From Kanye to Feckless Cuntgate and everything in between.
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If you want to understand an era, watch its late night.
Not even Dr. Peter Venkman could predict a more topsy-turvy dogs and cats living together scenario.
These moments spanned nights, shows, and networks.
Thats why were counting down thebiggestmoments in late night, not the funniest.
The funniest stuff didnt give us the cheat sheet for the cultural moment.
The biggest moments were funny, but more importantly, they had impact.
Like a meteor, or that one font.
Lets take a look.
This movie was good, whoda thought?!
Gaga got dragged for her devotion to the talking points, but only because Bradley Cooper paraphrased his anecdotes.
Taffy Brodesser-AknersNew YorkTimesprofilerehashed Coops talking points.
Gaga, on the other hand, read the copy word for word like a Blue Apron podcast ad.
I saw my first 100 People onThe Late Show, and it rang true as hell to me.
It was probably her fifth or sixth, but it felt like the first.
And asJonah Hillrecently pointed out, thats acting, baby.
BTS Does theFortniteDance Challenge onThe Tonight Show
Is any sentence more 2018 than BTS Does the Fortnite Dance Challenge?
This was a YouTube clip that aired on television, not a TV segment that ran on YouTube.
And whenthe boys of BTSactually appeared onThe Tonight Show, the teen-girl screams were deafening.
It was perhaps as seismic a change as the Doors talking aboutdrugson Ed Sullivan.
The young people might have been incomprehensible to Ed, but BTS literally speaks a different language than Jimmy.
Trump Hastens the Death of Comedy
Trump lowered the bar on discourseanddick jokes no easy feat.
But when the president is more caricature than man, the jokes can get pretty hacky.
One week in March,five late-night hosts told the same Stormy Daniels joke.
In fact, its been a banner year for borderline homophobia.
Heres the plot of arecentSNLcold open: Trump loves Putin.
Putins new squeeze is the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.
Trump feels like the neglected sidepiece.
Cardi Bs Baby Bump Reveal onSNL
Cardi B is a celebrity who would never have happened without Instagram.
Her popularity is based on being foul-mouthed and off-the-cuff nearly 24/7.
Yet when she wanted to announce her pregnancy, she did it on a 44-year-old web link show.
A variety show, no less.
That is an old-school Hollywood star move.
Cardi B uses every medium to its fullest potential.
He called Fallon a lost soul, Colbert a lowlife, and said that Kimmels show was terrible.
He opens my door.
I said, Does he do this to everybody?
to his people, [who said], He does it for nobody.
This was just one example of how late night has become radicalized by Trump.
Never have I seen so many Get Out the Vote segments thanin the run-up to the midterms.
Colbert Calls Out Moonves on CBS
CBS appears to berotten to its core.
And of course, the head of the company was a brigand ofLes Moonvesproportions.
This puts Stephen Colbert in an awkward position.
Everybody believes in accountability until its their guy,said Colbert after the Moonves allegations came out.
And make no mistake, Les is my guy.
He hired me to sit in this chair.
There has been a lot of debate about how good men should address the actions of their friends.
Do they hold them accountable?
Do they maybe reflect on how their alleged ignorance hurt others?
Colbert has made his career from being a woke bae before that was even a thing.
He walked so Matt McGorry could fly.
Unlike someone further down on this list, Wolf never apologized.
But I salute an uncompromising artist whos not afraid to talk aboutnecrophiliac crow sex.
Ariana and Petes Entire Relationship Playing Out on Late Night
2.
Kanye
Late Night Saga No.
3 blends seamlessly into Late Night Saga No.
One of Kanyes biggest moments of 2018 washisSNLrant, during what are usually good-byes.
Kenan went on Seth Meyers and saidthe cast was held hostageby Ye.
You so famously and so powerfully said George Bush doesnt care about black people.
Makes me wonder what makes you think that Donald Trump does, Kimmel asked.
When Kanye had no answer, Kimmel cut to commercial.
The right lost their flipping gourds whenSamantha Bee called Ivanka Trump a feckless cunt.
Bee called Ivanka a cunt during her segment on the children separated at the border from their parents.
The actually hurt group gets lost to the group with the loudest cheering section.
If that doesnt represent this year, I dont know what does.
