea is like their cool aunt, Davis can bestow or withhold approval at his whim, and Rogers is just a little shit — picking apart the game, smizing at the camera, talking about Demi Lovato. He was built in the gayest wing of Caltech for After Midnight.
2. James Acaster Gives Good Chat on Late Night
Speaking of people who belong on After Midnight, get Acaster on there stat. He is a beast of panel shows back in the U.K., and he needs to be expanding the genre over here too. On Late Night, he was asking the big questions, like “Why does your set have a door no one can use?” He also threw major shade at fellow Brit John Oliver, claiming he pisses in the dressing rooms of all comedians visiting from across the pond. It’s a scurrilous accusation, and I’d love to hear some more.
1. John Oliver Locks Into the WWHL Format
Okay, but there’s a reason Oliver is top English bulldog over here. Just a knockout performance all around. In a post-Scandoval world, being seated next to Ariana Madix is a higher honor than, I don’t know, sitting beside King Charles. And he delivered. Dude came on WWHL in a Brooks Marks tracksuit and gave sweeping opinions on every Housewives franchise. (The Miami takes? Spot on.) And then he made some interesting conjectures about Kate Middleton. Everyone had a take on the Princess of Wales story this week, but Oliver’s long-standing beef with the monarchy made his shit the best.
