New Yorkers read Fifty Shades of Grey
There is no escaping it. This is the week we lost to EL James. In honour of Fifty Shades of Grey’s film release today, two writers from Seth Meyers’ team took to the streets with particularly steamy passages from the book and had passersby read them aloud. Cab drivers, construction workers and tourists blushed their way through the book’s sweet murmurs and hard erections, and the result was too-tight-handcuffs-level uncomfortable. In the words of Anastasia Steele: holy cow.
Steve Carell read an incredibly bad review
Oscar nominee Steve Carell was on Letterman this week looking very much the dapper artiste. But before there was Foxcatcher, before there was even Anchorman, there was Over the Top, a short-lived sitcom that was one of Carell’s big breaks. The actor played a Greek chef at a boutique hotel and was, by his own admission, not very good. Although it turns out you’re not always your worst critic: a website called teevee.com really laid into the blossoming young talent, and hearing Carell read what may be the worst performance review of all time is hilarious on his own, but even more so compared with how he’s doing now.
Courtney Love revisits Letterman to talk addiction, motherhood and Dave Grohl
A sober Courtney Love stopped by The Late Show with David Letterman, and the two talked about their poisons – for Dave, alcohol, for Courtney, “All the drugs. There are no more drugs left.” Fans of the show or drunken bra-less women in general will recall her 2004 visit, which went … well, like this. Apparently Love was saved by her Buddhist practice, as part of which she meditates for about an hour a day. The clip is worth it just to hear 67-year-old Letterman utter the phrase “light up an enormous doobie”.
@Midnight celebrates Valentine’s Day with full-blown marital aids
The only real way to deal with Valentine’s Day is to make fun of it mercilessly. Thankfully @midnight did that for us, with Judah Friedlander, Annie Lederman and Barry Rothbart providing taglines for some of the worst his ’n’ hers gift ideas of all time. As with Jeopardy, part of the appeal of @midnight involves playing along at home and seeing if you can do better. So, got a slogan in you for a two-man toilet? Something about getting dumped, perhaps?
The Cookie Monster writes for Jimmy Kimmel
There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned surprise celebrity cameo on late night. Kimmel treated us to an unexpected guest last night in the form of new hire the Cookie Monster. The loveable blue guy gave it his best shot, but if you can believe it, a lot of his punchlines ended up being about cookies. While he inevitably gets demoted to security (guarding craft services – guys, what were you thinking?), watching our Sesame Street pal struggle to produce a single one-liner outside the world of biscuits is sweeter than double-stuff Oreos.
