A blog about societal, cultural, and civilizational collapse, and how to stave it off or survive it. Named after the legendary character "Crazy Eddie" in Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's "The Mote in God's Eye." Expect news and views about culture, politics, economics, technology, and science fiction.
President Biden delivers the State of the Union address and gets heckled by Republicans. Plus, Mitt Romney has a heated exchange with George Santos, and the Twitter hearings address Chrissy Teigen's insults directed at Donald Trump.
I miss Samantha Bee, but Handler's breezy style makes for a good short-term substitute for Bee and her unique perspective.
Seth takes a closer look at President Biden making a point of focusing on kitchen table issues during his State of the Union address while House Republicans like Marjorie Taylor Greene focused on things like why Twitter censored Hunter Biden's Nudes.
Seeing Greene together with Lauren Boebert reminds me of this meme that my friend Nonnie9999 made for me.
Given what both of them sounded like at the hearing and what Greene sounded and looked like at the State of the Union, that cartoon strikes me as about right.
Gordon Ramsay is on the show tonight and that always puts us in a great mood. But that good mood becomes testy when James and his producers squabble over some calendar math. In the news, LeBron and President Joe Biden broke records. And James gives a State of the Union recap, including Mitt Romney's exchange with George Santos, Kyrsten Sinema's bowtie pasta look and lots of booing.
On the one hand, this clip shows the lack of focus that discourages me from using Corden's clips. On the other hand, what he and his writers planned reinforced the points made in the clip from "The Daily Show": more people cared about LeBron James beating Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's record than the State of the Union, Mitt Romney dissed GeorgeSantos, who deserved it, whatever Romney said, and KyrstenSinema dressed to draw attention to herself. On balance, it was worth embedding.
I've had enough of the State of the Union. Let's see if I can blog about something else tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Meyers isn't the only late-night talk show host with blistering monologues on guns and guests favoring gun control. Both Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel did as well. Maybe I will post them, too. Stay tuned.
After at least 20 people were shot and killed in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, James shares his sense of heartbreak about the day's events and frustration about the way nothing ever seems to change when it comes to America's rampant gun violence.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern outlines what her country's government did to enact sensible gun control after a terrible mass shooting in Christchurch.
Prime Minister Ardern also talked about what her country did to reduce the effects of the pandemic, something I haven't written about before. In fact, I've never mentioned New Zealand's Prime Minister before. Welcome to the blog, Prime Minister!*
Follow over the jump for two of Stephen's monologues about guns and another guest who discussed the topic.
Seth and James Corden put aside their intense white-hot rivalry to work together in support of Climate Night.
That was an effective and funny introduction to a joint hour of climate-themedcomedy shows for Climate Night. Follow over the jump to watch the clips Seth and James mentioned in their joint segment.
When I covered scripted short form nominees last year, I expressed a concern about Quibi.
Quibi's 10 nominations have brought the short-form streaming service much needed attention for something other than its weak subscription numbers. That's good, but while Emmy nominations are a sign of quality, they are no guarantee of long-term survival. Al Jazeera Americaearned lots of Emmy nominations for news but shut down just the same after less than three full years. I wish Quibi better luck with its business.
In this case, the network was canceled, but the shows were renewed.*
Now the nominees.
Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series
Carpool Karaoke: The Series (Apple TV) Late Night with Seth Meyers: CORRECTIONS (YouTube) The Randy Rainbow Show (YouTube) Reno 911! (Quibi) Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News (Paramount+)
This is a very different looking category from last year because the Television Academy merged Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series with Outstanding Short Form Variety Series to recreate Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series. Consequently, more of last year's Short Form Variety Series appear here than the sole returning scripted comedy from last year, "Reno 911!" At least the addition of variety nominees didn't dilute the political and government content, with "Late Night with Seth Meyers: CORRECTIONS," "The Randy Rainbow Show,", and "Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News" providing a lot of political content to go along with the funny cops of "Reno 911!" While I'm rooting for "Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News," I expect "Carpool Karaoke: The Series" will win instead. I've learned not to underestimateJames Corden. At least he's not nominated for acting, which is next.
Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series
Kevin Hart as Kevin Hart on Die Hart (Quibi)
John Lutz as Gilbert Pewntz on Mapleworth Murders (Quibi)
Brendan Scannell as Pete Devon on Bonding (Netflix)
J. B. Smoove as Chief Billy Bills on Mapleworth Murders (Quibi)
John Travolta as Ron Wilcox on Die Hart (Quibi)
The only nominees depicting government employees in this field are J. B. Smoove as Chief Billy Bills and John Lutz as Gilbert Pewntz on "Mapleworth Murders" and I don't think either are the favorite. Instead, I'm picking Kevin Hart from "Die Hart," a show about Hollywood, which will earn votes when all else is equal. I could be wrong, as John Travolta's role was written for Bruce Willis, who turned it down. That might be a big enough role that he could upset Hart or split the vote, letting Brendan Scannell sneak past for the award
Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series
Nathalie Emmanuel as Jordan King on Die Hart (Quibi)
Kerri Kenney-Silver as Deputy Trudy Wiegel on Reno 911! (Quibi)
Keke Palmer as Barbie / Gammy Tay / Lil Thad / Miranda / Rick on Keke Palmer's Turnt Up with the Taylors (Facebook Watch)
Paula Pell as Mrs. Abigail Mapleworth on Mapleworth Murders (Quibi)
While Kerri Kenney-Silver is both the only returning nominee and only nominee playing a government employee, I'm not sure she's the favorite. Nathalie Emmanuel seems to be participating in her awards campaign on Twitter and Paula Pell is the actual star of her own show, so I think both of them have better chances.
Stay tuned for more posts about Emmy nominees, most likely about variety talk shows.
*That's not quite a first, as UPN and WB merged to create The CW and the most successful shows from both ended up on The CW, but at least there was some corporate continuity between the old and new networks. That's not the case here. At least Roku is here to run the awards campaign.
It was a big weekend for politicians on both sides of the aisle, as the former president spoke to a gathering of ultra-conservative Republicans in Florida and New York’s governor Andrew Cuomo faced calls for his resignation after two former staffers leveled allegations of sexual harassment against him.
I'm afraid "nothing is ever over as long as Donald Trump can make money off of it" will come true. While "I'm looking forward to not having to pay attention to Donald Trump again,...wait[ing] until January 20, 2021 for that to be completely true" may not be enough. Sigh.
Sometimes I hate being right.
On the other hand, there are times when I'm glad I'm right. I shared Grace Randolph's prediction that Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, and Atticus Ross would win Best Original Score at the Golden Globes and then shared a video about the music. While I can't claim credit for Grace's opinion, I can claim credit for supporting her correct forecast. Watch Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste: Best Motion Picture Score - 2021 Golden Globes from NBC.
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste accept the award for Best Original Score, Motion Picture, for Soul at the 78th annual Golden Globe Awards.
Seth takes a closer look at former President Donald Trump making his first post-presidency public appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where he and his fellow Republicans continued to repeat their deranged lies.
In addition to making fun of the CPAC attendees, Seth focused on how well Trump and the other elected officials attending handled the pandemic. In particular, he contrasted how Trump's "Totally Under Control" shtick aged rapidly and poorly with how the reputation of Dr. Anthony Fauci has risen outside of conservative circles, including Brad Pitt played him on "Saturday Night Live," a performance that earned an Emmy nomination. I'd much rather be in Dr. Fauci's position than Trump's about the pandemic!
I have mixed feelings about Cuomo's postponing New York's presidential primary from April to June. It's probably a good thing from a public health perspective — the pandemic is likely to be subsiding by June — but it may not be great for democracy. In particular, the date set is after the deadline set by the DNC, so New York may get penalized by having fewer delegates accredited.
In contrast to Seth, Jimmy Kimmel's monologue had his usual wider array of subjects but still ignored Cuomo's troubles. I guess that happens when the show is broadcast out of Los Angeles instead of New York City. Watch Trump Emerges for Crazy Self-Love Fest at CPAC.
Jimmy talks about the mysterious creature known as Donald Trump returning to the stage for CPAC this weekend to talk about Biden’s first month in office and tease a potential 2024 run, the crazy merchandise sold for the event, all the laughs everyone there had, newscasters once again can’t believe that we’ve started a new month, Jodie Foster thanking Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in her Golden Globes acceptance speech, Cousin Sal winning his first award, the end of Black History Month, and we give “The Bachelor: Women Tell All” the toddler treatment.
That golden Trump statue elicited comparisons to the Golden Calf, which trended on Twitter last week, and elicited me to tweet "I should not have been surprised to see #GoldenCalf trend during the Year of the Metal Ox." Personally, I think it looks like a repurposed Big Boy figure and I'm not surprised that it was made in Mexico. LOL, irony.
Returning to the Golden Globes, I wrote "I'm rooting for Foster, the nominee from the most political movie with a nominee in this category." I'm glad to see I got my wish as well as Jimmy K. explaining why Foster thanked Aaron Rogers in her acceptance speech. Congratulations!
I conclude today's post by outsourcing my reaction to Trump speaking at CPAC to James Corden, answering his own question Did We Miss Trump?? Nope, Not Really.
James Corden kicks off the show with a pledge to go all-in to celebrate both of Ian Karmel's parents' birthdays this week. And James catches up on the headlines, including Donald Trump taking the stage at CPAC and beginning with a line usually reserved for movie villains. After, James, Ian and Reggie Watts tackle the French accent and James longs to bring the show to Australia.
I'm 100% with you, James, I don't miss Trump as President, either.
Happy, SuperBowlSunday! I'm celebrating this year by concentrating on a featured entertainer probably for the first time since Predictions vs. reality for Katy Perry at the Super Bowl, although calling Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman mere entertainment does her a disservice. I expect her reading will be truly inspirational instead of merely sentimental.
Amanda Gorman discusses reading her poem “The Hill We Climb” at President Biden’s inauguration, what poetry means to her and her upcoming Super Bowl performance.
This is the one interview I'm embedding today that mentions Gorman speaking at the Super Bowl, so of course I'm placing it first. I don't think she realizes how much larger an audience she will have during the game than for the Inauguration, even though the latter is technically more important. Remember, entertainment getsAmericans to act.
James Corden connects with Amanda Gorman, who captured the collective attention of Americans with her striking poem, "The Hill We Climb," during the inauguration ceremony for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. James asks Amanda about her journey from being selected to standing at the podium delivering her art to the world. And Amanda talks about her coming children's book, "Change Sings," which is already atop the chart.
Welcome to fame, Amanda. May it treat you well and may you continue using your fame for good.
Redditors boost the stock price of GameStop to insane numbers, the pandemic possibly creates a baby bust, and the Baseball Hall of Fame inducts no new players this year.
Good use of "The Big Short" to explain the situation. Other comedians will reference that scene later.
Before I move on the rest of the monologues last night, I'm thanking Trevor and his writers for including a perfect callback to yesterday's CNBC asks 'Is The U.S. Running Out Of People?' I like good transitions and I couldn't have imagined a better one between yesterday's post about population and today's about stocks.
Stephen has the perfect explainer video for anyone trying to figure out what the heck is happening on Wall Street, as giant hedge funds get brutally punished by swarms of Reddit users harnessing their collective power to boost GameStop's stock price.
The opening of this monologue harks back to the failedself-coup and the kind of peoplewho supported it. Consider that a preview of coming attractions on this blog as I make fun of Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, and other members of the "QAnonCaucus" in the coming months.
Stephen mentioned the Margot Robbie scene from "The Big Short," but created his own version. I like the visual explanation in it better. Beanie Babies, which we'll see again as well, make for a good concrete example. Robbie was too distracting in the original and seeing Trevor's head on her was even more distracting.
Follow over the jump for two more monologues that featured GameStop and its stock.
Desus & Mero (Showtime)
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (TBS)
The Kelly Clarkson Show (NBC/Syndicated)
Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)
Red Table Talk (Facebook Watch)
Not seeing Emmy winner "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" among the nominees surprised me. I guess the Critics Choice Association (CCA) didn't think his most recent season was worthy. As I keep saying when I analyze awards shows, electorates matter. I'm even more surprised that the CCA didn't renominate one of last year's co-winners, "The Late Late Show with James Corden." After watching his his monologues during lockdown, I can see why. He, his announcer, and his band are a bit too relaxed and start the show too slowly for my taste. On the other hand, I think last year's returning co-winner "Late Night with Seth Meyers" got sharper when produced from Seth's home, becoming even more of a favorite to repeat.
While I like Seth, his show is my third choice; my top two are "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," which I used for the preview image because the other talk shows haven't posted a promotional tweet about their nominations, and "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee." Speaking of which, here is the image "Late Night with Seth Meyers" tweeted out when the show won last year.
Good luck to all the nominees and may the most entertaining and insightful show win!
*That's because today is IrishCoffeeDay, when I celebrate Coffee Party USA's birthday a day early, so I'm writing a birthday post for them today, too. Writing a short entry is my way of making time for this. Don't worry, I plan on blogging about comedy series nominees tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Seth takes a closer look at the Republicans who incited the violent insurrection at the Capitol telling everyone it's "time to move on" after House Democrats unveiled a text of impeachment calling for the removal of President Trump through the 25th Amendment.
Stephen didn't get a lot of sleep last weekend, as horrific scenes from last week's violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol played over and again in his head. It now appears clear that the armed mob, who were organized and cheered on by the president and his GOP backers in the House and Senate, came to the nation's capital prepared to commit acts of violence against members of Congress and Vice President Mike Pence.
If Colbert had included a clip of the "60 Minutes" interview and mentioned impeachment in the description, I would have placed this video first; it's that great a take-down of not just soon to be ex-President Donald Trump but also his enablers, including Mike Pence, Republicans in Congress, and the rioters.
Trump is set to make history as the first U.S. President to get impeached twice, his relationship with VP Mike Pence is said to be on the rocks, Melania was reportedly doing a photoshoot during the attacks at the Capitol, we look back at Hillary Clinton’s warning during the 2016 election, the FBI made a statement that MAGA rioters may try to storm capitols in all 50 states, Trump got the boot from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & Snapchat, the PGA has chosen not to hold their championship at his golf course in New Jersey, and after a Harvard research assistant noticed a correlation between angry reviews on the Yankee Candle website and COVID, Jimmy got in touch with their Vice President of Fragrance (Andy Daly) to see what’s been going on.
Once again, Kimmel has the most comprehensive video descriptions; every subject of his monologue merited a mention. In particular, I'm glad to see he gave Melania Trump's statement the attention it deserved and reminded his viewers that there is still a pandemic going on.
Follow over the jump for Fallon's and Corden's monologues, which handled the situation with a lighter touch, including more about Trump losing his Twitter account.
I might get around to the results of the Georgia Senate runoff elections tomorrow or the day after. I suspect I will be posting the reactions of the late-night talk show hosts to today's violence instead. Stay tuned.
After the unprecedented assault on democracy that took place in the Capitol Building today, Stephen Colbert kicks off his LIVE monologue with a message for cowardly Republican lawmakers who for five years have coddled the president's fascist rhetoric: there will be a terrible price to pay.
Jimmy gives his thoughts on the angry mob of Trump supporters storming the capitol building in Washington D.C. today, Mike Pence shutting down Donald Trump's request to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which shouldn't, Senators Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley and others keeping this stolen election charade going, Democrats gaining control of the Senate after a double victory in Georgia's runoff election, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump going after the Republican establishment, and we revisit Trump's inauguration speech with the benefit of hindsight.
Not only are Kimmel's video descriptions the most comprehensive of all the late night talk show hosts, his monologues can be as well. In particular, I'm glad he called out all of Trump's supporters who enabled yesterday's assault on the rule of law and representative democracy. They deserved it.
Follow over the jump for the rest of last night's monologues.
I couldn't escape Trump calling the Georgia Secretary of State, which most of my fellow liberal and progressive bloggers are jumping on. I will say that I've seen this movie before, as it looks like a sequel to the phone call that got Trump impeached. Some people never change and Trump is one of them.
Part of it was sheer exhaustion at Trump's ridiculous yet criminal behavior. AsI'vewrittenmanytimesthepasttwomonths, "I'm looking forward to not having to pay attention to Donald Trump again. I'll just have to wait until January 20, 2021 for that to be completely true." The other part was that I knew exactly who could express my thoughts and feelings and I was waiting for them to chime in. Yes, folks, it's time for the late night talk show hosts.
Seth takes a closer look at President Trump trying his hardest to get impeached again and prosecuted after he pressured the Georgia secretary of state to overturn election results.
When Bob Woodward Carl Bernstein says something is worse than Watergate, I believe him. He'd know. Also, I don't think of Seth as physical comedian, but Trump certainly inspired some of his best body language comedy I've ever seen from him. As for Seth saying that Republicans are a threat to democracy, that reminds me that the most popular post people were perusing from the past last Friday was Keith Olbermann thinks Trump is a threat to democracy. Keith was right.
Stephen Colbert returns for his first monologue of 2021 and dives right into the maelstrom surrounding the president's shady phone call to Georgia election officials.
Since this was the last Jimmy Kimmel Live of the year, it reminded me that it's time to start posting retrospectives of the year. I'd like to save that until between Christmas and New Year. Let's see how long I can hold off.
It turns I couldn't, simply because two of my favorite late nighttalk show hosts, my other go-to source of material when I don't want to write or think too much, had their last shows of the year last night and opened with recaps of the year about to end.
For his final monologue of 2020, Stephen Colbert recaps the year that brought us the clumsiest coup in history, a global pandemic, one of the most active hurricane seasons on record, a presidential election, and so much more. Join us for this epic trek down recent memory lane.
As we wrap up a year that most of us would like to largely forget, James Corden runs through a rapid-fire recap of 2020. It began normal with Parasite winning the Oscar and J. Lo rocking the Super Bowl halftime show, but took a turn when COVID-19 worked its way across the globe. And it only got more dramatic from there.
Wow, that zipped along! I wish I could say the same about 2020.
Jimmy and Andrew Rannells recap the year 2020 through Broadway songs like "Defying Gravity" from Wicked, "Memory" from Cats and "My Shot" from Hamilton.
That's about as sentimental a sendoff as this year deserves.
2020 was a year that everyone should erase from their memory... except for maybe if you saw that picture of Chris Evans.
With that, I have closed the circle on this entry, even though I'm far from done with this year. I'm also far from done with grading, so it's off to correcting more papers!
After two days featuringlate-night talk show hosts making fun of the news, I was thinking of posting something more serious today. That went out the window when Rudy Giuliani came to Michigan to put on a dog-and-pony show before a committee of the state legislature and it went viral. Since this is a Michigan-based blog and the story attracted national attention, I couldn't resist. Besides, it held great comedy value. Watch James Corden's monologue A Star Witness Was Born in Michigan Thanks to Rudy and be patient; after Corden and his crew discuss holiday shopping, it's the first news story mocked.
James Corden kicks off the show and admits he's a bit freaked out about his lack of Christmas shopping to this point. After, he looks at the headlines, notably Rudy Guiliani heading to Michigan in the latest chapter of the election fight for President Donald Trump. But Rudy's star witness Melissa Carone stole the show with her antics. And James bravely declares he's willing to get the COVID-19 vaccine on television with former presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama.
That's a very comprehensive video description, but whoever manages The Late Late Show's YouTube account will have to work harder to write more complete summaries than their counterpart at Jimmy Kimmel Live. Speaking of which, here's Kimmel's monologue, Trump & Giuliani’s Falsehoods, Fraud & Farts.
Los Angeles is under a “Safer at Home” order, LeBron James & Anthony Davis just signed up to stay with the Lakers, the Trumps took part in the 98th annual Tree Lighting, Presidents Obama, Clinton & Bush are joining forces to get the COVID-19 vaccine on TV, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is getting ready for two holiday parties at the State Department this month, Trump isn’t happy with Attorney General Bill Barr, VP Mike Pence is distancing himself from election fraud claims, Rudy Giuliani is leading craziness and passing gas at “election hearings,” Trump released a 46 minute video full of falsehoods, our first ever edition of “Masking Questions,” and This Week in Unnecessary Censorship.
Not only is that a comprehensive video description, it's a pretty comprehensive summary of the antics of both Giuliani and his witness, Melissa Carone. Also, the story about the former presidents getting vaccinated against the novel coronavirus is good news that nearly all the talk show hosts mentioned. As for Trump's 46-minute video, I think that's as much of it as I want to watch. Any more would cost me both intelligence and sanity.
Follow over the jump for more monologues featuring the hearing in Michigan.
Trump eyes preemptive pardons for his family, Giuliani asks the president for his own pardon, and rogue lobbyists may have offered Trump cash in exchange for clemency.
I think the answer is yes for at least some of them, especially if he can get someone to write it for him. As for pardoning himself, that would mean he thinks he did something wrong. I wouldn't bet on that.
James Corden looks at the headlines, including reports of an investigation into a possible pay-for-presidential pardon scheme, and reports that President Donald Trump is considering pardons for most of his children. And James admits he's not cut out for the swingers lifestyle.
Colbert likes making Eric the butt of jokes about which of his children Trump ignores the most, as you'll see in the next video, but Corden knows it's really Tiffany. I'm with Corden on that.
Before I move on, the "whale vomit" Corden is rambling on about is almost certainly ambergris, which is produced by sperm whales. I could write an entire post explaining what it is and answering his questions, but that would be a distraction from the subject at hand. Some other time.
The president brought along props for his 46-minute ramble of a speech posted to Facebook, but even he seemed to understand how poorly his lies would be received.
I don't agree that there is no wrong match; I'm pretty sure Ivanka has never paid off a porn star for her silence. Meanwhile, the prospect of a presidential pardon extended Joe Exotic's 15 minutes of fame. Joe Exotic also made a cameo in Jimmy Kimmel's monologue, Trump Superspreads Christmas Cheer at White House Party, who at least included pardons in his video description. Kimmel always has the most comprehensive video descriptions for his monologues.
Jimmy reveals his top Spotify song and artist of the year, the Trump administration reveals the roll out plan for the vaccine, Jimmy has an idea to help keep the vaccine cold enough during distribution, the McRib makes its glorious return, Donald and Melania host a superspreader Christmas party at the White House, the Pences unveil their holiday decorations, and Trump considers a long list of pardons including a very interesting one for the Tiger King himself, and a battle of the ages where we pit 87-year-old Bobbe against 15-year-old Asiyah in a new Generation Gap with special guest George Clooney!
"To beat a sleepy Joe, it takes a crazy Joe." That's a great slogan, but it will never happen for no other reason than Trump not tolerating someone else stealing the spotlight from him, which Joe Exotic would. Also, unless he's switched parties lately, Exotic is a Libertarian, not a Republican, and he proved himself too weird even for the Libertarians. Still, great joke.
Finally, I know the answer Kimmel was looking when he asked "who was the best Batman" was George Clooney, who certainly is the most famous actor to play Batman followed by Ben Affleck, but I would have been a smart aleck and said Christian Bale or Kevin Conroy, who was the voice of the animated Batman. That would have been on par with what I told a barista years ago.
I used to frequent a coffee shop chain (not the one named after the character in "Moby Dick," speaking of whales) that wrote a question of the day on a blackboard by the cash register. Back then, if a customer answered the question correctly, they would get a credit on the company's frequent customer program. One day, the question was "what is the hippopotamus's closest relative?" I told the cashier "the answer you're looking for is the pig, but it's wrong. The correct answer is the whale." She still punched a hole in my frequent customer card.
Unlike the barista, I don't think I Kimmel would have given me the 50 points, even if I thought my answer was correct and I asked him to "pardon me" for my opinion.
The president seems willing to take the entire GOP down with his ship as he continues his losing effort to uncover fraud and casts doubt among Republican voters about the integrity of Georgia's election system ahead of the crucial double Senate runoff.
Nothing like a conspiracy theory shooting its supposed beneficiaries in their feet. Normally, I would try to debunk the conspiracy theory while making fun of it. In this case, I'll just make fun of it. As Napoleon is reputed to have said, "Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake."
In Even Bill Barr Can’t Support Trump’s Election Ruse, Jimmy Kimmel didn't mention the effect of Trump's conspiracy theories on the Georgia Senate runoffs, but he made jokes about all the rest of the post-election news that Colbert described.
Day 28 of #Squattergate is upon us, Trump has been making money off of post-election donations, Attorney General Bill Barr claims that there was no widespread voter fraud, the Governor of Arizona Doug Ducey and Donald Trump are at odds over election results, President-Elect Joe Biden shows off his new orthopedic boot, Rudy Giuliani is reportedly looking for a presidential pardon, and Jimmy and Guillermo dress up as elves to find out if kids have been naughty or nice.
When Kimmel said the next four years are going to be boring, I thought "good, I could use more boring." Also, the video description tempted me to write "28 days later" instead of "28 days after the vote," but this entry isn't about zombiemovies, even if it's about a zombie campaign.
Joe Biden selects a diverse group for positions in his cabinet, Arizona’s governor ignores a call from the White House, and President Trump racks up more than $170 million in donations to his Election Defense Fund.
Noah wasn't alone in wondering how Trump's campaign and Trump himself would spend the $170 million raised since the election. James Corden asked about that in Trump Is Loving the Support from @Catturd2.
James Corden is excited to show off Studio 56 decorated for Christmas, and jumps into the headlines including Attorney General William Barr announcing the Department of Justice has not found any evidence of election fraud. And James wonders what President Donald Trump, who was recently busy retweeting someone with the username @catturd2, will do with the $170M he has raised since the election.
After watching Arizona Governor Doug Ducey ignore Trump's call four times, I'm tempted to call that ringtone "Fail to the Chief." That is, until January 20, 2020 after Noon Eastern Time, when I'll call it "Hail to the Chief" again.
We all knew Donald Trump would do this, that he would refuse to show dignity in defeat. But what we didn't expect is how much it would hurt. Watch Stephen Colbert process his feelings in real time as he delivers a new monologue written in the wake of the President's sad, frightening remarks in the White House briefing room.
Wow, Stephen, tell us how you really feel. Seriously, I've never seen him so pissed!
Another stressful day in America started with Trump tweeting “STOP THE COUNT” in regard to votes, an angry mob of his supporters descended on a ballot counting center in Phoenix last night, Trump’s spiritual advisor threw a Hail Mary on his behalf, Trump got up to the podium in the White House to give a speech filled with lies, threats and attacks on democracy, and to top it all off, his former Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney indicated that he expects Trump to run again in 2024, and because of the mid-season change on “The Bachelorette,” Jimmy’s wife Molly takes to the Magic Wall to pick the guy who she thinks will win Tayshia’s heart.
Looks like Kimmel kept his prepared monologue, right down to the news clips, including the one from Detroit, and of Trump's spiritual advisor, who sounds like she's speaking in tongues (maybe she is).
James Corden recaps the Thursday after the presidential election while the country waits for Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia to count every vote while President Donald Trump files lawsuits and undermines the election claiming every kind of fraud imaginable.
Happy NationalPresidentialJoke Day! To celebrate, I am covering Emmy nominations of shows that make jokes about the President, which are variety talk shows. To begin, here are the nominations from the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards entry on Wikipedia.
Outstanding Variety Talk Series
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Comedy Central) Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (TBS) Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)
The favorite is "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver," which won four Emmy Awards last year and is the four-time returning winner in this category. It also has the most nominations this year, eight. Next comes "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah" with five, six counting "Between the Scenes," followed by "Full Frontal With Samantha Bee" with two, four if one counts her short form shows, putting her ahead of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" each with three and that last only if one counts Kimmel's short form spinoffs. As I wrote last year, "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" leads variety talk shows in Emmy Awards nominations yet again.
Foreign leaders (Jimmy Fallon, Paul Rudd, James Corden) that were caught making fun of President Trump (Alec Baldwin) at the NATO summit continue their taunting in the cafeteria.
I'll be honest; if it weren't for James Corden as Boris Johnson taping to the "Impeach Me" sign to Alec Baldwin as Trump, I might have not embedded this video because, as funny as it is, it wouldn't have fit the theme.
Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like the House democrats moving forward with impeachment against Donald Trump.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Kate McKinnon) stop by Weekend Update address a reporter's accusation that she hates President Trump and to offer him a prayer.
Kate McKinnon and the writers did a good job of lampooning Pelosi. Just the same, I don't know if I'd those prayers said on my behalf.
That's it for the Sunday entertainment feature. I'll conclude by being a good environmentalist and recycling my closing from two weeks ago: "I like the news better when I can laugh at it. I think my readers do, too. Happy Sunday!"
Billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg floats a late-in-the-game White House bid and is met with resistance from the Democrats already in the race.
Those are some impressive put-downs from other candidates, especially Bernie Sanders.
James Corden recaps the news of day, including reports that Michael Bloomberg may enter the 2020 presidential race and some of the sights and sounds of President Trump's rally in Louisiana.
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Comedy Central) Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (TBS) Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) The Late Late Show with James Corden (CBS) The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)
"Last Week Tonight With John Oliver" is the three-timereturningwinner, as well as the most nominated variety talk series, so it's the favorite. As for the other nominees, "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" has less than half the nominations of "Last Week Tonight" with four, followed by three for "The Late Late Show with James Corden" proper, twp each for "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee" and "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah" each have two, and only this one for "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"
Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series
Documentary Now! (Episode: "Waiting for the Artist"), Directed by Alex Buono and Rhys Thomas (IFC) Drunk History (Episode: "Are You Afraid of the Drunk?"), Directed by Derek Waters (Comedy Central) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (Episode: "Psychics"), Directed by Paul Pennolino (HBO) The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (Episode: "Live Midterm Election Show"), Directed by Jim Hoskinson (CBS) Saturday Night Live (Episode: "Host: Adam Sandler"), Directed by Don Roy King (NBC) Who Is America? (Episode: "Episode 102"), Directed by Sacha Baron Cohen, Nathan Fielder, Daniel Gray Longino and Dan Mazer (Showtime)
Documentary Now! (IFC) Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (TBS) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC) The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS) Saturday Night Live (NBC)
