The 2015 late-night season has officially begun. Although we’re still waiting on The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore (19 Jan) and The Late Late Show With James Corden (23 Mar), the week was not wanting for clips. Here’s the best from late-night desks this week:
Jimmy Fallon could have dated Nicole Kidman
This epic “he said, she said” between Jimmy Fallon and Nicole Kidman was a real delight. To fill you in, Kidman’s visit to the Tonight Show set on Monday was the first time she’d seen Jimmy since a botched flirtation attempt a decade earlier.
Watching the host slowly realize in front of a live studio audience that he’d missed an opportunity to date Nicole Kidman is one thing, but watching Kidman giggle and toss her hair as they attempt to get through the rest of the interview without collapsing in a blushing, smooching heap is even better.
This is the kind of moment that makes good on the promise of late-night television: celebrities being funny, sweet, vulnerable and a little horny.
Kathy Griffin: “Ryan Seacrest is a robot”
Apparently, Kathy, Anderson Cooper and Ryan Seacrest had dinner together: and it did not go well. According to Kathy, she demanded to meet Ryan because she’s convinced he’s some kind of showbiz robot. Post-meal, the Fashion Police host says she’s even less of a fan. “He has maybe one thought knocking around in his head,” she quips. “He has a skill set that is yet to be determined.”
Kathy spends a great deal of her screentime laying into Seacrest, mocking his love life, complexion, intellect, and knowledge of state senators. It’s bitchy but fun, and a bit too much: in other words, classic Kathy Griffin. By the end of her tirade even Dave is into it, throwing a few barbs at Seacrest himself. Meow.
Jessica Lange thinks awards shows have become a freak show
Jessica Lange has been nominated for 15 Golden Globes, six Emmys and six Oscars, and she doesn’t even really care. She appreciates being recognized for her work but isn’t into the fashion, and says that giving actors a platform to talk about themselves is a “huge mistake”.
Speech-wise, she says she avoids cliches like thanking God or telling her kids to go to bed, because she finds them “incredibly pretentious”. She sounds like the perfect person to get drunk with at the Golden Globes.
Chris Pratt’s Jimmy Kimmel booking faux pas
In a sweet sketch on Kimmel, Chris Pratt drops by ready for a spot on the show, only to discover it’s a misunderstanding – the invite was from his older brother, who he calls Jimmy Kimmel, “because he’s morbidly obese”. Undaunted, and Andy Dwyer-level excited, Pratt and Kimmel decide to put together a show in Kimmel’s office, with charmingly ramshackle results. Is it funny? Sure. Would we watch Chris Pratt do literally anything? Goodness yes. The clip is worth it just for the impromptu band and Guillermo in his underwear.
#AddAPunRuinAPun on @Midnight
This game was perhaps most effective because @Midnight’s hashtag games always feel like some variant on the idea of “add a pun, ruin something”. Players had to make a pun using the word pun. While Paul Scheer tries a bit too hard (see: “The Punger Games, starring Punnifer Lawrence as Katpuniss Everpun”) Andy Daly keeps it simple, absolutely slaying the competition with “Pun in the pun” (Fun in the sun, duh).
Allison Janney’s ‘disco stewardess’ dance on Conan
On a promo tour for their CBS show Mom, Allison Janney and Anna Faris stopped by the Conan set on Monday. During the show Janney revealed that she loves to throw parties and is known for her dancing. “I don’t like to talk, I like to dance,” she says. When Conan expresses doubt at her interpretive dance abilities “how do you dance about ‘being a gardener’?” she demonstrates with verve, and the result is fairly incredible. Feel free to bust out the stewardess at your next party.
