Closer looks at Trump's probation interview and Las Vegas rally from Meyers, Colbert, and Fallon

Happy Tuesday, which means it's time for closer looks at the weekend's news with late night talk show hosts. I begin with Seth Meyers' Trump Meets with Probation Officer After Bizarre Rally Rant About Sharks: A Closer Look, which like last week's segment, I watched with my wife last night.

Seth takes a closer look at Trump meeting with a probation officer after holding his first large rally since his guilty verdict, where he screamed about teleprompters, batteries and sharks.

Who needs to watch Chris Hayes on MSNBC when Seth's staff selects the best clips and makes them funny? Speaking of MSNBC, the following image from Ari Melber's show illustrates a problem Donald Trump has with probation, associating with known felons.


While "Hoover Cleveland," my new nickname for him, is probably done with a lot of this rogues gallery, he took Paul Manafort back into his 2024 campaign.* I don't know if Manafort's pardon prevents probation from prohibiting personal contact. If not, that could make running the campaign difficult. Darn.

Stephen Colbert paid more attention to the rally in Trump’s Bull**** Rally | “I Don’t Care About You. I Just Want Your Vote” | MTG: Trump Is Like Jesus.

The former president spent his weekend making speeches on the campaign trail where he revealed his true feelings about his voters, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene likened him to the son of God.

That was a terrible thing for Hoover Cleveland to say, but his core voters don't seem to care. At least it was honest, which is a rare event. As for MTG, there's nothing I can say that Randy Rainbow hasn't said and sung better.

Jimmy Kimmel was off last night, so I'm turning to Jimmy Fallon for Trump Meets with His Probation Officer, Goes on Unhinged Shark Rant at Vegas Rally | Tonight Show.

Jimmy addresses the latest news, like Time magazine interviewing both Trump and Biden, Trump's first meeting with his New York probation officer and Martha's Vineyard being close to running out of marijuana.

First, any time Hoover Cleveland tells a "Sir" story, don't believe him. Second, he's showing that he's more scared of sharks than of electric vehicles. Third, he's a little early for Shark Week. That begins on July 7th.

Tomorrow is Loving Day, but I don't know if I can top what I wrote two years ago. Stay tuned to see what I blog about tomorrow.

*Hoover Cleveland — Hoover because he's the first U.S. President to have a net job loss during his term since Herbert Hoover, Cleveland because he's trying to repeat what Grover Cleveland achieved, earn a second non-consecutive term. It helps that both were Republicans.

George Santos responds to his impersonators, who clap back

I predicted that George Santos would be a great inspiration for comedy as long as he stays in the news. That continues to be true, even or especially if Representative Santos objects, as Inside Edition reported in George Santos Says All of His Impersonators Are ‘Terrible’.

Embattled Congressman George Santos isn't impressed with his late-nite impersonators. Comedian Jon Lovitz even did his best Santos impression on "The Tonight Show." But apparently, Santos doesn't find any of this funny. He tweeted: "I have now been enshrined in late-night TV history with all these impersonations, but they are all terrible so far." Lovitz responded by saying "My pathological liar character can’t hold a candle to you!"

I missed Lovitz's impression in Meyers, Colbert, and Kimmel take closer looks at George Santos, so here it is: Congressman George Santos Addresses the Rumors About Him | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Congressman George Santos (Jon Lovitz) stops by the Tonight Show to put rumors about him to bed, like him lying about working for Goldman Sachs and being Jewish.

Lovitz didn't have to do much more to update his pathological liar character from "Saturday Night Live" other than wear the right clothes and glasses and make the wheels spinning in the character's head less obvious to get Santos right. All he needed was an updated version of "Morgan Fairchild, yeah, that's the ticket" when asked if he's dating anyone to completely link his old character to Santos. He did refer to another of his characters, The Critic, when he said "it stinks!" Yes, it does, but it's funny.

Follow over the jump for two of the impersonators, including Bowen Yang, who dragged Santos in SNL's first show of 2023, talking about their experiences impersonating the Representative.

Trevor Noah and Samantha Bee describe the lesser known effects of climate change

I closed Seth Meyers and James Corden team up for Climate Night "I plan on posting at least one more entry about Climate Night. Stay tuned." I decided to conclude with one final post featuring Climate Night materiaol, beginning with The Consequences of Climate Change You May Not Know About | The Daily Show.

We’re all familiar with the major effects of climate change, but a hotter Earth creates lots of smaller changes too: more female turtles, worse-tasting coffee, scary space junk and even less sex.

When I wrote "I've mentioned how climate change will affect coffee at least twice, but this is the first funny look at that outcome. It won't be the last" in Colbert and Kimmel kick off Climate Night, that's because I had already watched this clip. In fact, it was the first Climate Night monologue I saw. Behold the power of the YouTube algorithm!

Samantha Bee covered another little-known effect of climate change in Climate Change’s Dirty Little Secret: Sewage.

If you thought climate change was sh*tty, just wait until you hear about this extremely pressing climate change issue that no one’s talking about! That’s right, we need to discuss our nation’s sewage system.

While I didn't mention sewage in Detroit floods while the Pacific Northwest bakes in record temperatures, sewage overflows and backups were a major part of the flood damage in A billion dollar trash day. I was lucky that it didn't ruin anything in my basement at the time.

Since I want to share some sustainable actions, here's a bonus video featuring one of my heroes, Dr. Jane Goodall on the Environmental Importance of Planting Trees (Extended) | The Tonight Show.

Dr. Jane Goodall talks about her new campaign Trees for Jane and her new book The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times.

I think this is a good idea to combat climate change and improve the environment in other ways, as Dame Jane explains.

This concludes my coverage of Climate Night. Stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment feature.

Colbert and Fallon on McConnell and Trump reacting to corporations against Georgia's new voting restrictions

Neither the late night talk show hosts nor I are finished with corporations denouncing Georgia's restrictive voting laws and conservatives reacting angrily to the corporations. Stephen Colbert featured that conflict in McConnell's Hypocrisy On Corporate Speech Falls Flat As Big Brands Punish Georgia.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, once a staunch defender of the right of corporations to express themselves, is leading the GOP charge against companies like Coca-Cola and MLB who have protested Georgia's new voting restrictions.

Mitch McConnell wants to do what to the corporations' wallets? Well, it's only their wallets. Otherwise, I don't think his wife Elaine Chao would approve. In the meantime, I think the corporations should keep their wallets shut for McConnell.

Colbert wasn't the only comedian to follow Trevor Noah and Jimmy Kimmel in mocking conservatives for disapproving of corporations participating in the free market of ideas. Jimmy Fallon made Trump Wants His Supporters to Boycott Coca Cola the featured topic of his monologue.

Jimmy addresses Donald Trump asking his supporters to boycott Coca-Cola after they took a stand against Georgia's voter suppression laws.

As I wrote yesterday, making fun of Trump being a hypocrite is like laughing at water being wet. The same is true of mocking McConnell. Just the same, the irony and hypocrisy are breathtaking.

I will keep following the spat between the Republican Party and their hopefully former corporate donors, probably from a serious news perspective next. In the meantime, stay tuned for a Throwback Thursday retrospective at the top posts from the tenth year of the blog featuring Saturday Night Live on the 2020 election and its aftermath. The late night talk show hosts didn't have all the fun.

The giant impeach lands on Trump again as Colbert, Meyers, Kimmel, Fallon, and Bee take closer looks

I concluded Former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and others likely to be charged for roles in Flint Water Crisis with "I'll probably cover soon to be ex-President Donald Trump's second impeachment. Stay tuned." Probably? Who was I kidding? Of course I am! Watch the opening monologue of last night's The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, House Votes To Impeach And McConnell Provides Cover For GOP Senators To Break With The President to begin the coverage of yesterday's debate and vote.

For Americans eager to hold the president accountable for inciting a violent mob to attack Congress, Wednesday brought key glimmers of hope as the House of Representatives voted in favor of impeachment and a comment by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to give cover for Republican Senators to do the same when the trial begins in that chamber.

Once again, the giant impeach landed on soon to be ex-President Donald Trump. Splat!*

Of course, if Colbert is on something, Seth Meyers will be, too. Late Night with Seth Meyers uploaded Trump Is Now the Only President To Be Impeached Twice: A Closer Look to YouTube even before his show aired, which means it has more views than Colbert's monologue for once. Let's see how long that lasts.

Seth takes a closer look at the House voting to impeach President Trump for inciting the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, making him the first and only president in history to be impeached twice.

Seth had a good insight about Mitch McConnell's motivations in reportedly being pleased about impeachment. Not only would he like to be the leading Republican, he certainly wants the campaign contributions to return. Trump stands in the way of both of those goals. While I don't like him or Liz Cheney, I'll take their help if it leads to Trump being disqualified from ever holding office again.

Jimmy Kimmel joined in with Trump Impeached AGAIN After Inciting Violence at the Capitol.

Donald Trump made history today as the first president to be impeached twice, several Republicans in the House voted to hold Trump accountable while the rest of them put their crazy on full display, Chuck Norris set the record straight about being at the Capitol riots after a look-a-like photo circulated online, Nancy Pelosi’s stolen lectern was returned, several GOP members popped off about having to go through metal detectors on their way into the Capitol, VP Mike Pence received a vulgar threat from Trump, Mitch McConnell is said to be pleased about impeachment after years of supporting our dear misleader, and Jimmy checks in with our favorite stoner from Michigan, Freddie Miller.

Before the 2020 U.S. presidential election, I didn't include Kimmel very often in these compilations, but I've learned to enjoy his monologues. Besides, I think his comedy improved as the news got worse. Also, he and his writers are willing to do silly things other late night talk show hosts aren't, like running Devin Nunes through a Snapchat clown filter. It made watching and listening to him tolerable.

Since this is a Michigan-based blog that occasionally covers marijuana legalization, I enjoyed watching Freddie Miller, although I don't know if Kimmel's idea of casting him on "The Bachelor" would be a good idea outside of comedy, not unless the producers recruit women that would fit better on "The Real World" than the usual glamorous types competing on "The Bachelor." That might be a train wreck worth watching.

Speaking of silly takes on yesterday's big news, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon had one in Trump Impeached for the Second Time.

Jimmy addresses the House voting on President Trump’s second impeachment.

I like the idea of Twitter rick-rolling Trump.

*For a bonus, I'm sharing Colbert's first guest segment, Samantha Bee On The Challenges Of Making A Comedy Show When The News Is So Upsetting.

Samantha Bee and Stephen talk about the unique challenges of making late night comedy shows when the news is so dour, and how they personally process troubling events like the MAGA insurrection. You can catch Samantha Bee on "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee" on TBS!

Samantha Bee didn't address today's impeachment directly on her show, instead concentrating on last week's attempted self-coup and its perpetrators and enablers, but she did so here. That and Bee describing her desire that Trump be gone so she and her writers can make fun of less distressing news are why I embedded this clip instead of one from her show. I might put together a compilation of clips from last night's "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee" tomorrow if I don't update the legal developments in the Flint Water Crisis. Stay tuned. In the meantime, I think it's only appropriate that Bee keeps bees; my favorite insects need all the friends they can get.

Meyers, Colbert, Kimmel, Fallon, and Corden take closer looks at Trump facing impeachment — again — and being banned from social media

When I wrote Leslie Stahl interviews Nancy Pelosi on '60 Minutes' after the siege of the Capitol, I had a good idea of what I'd be writing today, telling my readers "I'm sure I'll have the late night talk show hosts take on this interview tomorrow." It turned out only one of them did, Late Night with Seth Meyers, where Seth included a clip in House Democrats Move to Impeach Trump for Insurrection: A Closer Look.

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.

I'm going to paraphrase what I wrote about Stephen Colbert in Colbert, Kimmel, and Corden react to Trump's speech last night with derision and outrage plus a bonus Closer Look and recycled in Colbert, Kimmel, Meyers, Corden, and Fallon express outrage and offer comfort in response to yesterday's attempted self-coup; wow, Seth tell us how you really feel. Seriously, I've never seen him so pissed! I guess as more comes out about Wednesday's attempted self-coup, Seth and his writers have become more incensed than they were when he, Colbert, and Kimmel on called for Trump to resign or be removed by 25th Amendment or impeachment. Congress is doing its best to make that happen, although I suspect the best won't be good enough to get Trump out of office before next Wednesday the 20th at Noon.

Colbert himself remarked about his anger last Wednesday in The Terrorists Who Attacked Congress At The President's Direction Came Prepared To Kill.

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.

Jimmy Kimmel was just as outraged in Trump Booted from Twitter & Maybe the Presidency.

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.

Colbert, Meyers, and Fallon (finally) discuss the Georgia Senate runoff elections

Both Colbert and Meyers were preparing material about Seth describes how I feel. I would rather be writing about the results of the Senate runoff elections in Georgia, which turned out well for Democrats when Wednesday's attempted self-coup happened and the late night talk show hosts had to scrap that material. Last night, that story settled down enough, after calls for Trump to resign or be removed by the 25th Amendment or impeachment, that the two talk show hosts with shows last night all addressed it. The first was Stephen Colbert, who made the original topic planned for Wednesday the subject of his monologue, After A Rocky Week, Stephen Finally Gets To Celebrate The Georgia Senate Wins By Warnock And Ossoff.

Stephen kicks off our first Friday show of the new year with a segment we're calling "2021: The Week That Felt Like A Year." Luckily, thanks to our friend Stacey Abrams, there was some good news out of Georgia this week, and our host is finally able to celebrate it.

Yes, it really has been a long week. For what it's worth, Monday's news was "another perfect call" by the soon to be ex-President. I can understand why people would forget about that. As for returning to the movies, I can sympathize, but I can wait.

Seth Meyers didn't feature the news in his monologue last night, because he wasn't on, but he devote an entire interview segment to it overnight Wednesday into Thursday, Killer Mike Knew Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock Would Win the Georgia Runoff.

Killer Mike talks about Rev. Raphael Warnock’s character, the Georgia runoff election and what he hopes from a Biden-Harris presidency.

I did promise I'd share one of the interviews in Thursday's entry, but I wasn't originally planning on this one being one of them. Good thing I changed my mind after Colbert changed the subject.

Finally, Jimmy Fallon included the election results in Thank You Notes: Ossoff and Warnock, Kale Salads.

Jimmy pens thank you notes to this week's news for ruining Dry January, Bridgerton and other things.

I've mentioned that I don't use Fallon very often because his touch is too light, but that was a good joke.

Here's to sending off an eventful week. I hope next week is calmer, but I'm not terribly optimistic. How about you?

Colbert, Kimmel, Meyers, Corden, and Fallon express outrage and offer comfort in response to yesterday's attempted self-coup

I had a good idea of what I would blog about today when I concluded the body of A view of the 'coup attempt' from Michigan.

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.

That's exactly what I'm doing, beginning with Stephen Colbert asking Hey, Republicans Who Supported This President: Are We Great Again Yet? - LIVE MONOLOGUE.

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.

I'm going to be a good environmentalist and repeat what I wrote about Stephen's monologue in Colbert, Kimmel, and Corden react to Trump's speech last night with derision and outrage plus a bonus Closer Look: "Wow, Stephen, tell us how you really feel. Seriously, I've never seen him so pissed!" This time, I can say I have.*

The Late Show began their commentary on Donald Trump words and deeds in the cold open A Riot At The Capitol Is Exactly What The "Law And Order" President Wanted.



Fact check: America is certainly not feeling great.
Yes, "law and order" ended up being a big scam.

The next monologue I'm featuring is Jimmy Kimmel on Angry Trump Mob Storming the Capitol.

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.

Meyers, Colbert, Kimmel, Corden, and Fallon take closer looks at 'another perfect call'

I tried but failed to avoid the biggest political story of the weekend in yesterday's 3 million have already voted in the Georgia runoff elections where Biden, Harris, and Trump are campaigning.

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. As I've written many times the past two months, "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 Meyers kicks off today's recap of last night's monologues with Trump’s Phone Call with Georgia Election Officials Could Be a Crime: A Closer Look.

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.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert dedicated two segments to the call, beginning with last night's cold open, The President Just Called To Steal The Election.

In his now-infamous call with Georgia election officials, the president went for the high notes to make his case.

LOL, pitch perfect parody, pun intended!

Then Stephen launched into his monologue, Another Perfect Call: The President's Desperate Attempts To Steal The Election Continue.

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.

As for 2021 being different from 2020, so far, no. That might have to wait until January 20th at the earliest and more likely spring, as I wrote in More than 20 million COVID-19 cases and 350,000 deaths in U.S., the first pandemic update of 2021.

Follow over the jump for the rest of last night's monologues about the call.

Colbert, Corden, and Fallon run down 2020

I finished Seth Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel take closer looks at Trump saying he won't leave the White House wondering if I could resist the pull of the end of 2020.

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 night talk 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.

Stephen Colbert Hosts "2020: The Year That Took Years, What A Clusterfond Look Back".

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.

Colbert's show opened with another farewell to the year, which I'll embed at the end of the post. In the meantime, he mentioned the record setting Atlantic hurricane season, which I promised I might get to in Post-election pandemic update — 10 million total U.S. cases, record daily cases, COVID-19 vaccine, and transition team task force but haven't yet. That's still on my to-do list for this year, so be patient.

While Colbert looked at his top stories in some detail, James [Corden] Recaps 2020 in 3 Minutes, covered more stories in less time.

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.

Not to be left out, The Tonight Show got into the act early with "2020: The Musical" Jimmy Fallon and Andrew Rannells Recap the Year with Broadway Songs last week, even though it wasn't the last show of the year.

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.

I finish, as promised, with one more farewell to 2020 from Colbert and his writers, A Late Show's Holiday Message For 2020.

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!

Michigan hearing goes viral as Corden, Kimmel, Fallon, and Colbert spread the laughter

After two days featuring late-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.

SNL has fun with NATO summit and impeachment

Two weeks ago, SNL had fun with the first set of impeachment hearings and the fifth Democratic debate.  This week, there was no debate — the sixth one will happen next week — so impeachment was a major source of humor, beginning with NATO Cafeteria Cold Open, featuring an all-star cast of comedians as world leaders.

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.

SNL had more fun with impeachment in Weekend Update: Moving Forward with Impeachment.

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.

Finally, SNL returned to the topic of impeachment with its own take on Nancy Pelosi asking for articles of impeachment with Weekend Update: Nancy Pelosi Prays for 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!"

'Last Week Tonight' leads Outstanding Variety Talk Series nominees, again

I've already featured three Emmy-nominated episodes of "Last Week Tonight With John Oliver," the now-dead Sinclair-Tribune merger and long-dead Warren G. Harding, the Border Patrol, and North Korea and listed the awards for which they are nominated.  It's time to examine the competition for "Last Week Tonight," beginning with the other nominees for 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 Late Show with James Corden (CBS)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)

As I mentioned in the three previous entries, "Last Week Tonight" leads Variety Talk Series with nine nominations in eight categories.  That's both a repeat and an improvement from last year, when it earned eight nominations in seven categories.  It's also the two-time returning winner.  Based on that Emmy history, its winning Outstanding Achievement in Sketch/Variety Shows at the TCA Awards, and its lead in nominations, I think it is easily the favorite to win Outstanding Variety Talk Series for a third consecutive time.

Two shows tied for second among variety talk series, "Full Frontal With Samantha Bee" and "The Late Late Show With James Corden," each with four nominations.  If one insists on a tiebreaker, it would have come from the nominations for their secondary series or specials, "Full Frontal With Samantha Bee Presents: The Great American* Puerto Rico (*It's Complicated)" with three nominations while "Carpool Karaoke Primetime Special 2018" has three, "James Corden's Next James Corden" has two, and "Carpool Karaoke The Series" has one.  Adding these to the main show's nominations leads to seven for two incarnations of Bee's show and ten for all of Corden's shows, breaking the tie in favor of Corden and putting him ahead of John Oliver for total nominations.  That man is versatile!  "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" has three nominations, followed by "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and "The Daily Show With Trevor Noah" with two nominations each, although the nomination for "Between The Scenes - The Daily Show" would break that tie and put it up with Colbert's show.

The next category, Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series, has four variety talk nominees and one variety sketch nominee.

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)

No surprise, "Last Week Tonight" is the two-time returning winner here, too.  Based on that and its victory at the Writers Guild of America for Comedy/Variety Talk Series, I think it's once again the favorite.  Also, this is the only nomination for "Late Night with Seth Meyers" while "The Late Late Show With James Corden" does not have a nomination in this category.  Smart call.

The proportion of variety talk to variety sketch series continues to decline in the next category, Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series.

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (Episode: "Episode 2061"), Directed by Andre Allen (TBS)
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (Episode: "Episode 421"), Directed by Paul Pennolino (HBO)
The Late Late Show with James Corden (Episode: "Episode 0416"), Directed by Tim Mancinelli (CBS)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (Episode: "Episode 438"), Directed by Jim Hoskinson (CBS)
Portlandia (Episode: "Riot Spray"), Directed by Carrie Brownstein (IFC)
Saturday Night Live (Episode: "Host: Donald Glover"), Directed by Don Roy King (NBC)

For once, "Last Week Tonight" is not defending a category.  Instead, it's "Saturday Night Live."

A very similar field composes the nominees for Outstanding Interactive Program.

The Daily Show (Comedy Central)
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Online (TBS)
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
The Late Late Show with James Corden (CBS)
Saturday Night Live (NBC)

"Last Week Tonight" won this category last year and in 2015 with "The Late Late Show with James Corden," so I deem that "Last Week Tonight" is the favorite with "The Late Late Show" the most likely challenger to upset it.

Next, the last category that "Last Week Tonight" won last year, Outstanding Picture Editing for Variety Programming.

Dave Chappelle: Equanimity – Jeff U'ren (Netflix)
Drunk History – John Cason (Episode: "Heroines") (Comedy Central)
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Presents: The Great American* Puerto Rico (*It's Complicated) – Jesse Coane, Charles Divak, Daphne Gomez-Mena, Andrew Mendelson, Tennille Uithof and Ryan Barger (TBS)
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver – Anthony Miale (Segment: "Wax President Harding") (HBO)
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver – Ryan Barger (Segment: "Border Patrol") (HBO)
Carpool Karaoke Primetime Special 2018 – Brad Conlin and Tom Jarvis (CBS)

Yes, "Last Week Tonight" has two nominations.  That happened last year, but the voters consolidated on the better choice so that they didn't split their vote to allow another show to win.  I'm confident that they will do the same again this year.  Also, this is the first nomination for "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Presents: The Great American* Puerto Rico (*It's Complicated)" I mention.

For the next category, I am being a good environmentalist and recycling from Bill Nye, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and NASA all nominees at the 70th Emmy Awards.

Bill Nye Saves The World...has earned a nomination for Outstanding Production Design for a Variety, Reality, or Reality-Competition Series.  This is almost identical to the nomination it earned last year for Outstanding Production Design for a Variety, Nonfiction, Reality, or Reality Competition Programming.  Congratulations on the near-repeat!  On the other hand, Nye's series is competing against "Dancing With The Stars," "Last Week Tonight With John Oliver" (the episode on the now-dead Sinclair-Tribune merger and long-dead Warren G. Harding I already wrote about), "Saturday Night Live," and "The Voice."  "Saturday Night Live" won this Emmy Award last year and I think it's favored again this year.  As I wrote last year, "Bill Nye and Netflix should just be happy to get the nomination."

When I get around to Variety Sketch Series, I'll reuse this paragraph again.  I told you I am a good environmentalist!

The nominees continue to become more diverse for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety Series or Special.

60th Annual Grammy Awards (CBS)
Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert (NBC)
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (Episode: "Episode 421") (HBO)
The Oscars (ABC)
The Voice (Episode: "Live Finale (Part 2)") (NBC)

The Grammy Awards won this category last year, so I think they're the presumptive favorite.  My pick for upset would be "Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert."

Now, the last category in which "Last Week Tonight" is contending, Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Series.

The Big Bang Theory (Episode: "The Bow Tie Asymmetry") (CBS)
Dancing with the Stars (Episode: "Finale") (ABC)
Jimmy Kimmel Live! (Episode: "Jimmy Kimmel Live In Brooklyn: Billy Joel And Tracy Morgan") (ABC)
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (Episode: "Episode 421") (HBO)
Saturday Night Live (Episode: "Host: Donald Glover") (NBC)
The Voice (Episode: "Live Finale, Part 2") (NBC)

Hey, look, a scripted comedy among all the variety and reality-competition shows!  Everybody sing "One of these things is not like the others!"  Seriously, "The Big Bang Theory" has won this award before, but the returning victor is "Saturday Night Live," which I expect will repeat with the possibility of being upset by "Dancing with the Stars," which won the award year before last.

Follow over the jump for the categories in which the other variety talk series hosts have nominated shows.

Late night comedians on Space Force for Presidential Joke Day

It's National Presidential Joke Day, for which I promised "some late night humor at Donald Trump's expense" when I concluded Pence on Space Force plus space law from Vintage Space, a Veep Day bonus.  It turns out that Veep Mike Pence's announcement about Space Force provided the perfect subject matter for today, which is "a day to recognize the humor often found and yet not so appreciated in the highest office in the land."

I begin with space enthusiast Stephen Colbert, who first mocked the idea on March 13th of this year, when he included Trump Presents 'Space Force: Episode Dumb' in his monologue.

Today Donald Trump is calling for a space military. Tomorrow he'll be calling for a space military parade.

Colbert spent about two-and-one-half minutes on the topic five months ago.  Last night, he devoted six minutes to Mike Pence Tries To Make Space Force Sound Less Dumb.

Vice President Mike Pence successfully gave a serious speech about Space Force while keeping a straight face.

The way Colbert shouted out "Space Force" reminded me of the music I heard in my head the first time I read about the idea, the theme from "Space Ghost."


I'm surprised the band didn't play the theme.  Then again, the members may be too young to know it.

Follow over the jump for more jokes about Space Force from Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Trevor Noah, and Samantha Bee.

National TV Talk Show Host Day

Happy National TV Talk Show Host Day!

On October 23rd get ready to go live before a studio audience on National TV Talk Show Host Day!  Created to pay tribute to TV talk show hosts and appreciate their unique form of humor, entertaining stories, spontaneous wit and timely political jokes. 

Talk shows come in a variety of platforms.  Daytime talk shows provide a combination of current events, health updates, technology news, and entertainment. The later the hour, the more comedy the TV talk show host dishes out. From practical jokes, impersonations, and sketches to games, sidekicks and audience participation.  Guests usually star in an upcoming film or made headlines for a stunt, good deed or unusual invention.

Each day we watch our favorite talk shows, and we laugh, cry, listen and learn. It is these great hosts that make the shows ones that we want to watch.

HOW TO OBSERVE

Watch your favorite TV talk show host and use #TVTalkShowHostDay to post on social media.

HISTORY

National TV Talk Show Host Day was chosen to be celebrated on The King of Late Night Television’s birthday.   John William “Johnny” Carson was born on October 23, 1925.  Carson was the host of The Tonight Show for thirty years (1962 – 1992).

To celebrate, I have recent clips from all the variety talk shows nominated at the Primetime Emmy Awards, beginning with "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver," winner of four Emmy Awards.  Follow over the jump!