Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon touched on the suspension of ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ in the Thursday night episodes of their own late-night shows, while protesters took to the streets in front of ABC.<\/p>\n
The Associated Press<\/p>\n
A day after Jimmy Kimmel Live! was indefinitely suspended on ABC following threats from Donald Trump\u2019s Federal Communications Commission chair<\/a>, American television\u2019s remaining active late-night talk shows put on a display of deference to the President of the United States \u2013 with a wink.<\/p>\n The writing staffs of CBS\u2019s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Comedy Central\u2019s The Daily Show and NBC\u2019s The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers all had roughly same comedic idea having their hosts pretend that they were capitulating or subject to government censorship in one way or another.<\/p>\n The Daily Show was first out of the gates Thursday night \u2013 with a special edition that was introduced as \u201cthe all new government-approved Daily Show with your patriotically obedient host Jon Stewart.\u201d<\/p>\n Stewart, who normally hosts the show on Mondays, made a special appearance where he pretended to be highly nervous as if a North Korean-style firing squad was waiting in the wings for him to make a joke that was not politically correct in the eyes of Trump\u2019s MAGA movement.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you felt a little off the past couple days, it\u2019s probably because Our Great Father has not been home \u2013 for Father has been gracing England with his legendary warmth and radiance,\u201d Stewart said, in his introduction to a recap of Trump\u2019s recent trip abroad.<\/p>\n \u201cThe perfectly tinted Trump dazzled his hosts at dinner with a demonstration of unmatched oratory skill,\u201d he said, before showing a clip of the President giving a toast that sounded like a Grade 4 report on great English writers.<\/p>\n In a similar vein, Jimmy Fallon \u2013 who Trump implored NBC to cancel next in a social-media post this week \u2013 came out on The Tonight Show saying that though many people were worried in the wake of Kimmel\u2019s cancellation that he would start to self-censor, he intended to cover the President\u2019s trip to Britain just like he normally would.<\/p>\n But as Fallon began to monologue about Trump\u2019s trip, his voice kept being drowned out by a booming announcer\u2019s voice every time he veered somewhere critical of Trump.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, guys, President Trump just wrapped up his three-day trip to the U.K. and he LOOKED INCREDIBLY HANDSOME,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAs always, his tie was EXACTLY THE RIGHT LENGTH and his face looked LIKE A COLOUR THAT EXISTS IN NATURE and his hair looked BETTER THAN CONRAD\u2019S FROM THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY.\u201d<\/p>\n As for Seth Meyers \u2013 whose cancellation by NBC was also encouraged by Trump in a social-media post this week \u2013 he started off his commentary for the evening by insisting he had always admired and respected Trump.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always believed he was a visionary, an innovator, a great President, an even better golfer \u2013 and if you\u2019ve ever seen me say anything negative about him that\u2019s just AI,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m told there\u2019s some clips of me on the Internet making jokes about him from a few years back; those are obviously deepfakes.\u201d<\/p>\n On The Late Show, Colbert \u2013 who already has run afoul of Trump and whose show will end its run in May<\/a> \u2013 used the occasion of Kimmel\u2019s cancellation to bring back his right-wing alter ego Stephen Colbert from his old Comedy Central show The Colbert Report, which originally ran from 2005 to 2014, to be the show\u2019s new ombudsman and provide balance.<\/p>\n The conservative character Colbert refuted the real Colbert\u2019s opening monologue lambasting Trump for his campaign against media critics.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Constitution coddlers out there argue that Americans are born with certain god-given rights like life and liberty and, of course, the pursuit of happiness,\u201d Colbert said, in the reactionary role. \u201cBut what about the pursuit of Donald Trump\u2019s happiness?\u201d<\/p>\n Here are some of the late night shows\u2019 monologue excerpts and jokes from Thursday night about the growing threats to freedom of speech in the United States<\/a>. <\/p>\n The Late Show with Stephen Colbert<\/p>\n