Look, I get it. I understand that I’m supposed to feel like Deadpool and his various brand activations are bad for culture. And they very well may be! But ever since Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place, I have been a Ryan Reynolds stan. A frequent flyer on RyanAir, so to speak. He gives Lyle Lanley, and who doesn’t love that? Sure I’m getting hucked, but what else is a huckster to do?
It’s a good thing I do like Ryan Reynolds, or else this past week of late night would have ended me. Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, and Matthew Macfadyen all did spots on three different shows. I haven’t seen a so many stars plugging the same film since My Spy: The Eternal City earlier this month. (Actually, people were on After Midnight and WWHL to promo that film, so maybe the D&W assault is comparatively tame …) Anyhoo, here’s this weeks brattiest, couch-sexiest, most meta clips on late night this week.
5. Just Some Good Marriage Advice From Colman Domingo
Both Cindy Crawford and Colman Domingo gave famously uncoupled Andy Cohen advice on long-term relationships. Can’t imagine deafer ears for those words to fall on, but Domingo said something really beautiful about marriage. It’s about knowing that person is going to change and looking forward to seeing how they grow and transform as you know them. Tea!
4. J.D. Vance’s No Good, Very Bad Press Cycle
We may have to rename the Streisand Effect, because it has a new greatest victim. J.D. “I never fucked a couch…. ;)” Vance has had quite the week. On Thursday, this culminated on The Late Show with a fake ad for a furniture store full of units never befouled by the Republican VP pick. The plot has gotten lost between the couch cushions, but Brian Stack’s voice-over is wonderful.
3. After Midnight’s New Game
This is a good game for parties! Or waiting in an airport, a brewery, or a barcade, maybe an ax-throwing place. Basically anywhere a gaggle of zillennial white men are congregated. Pick one, and bet on whether they’re named Nick or Chris. Dustin Nickerson brings up a great point, Nicks can be a lot to deal with. Meanwhile, Reggie Watts is so checked out of the game it becomes performance art. Please, After Midnight, keep being this dumb.
2. A Podcasting Yalta Summit on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Some of podcasting’s best came together on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Thursday night. Three dudes, hosts of four podcasts, coming together to plug the Olympics and discuss Emmys gifting suites. The boys of Las Culch sat with The Lamorning After’s Lamorne Morris and it was dang delightful. First of all, Morris excelled in the guest-hosting spot this week. If ABC/Disney ever wants to expand into the 1 a.m. time slot, Morris would be a good fit. Secondly, the Matt & Bo schtick is so well-honed. Dare I say, even more than Deadpool and Wolverine? The chunk about what Matt Rogers would wear to the Emmys as Bowen Yang’s date? Exquisitely rendered honesty-zone work. P.S. Get a canary-yellow suit from the Bernie Mac estate, then do NOT get it tailored. Shirtless, huge yellow suit. It would be a cunty version of never-built Disneyland ride Dick Tracy’s Crime-Stoppers.
1. Hugh Jackman’s “Efforts” on The Tonight Show
There was actually a lot of good stuff in the Deadpool & Wolverine press tour. Gigi Hadid’s outfit at the premiere, Ryan Reynolds emerging on a Deadpool float when he guested on The Tonight Show, the way Reynolds and Jackman wore matching disheveled tuxes as co-hosts of Jimmy Kimmel Live! It was very Martin & Sinatra — in part because of the suits, but also because of the performative intimacy. But pound for pound, my favorite moment of the week was listening to the weird noises Hugh Jackman made as a human claw machine on The Tonight Show. In video game design, these noises are called “efforts,” and it’s really funny to hear people record a bunch of them in a row. Jackman’s efforts are S-tier, and only made funnier because he’s trying to grab plushies with Wolverine claws while he’s making them. Also, Jimmy Fallon gets really into the game in a way that is almost jock-like? Insane vibe to bring to becoming a claw machine.
