Who is On Late Night Tonight in Comedy: Week of June 22, 2020

Published by Ernie Tripper at June 22, 2020

Who’s on Late Night Tonight in Comedy?

Jimmy Kimmel needs a break. The ABC late night host announced last Thursday on Jimmy Kimmel Live that he needs a couple of months off and he already has his summer hiatus plan in place. According to Kimmel, there’s nothing wrong. He just wants to spend more time with his family.

Armed with plenty of stats, Kimmel sounded like a guy at the office trying to convince his boss on why he’s earned a vacation. He said, “I’ve been doing this job for almost 18 years. I’ve done 3,130 shows and there’s nothing wrong.” And to reassure his fans, Kimmel added, “My family is healthy, I’m healthy. I just need a couple of months off.”

ABC announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live will be in repeats for the next two weeks starting immediately. The network will also run two episodes of the new abbreviated version of Jimmy Kimmel Live each night this week. The show went from an hour to 30 minutes after the pandemic shutdown took place to make room for the full-time return of the ABC News program “Nightline” each night to give updates on the Coronavirus.

After two weeks of JKL reruns, after the Independence Day holiday, Jimmy Kimmel will have guest hosts filling in starting on Monday, July 6th. As for who the guest hosts will be, Jimmy Kimmel simply said, “a cavalcade of very kind and capable people will be filling in for me.” The guest hosts will take over JKL until Jimmy Kimmel is done with his fall gig, hosting the Primetime Emmy Awards, Sunday, September 20, 2020. After that, Kimmel will be back for a fall season premiere.

No one would argue with any of our late night hosts if they said they needed a break. Okay, we’d probably argue with Conan. He gets plenty of time off, including this week. But there are some that think that Jimmy Kimmel is stepping away from Jimmy Kimmel Live because of a more sinister reason.

Under the spotlight of the civil unrest demonstrations and riots brought on by the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, a lot of celebrities’ past sins regarding race began to surface once again. Jimmy Kimmel wearing blackface while doing his impression of NBA great Karl Malone on Comedy Central’s “The Man Show” co-hosted with Adam Carolla which ran for 6 seasons from 1999 to 2004, was brought into the conversation about who’s woke and who isn’t in America.

However, the Tonight Show‘s Jimmy Fallon was also called out for his use of blackface on SNL while doing an impression of Chris Rock. Fallon was forced to supplicate himself and offer up a contrite, low-talking apology, which he did while fidgeting with his fingers the whole time like a pre-schooler caught doing something naughty, in an attempt to come off as adorable while saying “I’m sorry” for something that happened 20 years ago.

And while Fallon took all the heat, Kimmel seems to have skated by relatively unharmed by his past blackface use. There are those on social media who now claim that Jimmy Kimmel isn’t resting, but that he’s hiding out and hoping this controversy (also from around 20 years ago) will blow over by the time he’s back to host the Primetime Emmy Awards in September. All we can do now is see if it’s true that America has a really bad memory and will move on to the next shining object by the time Jimmy Kimmel returns in the fall.

Like we mentioned, Jimmy Kimmel is in repeats all week and has packed his reruns with plenty of comedy superstars. The comedy guests on JKL‘s reruns this week include Pete Davidson (Monday, 11:30pm et), Jerry Seinfeld (Monday, 12:30am et), Patton Oswalt (Tuesday, 11:30pm et), Bill Burr (Wednesday, 11:30pm et), Josh Gad (Thursday, 11:30pm et) and Adam Sandler (Thursday, 12:30am et).

On Monday, the week kicks off on a funny note with plenty of comedy greats booked on the late night shows. Be sure to check the full listings below. Will Ferrell is back for another visit on the Tonight Show on Monday, but this time, it will be done remotely. Will is promoting his new Netflix comedy movie, “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga,” which co-stars Rachel McAdams, Pierce Brosnan and Graham Norton. The comedy directed by David Dobkin (“Wedding Crashers“), focuses on two small-town Icelandic singers (Ferrell & McAdams) who enter an international singing completion on a worldwide reality show.

On Tuesday, political season is underway on Late Night with Seth Meyers. Seth’s guests on Tuesday include Chelsea Handler who will have plenty to say about the Presidential campaign and the civil unrest that’s been happening in the country. The former host of “Chelsea Lately” made social media headlines when she posted a 10 minute video of Louis Farrakhan for her nearly 4 million Instagram viewers this past week. After plenty of criticism regarding Farrakhan being anti-Semitic and homophobic, Chelsea took it back down.

Wednesday night’s highlight is Jon Stewart appearing on his former employee Stephen Colbert’s Late Show on CBS. The Daily Show reunion on the Late Show will happen so that Jon Stewart can plug the new movie he’s written and directed, “Irresistible.” The comedy movie stars another Daily Show alum Steve Carell, along with Rose Byrne and Chris Cooper. It’s about a small-town mayor’s race in Wisconsin that might have national political implications. “Irresistible” will be available on Premium Video On Demand on platforms including Amazon Prime, Apple TV and Fandango Now, among others.

Also on Wednesday, watch for the very funny Mike Birbiglia on Late Night with Seth Meyers. And if you somehow forgot Father’s Day, there’s still time to make up for it by picking up Mike’s new book for your dad. “The New One: Painfully True Stories from a Reluctant Dad” is about Mike Birbiglia’s experiences as a new father and it’s available wherever you get your books.

On Thursday, Seth Meyers keeps the laughs going on Late Night. He’ll be talking remotely with John Early. It’s hard to tell which is the best way to describe John Early. He’s either uniquely fabulous or he’s fabulously unique. Either way, he’s fantastic and he’ll be on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Thursday where “Bejohnce” always has memorable appearances.

Finally, Saturday is a night worth spending time watching SNL reruns. First up on Saturday is SNL Vintage from March, 2006 hosted by Natalie Portman. That’s followed by the Saturday Night Live repeat in its standard 11:30pm et time slot on NBC hosted by Kristen Stewart for her second time, with musical guest Coldplay.

Have a great week everyone and we’ll see you this fall Jimmy!!

Monday on Late Night

The Daily Social Distancing Show with Trevor Noah at 11pm on Comedy Central
Will Ferrell is on the Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon: At Home Edition at 11:30pm on NBC
James Corden is on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert From Home at 11:30pm on CBS
Jason Sudeikis is on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:30am on NBC
Mike O’Brien is on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:30am on NBC
Ron Funches is on Conan at 11pm on TBS (REPEAT)
Pete Davidson is on Jimmy Kimmel Live From His House at 11:30pm on ABC (REPEAT)
Jerry Seinfeld is on Jimmy Kimmel Live From His House at 12:30am on ABC (REPEAT)

Tuesday on Late Night

The Daily Social Distancing Show with Trevor Noah at 11pm on Comedy Central
Chelsea Handler is on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:30am on NBC
Will Ferrell is on the Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:30am on CBS
Kenya Barris is on the Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon: At Home Edition at 11:30pm on NBC
Patton Oswalt is on Jimmy Kimmel Live From His House at 11:30pm on ABC (REPEAT)

Wednesday on Late Night

The Daily Social Distancing Show with Trevor Noah at 11pm on Comedy Central
Jon Stewart is on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert From Home at 11:30pm on CBS
Mike Birbiglia is on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:30am on NBC
Regina Hall is on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:30am on NBC
Bill Burr is on Jimmy Kimmel Live From His House at 11:30pm on ABC (REPEAT)
Ilana Glazer is on A Little Late with Lilly Singh at 1:30am on NBC (REPEAT)

Thursday on Late Night

The Daily Social Distancing Show with Trevor Noah at 11pm on Comedy Central
John Early is on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:30am on NBC
Josh Gad is on Jimmy Kimmel Live From His House at 11:30pm on ABC (REPEAT)
Adam Sandler is on Jimmy Kimmel Live From His House at 12:30am on ABC (REPEAT)

Friday on Late Night

New episode of Real Time with Bill Maher from Bill’s Backyard at 10pm on HBO
Natasha Leggero is on A Little Late with Lilly Singh at 1:30am on NBC (REPEAT)
Moshe Kasher is on A Little Late with Lilly Singh at 1:30am on NBC (REPEAT)

Saturday Night Live

SNL Vintage hosted by Natalie Portman with musical guest Fall Out Boy from 2006 at 10pm on NBC
Kristen Stewart hosts a repeat SNL with musical guest Coldplay from November 2, 2019 at 11:30pm on NBC