AS ANOTHER FRIDAY night rolls around, a bit of socially distant light banter might help to break up the monotony.
With the drop in temperatures, there’s no better night to sit on the couch and watch some quality chat shows.
Here’s our latest round-up of talk show content from the week and what will be on tonight. There should be plenty here to keep anyone occupied.
After a four-month hiatus, Graham Norton is making up for lost time and flooding the airwaves tonight. His first tv spot will be joining Ryan to chat about his new book, summer holidays in West Cork, and the return of the infamous red chair.
Conor Ferguson, husband of the late RTÉ News anchor Keelin Shanley, will be in studio to discuss her posthumous memoir, A Light That Never Goes Out. The book charts Shanley’s career in journalism and details her lengthy battle with cancer, right up to becoming co-anchor of the Six One News while undergoing cancer treatment.
Professor of Biochemistry at Trinity College Dublin, and author of Never Mind the B#ll*cks, Here’s the Science, Luke O’Neill will join Ryan to crunch the latest Covid-19 figures and do a live demonstration on how masks work.
The creator of series Catastrophe and Divorce, Sharon Horgan, will be on to discuss her new film Herself, and growing up on a turkey farm in Co Meath – something which no has no doubt helped her avoid turkey productions.
Former State Pathologist Marie Cassidy will be on to discuss why her’s was one of the toughest jobs imaginable, and the central role she played in detecting some of the most heinous crimes in Ireland’s recent history during her 20-year career.
Musical relief comes courtesy of singer Gavin James who will be in studio to perform his single, Boxes.
As well as his Late Late appearance, Graham is back in his own studio tonight. But he’s not double jobbing, his show is prerecorded. And what a show it is.
Dolly Parton and Riz Ahmed will be chatting via video link – from separate locations we assume – while in-studio guests include Rupert Everett, Lolly Adefope, Sara Pascoe and Ireland’s own Róisín Murphy.
Over in the US, late-night hosts are hard-pressed to stay up on the whirlwind news cycle, with Jimmy Kimmel trying to fit as many stories and one-liners into his opening monologue as 15 minutes permits.
Kimmel last night covered Trump declaring debate victory, a strange tweet from Rudy Giuliani, the number one spreader of Covid-19 (spoiler: it’s Trump), Trump blocking an order from the Centre Disease Control to keep cruise ships docked, and a virtual round of Couple or Not? – among other things.
Meanwhile, the other Jimmy (Fallon) chatted with Sting who gushed over Phil Lynott and how he inspired him to become a singing bass player.
Meanwhile, Sarah Paulson, star of Netflix’s Ratched – the origins story of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’s Nurse Ratched – told Seth Meyers that she almost didn’t get the part despite being a longtime collaborator of show creator Ryan Murphy. She has also never watched herself as Marcia Clarke in The People Vs OJ Simpson – making her one of the few people to have not watched that show.
On Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, he focused on the future of the US Supreme Court in the wake of Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to fill the seat of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Oliver looks at why the US government doesn’t always represent the political will of the electorate, and how those issues will impact the next generation of Americans.
Trevor Noah weighed in on the recent Irish Supreme Court ruling that Subway’s bread is too sugary to be considered bread. He says the ruling shows Ireland and America are dealing with very different issues right now, accompanied by a questionable Irish accent.
Donald Trump’s Covid-19 diagnosis has many political pundits speculating about what will happen if he becomes medically incapacitated, with some harking back to Ronald Reagan’s assassination attempt in 1981 as the last time a US president has been known to confront a life-threatening condition while in office.
Reagan told Larry King about the attempt on his life but that he never thought it was the end for him.
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