Brini and Th Won Late Night This Week

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With the year ending, late-night shows are reflecting on the difficult times we’re living in. As Jimmy Kimmel put it, it’s unsettling to try and make sense of everything that’s happening. But hearing from viewers who find comfort in his show – and those hosted by his fellow comedians – is reassuring, both for them and for him. Right now, late-night television is mainly about providing a release and a sense of shared understanding, which is really helpful for a lot of people.

Stephen Colbert recently interviewed Kumail Nanjiani about the ending of his stand-up special, Night Thoughts, which was named the best of 2025 by Vulture. Nanjiani described how he ended the show by telling the audience, “Things are tough, but you’re going to be okay,” and then had them repeat the phrase back to him. Colbert explained that this moment encapsulates the best of late-night talk shows – acknowledging difficult truths while still offering a sense of hope and reassurance. He compared it to the optimistic spirit found in the work of Alexander Pope, and highlighted other late-night hosts who offered similar messages of hope this week.

5.
Kerry Washington Is a Gas

https://youtube.com/watch?v=watch?v=RRe6orzuFdk

This was one of the funniest and most surprisingly moving segments on Watch What Happens Live in a long time. Kerry Washington brilliantly recreated Mary Cosby’s infamous monologue about farts from The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, and it really landed. Why did it work so well? Not because Cosby’s story is rich material for an actor, or because Washington is a skilled performer – though both are true. It worked because farts are inherently funny, but also relatable. The whole Real Housewives franchise is about examining how wealthy women see themselves, and what better way to deflate a carefully constructed image than with something universally silly and human like a fart?

4.
Timothée Chalamet Speaks to Camera

https://youtube.com/watch?v=watch?v=9Bi7boehnQE

Because clips from The Tonight Show on YouTube don’t show the beginning of the segment, the appearance of the “Marty Supreme” characters (I’m not even sure what to call them, and they’re a little scary!) behind Timothée Chalamet is completely unexpected and unexplained. This makes it even stranger to watch Chalamet sincerely talk about how Marty Supreme is his greatest work, encouraging everyone to follow their dreams, acknowledging his own good fortune, and urging us to see Marty Supreme on Christmas Day. He really emphasizes it: Marty Supreme Christmas Day. Marty Supreme Christmas Day.

3.
Have You Ever Dreamed This Man? It’s Mark Hamill

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Q0zs_t952RI?si=AULWloztNTyBUz0i&t=701

Jimmy Kimmel is famous for his pranks, especially his bits where he films people’s reactions on Hollywood Boulevard. But things really get good when Mark Hamill joins in! He recently pranked people near his Hollywood Walk of Fame star, in a style similar to the show Punk’d. It worked so well because everyone loves Hamill – he’s a true national treasure and, many would agree, the best actor to play the Joker. When he mentioned his early acting role as a girlfriend of Susan Dey on The Partridge Family, it was a particularly delightful moment.

2.
Paul Shaffer Returns to Late Night

https://youtube.com/watch?v=watch?v=9u6aGXVAuWw

It’s great to see David Letterman’s former bandleader, Paul Shaffer, back on late-night television! He recently joined Darlene Love, along with Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, to perform a fantastic rendition of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” on The Tonight Show. It’s awesome for a couple of reasons: first, Darlene Love deserves all the royalties she can get, and second, it’s wonderful to see Shaffer supporting another performer again – he’s a truly talented sidekick, whether he’s backing David Johansen, Bill Murray, a superhero, or, in this case, the iconic queen of Christmas.

1.
Get Meyers and Carpenter on the Vaudeville Circuit, Stat!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=GLq-fAxFUfQ?si=j04yRiE3kIYuOVjG

Before we started the “Day Drinking” segment with Sabrina Carpenter, I worried she might be too reserved for it to be enjoyable. I was completely wrong! Seth Meyers really delivered. He often plays the straight man while his guests get silly, but he’s also happy to be the goofball himself, and he did just that. Meyers and Carpenter were a fantastic pair – a modern-day Nick and Nora Charles. And the Late Night props team deserves credit for creating those awful, novelty liquors – the idea of Eggo-flavored alcohol is truly disgusting.

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2025-12-19 18:54