April 18, 2016 – Hillary Clinton, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Katherine McPhee, Sturgill Simpson

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Episode GuideEPISODE NUMBER: Season 1, Episode 123 (Monday, April 18, 2016)
GUESTS: Hillary Clinton | Jesse Tyler Ferguson | Katherine McPhee | Sturgill Simpson
FEATURING: Wayne Shorter sitting in with Jon Batiste and Stay Human
SEGMENTS: Stephen Apologizes to Australia | John Kasich Explains the Jesus Part of Passover | What New York Smells Like | Jesse Tyler Ferguson | Katherine McPhee | Stephen Debuts A New Waffle House Song (ft. Sturgill Simpson) | Sturgill Simpson - “A Sailor’s Guide to Earth”
SUIT REPORT: Navy Suit | White Shirt | Light Pink Tie

Hello Hubsters! This episode was a great return from The Late Show’s one week hiatus and jam packed with entertainment. Jazz legend Wayne Shorter sat in with Jon Batiste and Stay Human. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights, shall we?

Johnny Depp and his wife Amber Heard went to Australia along with their two dogs. They did not declare the dogs upon arrival which is highly illegal and could have landed them in jail for up to 10 years. The Aussies let them off and as part of the plea deal Depp and Heard made an apology video. Stephen decided that he also owed Australia a very big apology and made a video spoofing Depp and Heard.

The didgeridoo makes yet another appearance!

The New York primaries are happening as I write this Episode Guide, so politics were on Stephen’s mind as pointed out how Bernie Sanders said “do do” in clip while debating Clinton and then showed John Kasich making outrageous remarks about Passover while campaigning to Jewish voters. Heidi Cruz campaigned on her husband’s behalf after Ted made insulting comments about “New York values.” During Heidi’s speech, she mentioned how she once lived in New York and that she like the smell of New York. What?! Stephen sent a camera crew out and asked New Yorkers what their town smells like. This little girl’s opinion was adorable and right on the money!

With the smell of New York and the primary in the air, Stephen invited Hillary Clinton to have lunch at the famous Carnegie Deli. I absolutely loved this segment. Stephen shoving a whole piece of cheesecake into his mouth in front of Democratic presidential candidate Clinton was an absolute joy to watch. Secretary Clinton discussed finding common ground with the Republicans. Clinton has a good history of reaching across the aisle and getting things done. Stephen kept doing an impression of Bill Clinton and asked Secretary Clinton how his impression was. She said it was very good! I concur!

Stephen interviewed Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Katherine McPhee and then debuted his new Waffle House song with Sturgill Simpson called “No Shirt, No Shoes, No Knuckleheads.”

Sturgill Simpson performed his song “Brace For Impact (Live A Little)” off of his new album which is currently number one on iTunes.

What are your thoughts on this episode? Let us know in the comment section!

  • sharilyn_j

    That didgeridoo is sure getting some milage! (Or should I call it didgeridoo-doo?)

    Favorite moment of the night for me is an easy one: cheesecake. As soon as she said “look silly,” I knew exactly where it was going. Love & envy his commitment to stupidity. What a gorgeous reaction that got in studio, too — would’ve loved to be there to watch Stephen watch the audience watch that.

    • K.V. Lady

      Didgeridoo-doo!!!!

  • Mrc
    • Gina

      Thanks! That was a really decent country song, I have to say! Mr. Simpson was cool to do it.

  • Gina

    Yay didge! Always warms my heart. Plus we got to see Stephen as Johnny Depp, kinda. But honestly I don’t feel bad for the Depp(ses). Who forgets to declare a dog?

    I liked the remote aspect of the Clinton interview, it was very smartly done. It seems that Hillary and Stephen are warming up to each other since the TCR days where she admitted she doesn’t like the character. I don’t know if interviews like this will “soften”her or not. But either way, whether she becomes suddenly more relatable or not, we’re in for a bumpy road of a summer. So fun! :/ It’s going to be a contentious head-to-head match if she goes up against Trump, obvi, but talking to her about it feels like you’re interviewing a gladiator about ready to go into the pit.

    I fell asleep so am going to check out the song with Katherine that I apparently missed!

  • Debbie

    I really enjoyed this episode. Does anyone else get the feeling that Stephen is settling down a little? Not in wackiness, but into the role? I don’t know why but things just feel smoother overall. I know it can take time to get into the swing of things, so it’s good to see.

    Oh, and side note, thank God the people here are level headed and normal. I read the YouTube comments of the interview with Hillary, do yourself a favour and *don’t* do that. I understand not liking her as a candidate, but saying you are going to unsubscribe because Stephen had her on the show (the last of all the candidates to appear, I believe) is a level of crazy I never wish to see in person.

    Also, Johnny and Amber, seriously. We give you a card to fill out when you arrive, one of the boxes you have to tick asks whether you have any live animals with you. It’s not hard to answer correctly. I’m vaguely disappointed that they didn’t get a suspended sentence or something. But being forced (I assume it was forced) to make the video was worth a laugh at least. I loved Stephen’s version far better though. 😀

    • Gina

      Youtube is kind of interesting, because there is a group of people who only watch LSSC on Youtube, and they are decent fans, from what I can tell. However, Youtube is also the main destination for posting some of the crudest thoughts known to mankind. It’s impossible to have any video of note that doesn’t come with its set of detractors and haters, etc.

      The political guests/topics are always going to be a little polemic with Stephen, but he wants to be edgy. I still believe he can present political topics in a way that is engaging and informative to the audience. Politicians want to be heard, and you can’t just have them on petting dogs and cats and answering softballs. I felt like the Clinton piece was Stephen gently trying to show how Clinton struggles with reliability and give her a chance to be seen in a different light, however, it’s on her to play her part. I think she did so. The fact that she likes Stephen puts in her a higher category for me to be sure! I also like Sanders. I like them both.

    • K.V. Lady

      I believe Hillary Clinton appeared on the first show.

  • RA

    Seems the shows losing Bill Carter now. From his Twitter @wjcarter:

    Colbert’s old open made no sense: did 2 intro’s; guests were id’d 2X. Show didn’t seem to start for 5-6 min-eternity when ppl r going to bed.

    • Katt

      I thought that was in reference to his earlier tweet:

      Hey: 1st sign of change at Colbert. new open, w credits at the top before his walk out. Long-overdue change.

      • Roseha

        I think Katt is correct; I noticed right away the improvement in the open; cold open, one credits intro, Depp segment, intro the band and instead of joke/2nd open/commercial they went right to the desk segment. I think that’s a big improvement and everyone will be more comfortable with it. Of course CBS will surely shift the commercials into the next break but that’s okay.

  • Comedy Writer Nerd

    Anyone else notice that long-time writer Eric Drysdale’s name was not listed in the writing credits? I went back and viewed the last new episode (w/ Mindy Kaling as lead guest), and he was listed.
    Any intel on this? If he is indeed permanently gone from the show, I can’t imagine this is a result of the Chris Licht addition. But maybe this is a sign that SC’s moving away from the more political satire from his Comedy Central days (Drysdale was SC’s chief writer when he was on “Daily Show”, and he was the only DS writer to move over to the Report when it launched in 2005).

    • sharilyn_j

      Yeah. I know he was involved in writing the Waffle House bit last night, but I don’t have any info about a departure or break.

      Eric took some time off from TCR back around ’08 (when Stephen “ate” Bobby the Stage Manager, that was intended to be a farewell). This could be a similar situation. Or, it could be a data entry error. Or something else. Time will tell.

      (Also, I’m pretty confident Licht isn’t going to micromanage the writers’ room. I’d be shocked if this was related.)

      • Comedy Writer Nerd

        Oh I didn’t know Drysdale was involved in the Waffle House song. I know writer Cullen Crawford mentioned on his own twitter account that he wrote it and he never mentioned Drysdale.
        This could very well be just a break that Drysdale’s taking, maybe to work on another project for a short amount of time, or maybe this is permanent (I believe his departure in ’08 was meant to be permanent, but he got frustrated with trying to navigate through being an unemployed writer, so he asked to go back to the Report a year later).
        I don’t know why, but whenever I read about someone leaving, it leads me to believe that things are not running smoothly behind-the-scenes (versus that someone simply moving on to another project). I guess it’s the timing…a long-time writer leaving just as a total outsider is joining the ranks, especially when that writer was so identified with the tone/humor/success of the old show.
        But I agree, I can’t envision a non-comedy professional like Licht going into the Colbert writers’ room and dictating what’s funny/what’s not/the types of comedic pieces/etc. Then again, this guy’s a former network suit, and being someone who works in the entertainment industry, those suits tends to believe themselves to be the most creative people in show biz!

  • KatchProFILMS

    Wow… WAYNE SHORTER sits in on Late Show. (Pure [JAZZ] legend. Wow.)

    • Gina

      That was some serious jazzing, as Stephen would say! I love when Batiste has legends on, it’s a great way to bring them to the Late Show audience.

  • Eli

    Katt, as our token Aussie, I’m interested to hear your take on the whole saga surrounding Johnny Depp and his dogs. Is it a big deal in Oz or are you all just rolling your eyes at it?

    Personally, I thought the whole segment fell flat, and really wasn’t necessary or funny.

    • Gina

      I didn’t hear her swearing in Australian over it, so I think we’re cool 😉

    • Katt

      We’re quite enjoying the absurdity of it all. As for the parody video, I thought it fell very flat and was down right awkward to watch. There were so many other ways they could have dealt with that, for example high lighting the fact that Barnaby Joyce is now our Deputy Prime Minister.

  • Gina

    I love Colbert’s political takes and he should never abandon them, but it is nice to see him embracing all the aspects of his comedy. He’s got a lot of tools in his comedy toolbox, I never worried about that. I think at this point it’s more a question of pacing and getting the show to match up with the vision he and his team have for the show. It’s getting there!

  • K.V. Lady

    Yes…you and I had talked about this recently and we were both in agreement that he has lost his magic from the Colbert Report. However, like you, Monday night’s show (and last night’s!) have restored my faith in him. The skit at the beginning was my favorite improvement. I also loved the Hillary skit with the cheesecake-very “old Colbert” minus the character.