FOLLOWING A SHORT summer hiatus, TheJournal.ie’s Sofa Watch has returned to help you find the best on offer, old and new, from chat shows on both sides of the pond.
As another month rolls around of sitting at home in the evenings, a bit of socially distant light banter can help to break up the monotony.
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.
Top billing tonight goes to two-time Academy Award-winner and climate activist Jane Fonda. The star of Netflix’s Grace and Frankie chats with Ryan via video chat about the current civil unrest in the US, her new book, and getting arrested last year while highlighting the climate crisis.
Ryan will also be calling Mary Trump, niece of US President Donald Trump. She’ll be discussing her tell-all book which she says traces how her family members were deeply affected by the president’s father, and how Donald may have developed some of his traits.
After blowing the whistle on her treatment at the hands of her superiors in the gardaí, Majella Moynihan joins Ryan to discuss the fallout, the apologies and why hers is a story of hope.
Presenting duo Ant and Dec will also be on to talk their Irish roots, as well as the upcoming series of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.
Dublin GAA star Bernard Brogan will be in the studio to no doubt chat about his new book and get “pushed to his limits”, according to a secretive press release.
Musical relief will tonight be courtesy of The Academic and Stolen City.
Across the Pond
Over in the US, Jimmy Kimmel is still on his summer holidays, but the show is not.
With the help of celebrity friends – such as Billy Eichner, Dua Lipa, Rob Lowe, and David Spade – the show has kept going over Zoom for the past month.
Most recently, John Legend spoke with DJ Khaled about having his sons executive produce his albums (one is four years old and the other is nine months).
Meanwhile, the other Jimmy (Fallon) is no longer presenting his show from home, but has moved back to the studio. This time with no audience or suit. The laidback host dons more informal attire these days, except when he’s impersonating the Donald.
On Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, he focused on race in America. The latest instalment looks at the Republican National Convention, the series of shootings in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and a strike in professional sports.
The recent onslaught of bad press for Donald Trump – the Woodward tapes and that Atlantic article – has provided enough fodder to go around for late-night hosts’ monologues. The standouts this week being Seth Meyers, Trevor Noah and Samatha Bee.
If you’re here to find out who’s on The Graham Norton Show tonight, I have some bad news. There’s no date for the Cork man’s return to our screens just yet.
If other years are anything to go off we can expect to see Graham and his red chair on BBC One at the end of this month. Although given the year that’s in it, don’t hold your breath.
In the meantime, the latest best bits compilation will have to tide you over.
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