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\n Photo: Lloyd Bishop\/NBC\/Getty Images\n <\/p>\n
There were a lot of momentous moments in the late-night TV world this week, so let\u2019s get straight into it. First of all, happy birthday to Guillermo<\/a>, and happy 23rd anniversary to Jimmy Kimmel Live!<\/a>. Kimmel is officially the grande dame of late night, and we thank him for inviting us into his mind palace for 20-plus years. He teared up talking about the violence in Minneapolis, which he is wont to do, and I think it\u2019s very heartening that late night\u2019s elder statesman has a lot of feelings. Making ha-ha he-he jokes about the nation\u2019s slow (sometimes fast) descent into fascism<\/a> could be a very deadening job, but Kimmel remains in touch with his emotions. That can\u2019t be easy.<\/p>\n Speaking of the difficulty of being an artist or entertainer right now, George Saunders shared some great points about the utility of art in times of tumult when he visited The Late Show<\/a>. He said the act of writing for an imagined reader who is smarter than him elevates his thinking. Then, when the reader meets that elevated thought process, everyone gets to \u201crecalibrate our relationship to truth.\u201d Sometimes, entertainment feels useless in the face of political reality. But sometimes, it helps us shape our thinking and find common truths, emotional armor, or just release. Here\u2019s who did that this week in late night.<\/p>\n Have I Got News for You returned this weekend, and boy, there was a lot of news to get for us. I want to highlight a moment during the discussion of Eric Swalwell\u2019s callout of Republican reps who criticize Trump in private but don\u2019t do anything in public. The Ankler\u2019s Janice Min pointed out Swalwell is most likely grandstanding in hopes of getting elected to governor, but Amber Ruffin had a good counterpoint: Let \u2019em. \u201cAin\u2019t none of them motherfuckers sincere,\u201d she said. \u201cLet him say the good thing we need this country to be doing. Let \u2019em have it. Let us at least hear it. Let it fall on my ears and bring me an ounce of joy.\u201d This feels like a good coping strategy as we all navigate a world full of political theater. Take the ounce of joy, but remember it\u2019s just one ounce.<\/p>\n Dove Cameron can tell a tale. She\u2019s also a very good opera singer, but that\u2019s not entirely relevant right now. Cameron told her engagement story on The Tonight Show, and I was rapt for the whole thing. We love love, but we love a well-paced anecdote even more. And the way she remembers her fianc\u00e9\u2019s \u201cWill you marry me?\u201d speech with perfect recall? It\u2019s just lovely.<\/p>\n We love \u201cAt This Point in the Broadcast,\u201d don\u2019t we, folks? There\u2019s the way it harkens back to silent comedy, and there\u2019s the way everyone has to kinda-sorta lip-sync along with the narration. This iteration was notably surreal, what with the goopy-faced woman, cartoonish DIY bomb, and witchcraft unlocking true love\u2019s kiss. But it was a real standout for Late Night writer Ben Warheit, who got to get real meta with it. He zigged with setting up a kiss with a hot witchy babe, then he zagged by kissing a distinguished gentleman instead. Point is, he wrote himself a kiss. Pervert.<\/p>\n Wow. What a bravura, sexual, and confident performance from Niecy Nash-Betts<\/a> on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. I expect greatness from Deputy Raineesha, but I did not expect an anecdote about being in a prom polycule. Nash had a seemingly endless line of bawdy stories for Kimmel. She\u2019s banging her wife in every country on the planet, she had three prom dates, she volunteered to be impregnated by Billy Dee Williams. Plus, she imparted some much-needed optimism\/perspective-flipping for Kimmel. If someone threw him an adult prom, it would be fun and not sad. Say yes to life, Jimmy!<\/p>\n Stephen Colbert announced his final episode of The Late Show<\/a> on a competing network, which is a fun \u201cfuck you\u201d to CBS<\/a>. But before that, he had a nice kiki with his fellow host Seth Meyers. The NBC host forwarded some mail to Colbert that had been sent to the Late Night P.O. box, and Colbert expressed his anxiety about performing as \u201cStephen Colbert.\u201d But the best moment was when Corrections set its sights on The Late Show. Apparently, Colbert\u2019s \u201cMonkey \u2019Mergency\u201d<\/a> segment needs to be more ape-inclusive. Corrections is the best web-exclusive show we have right now, so of course it was going to win late night when it made it to broadcast. This one is for the Jackals.<\/p>\n