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      Late Night Isn’t Amused by Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Jan. 6 Joke

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      The Republican congresswoman said that if she and Steve Bannon had planned the Capitol riot, “we would have won.”Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.Coulda Shoulda WouldaAt a Republican gala on Saturday, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia made a joke about the Jan. 6 riot: “If Steve Bannon and I had organized that, we would have won.” She added, “Not to mention, it would have been armed.”“You see, the joke is, conservatives are such bloodthirsty psychopaths, if they had actually planned the insurrection on the Capitol, it would have been way more violent,” Seth Meyers said on Monday. “That’s like if Holiday Inn ran an ad that said, ‘If “White Lotus” took place here, a lot more people would have died.’”“Now, let me just say if I saw Greene with a gun, I would definitely be scared, but I refuse to believe Steve Bannon knows how to use one. No one who layers polo shirts is good with a firearm. In a way, they’d make fun partners in a buddy cop movie.” — SETH MEYERS“So, by ‘we’ she means the rioters, and by ‘would have won’ she means ‘overthrown the government’?” — STEPHEN COLBERT“[Imitating Marjorie Taylor Greene] If I had been in charge of invading my own office, Mike Pence wouldn’t just look like a ghost, he’d be one!’” — JIMMY KIMMELThe Punchiest Punchlines (Keep Your Day Job, Elon Edition)“Elon is being slammed for a tweet he posted yesterday that said, ‘My pronouns are prosecute and Fauci.’ Fauci was like, ‘Yep, much like a Tesla battery, Elon’s on fire.’” — JIMMY FALLON“It’s like a joke generated by A.I. — it makes no sense. The structure is wrong, it doesn’t rhyme with anything, there are too many syllables. It’s exactly the kind of joke you would expect from a guy who named his son after the bottom row of an eye chart.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“Yeah, you could tell Fauci wasn’t having it because he wrote back, ‘Congrats on making Twitter the Johnson & Johnson vaccine of social media.’” — JIMMY FALLONThe Bits Worth WatchingMichelle Obama exchanged Christmas gifts with Jimmy Kimmel on his Monday night show.What We’re Excited About on Tuesday NightStanley Tucci will pop by “The Tonight Show” on Tuesday.Also, Check This OutSteve Tientcheu in “Les Misérables.”Julien Magre/Amazon StudiosMovies about soccer are often eclectic and at times unclassifiable, drawing from multiple continents and genres. More

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      The Pundit Whisperer of Qatar’s beIN Sports World Cup Coverage

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      Qatar’s beIN Sports hired a host of retired soccer stars to bring authority to its World Cup coverage and a group of interpreters to render their words into Arabic. The toughest assignments go to one man.DOHA, Qatar — There is perhaps no one in the world who has paid closer attention to the diction and pronunciation of the former England soccer captain John Terry over the past month than Lassaad Tounakti, a 52-year-old Tunisian with a gift for languages, a passion for cologne and an accidental television career.For Tounakti, understanding the minute details of the way Terry speaks is no casual affair. His ability to understand Terry’s every utterance has been a vital part of one of the World Cup’s toughest, and least forgiving, man-to-man assignments: As the main interpreter for beIN Sports, Tounakti has since the start of the tournament served as the voice of Terry and other retired stars hired by BeIN as it has transmitted the tournament night after night to Arabic-speaking viewers across the Middle East and North Africa.It can seem, at times, like a Sisyphean task. BeIN Sports, the broadcaster based in Qatar, has devoted six channels to the World Cup, including two that are Arabic only. Each one is broadcasting tournament content for up to 18 hours a day. There are pregame shows, halftime chats and postgame panel discussions, but also sideline interviews, on-the-street cutaways and fan-zone appearances. Much of that programming is beamed out live to the world, and much of it involves a delicate live dance involving Arab hosts and guests and former soccer stars who do not speak a common language.Interpreting their words — quickly, precisely and live on the air — requires an extraordinary fluency in not only languages but soccer. For Tounakti, it means translating every word of Arabic into English in the ears of the former soccer stars before flicking a switch — literally and in his mind — and immediately rendering their thoughts, delivered in English, back into Arabic.Tounakti uses two buttons during broadcasts: E for English and A for Arabic.Erin Schaff/The New York TimesEvery voice is different. The English diction of Kaká, a World Cup-winning Brazilian, is different from that of the Dutch soccer great Ruud Gullit, and the nuances of their pronunciations are different from those of the former Germany captain Lothar Matthäus.Because of the sheer volume of coverage it is providing, beIN is employing four staff interpreters and supplementing them with freelancers for the World Cup. Most interpreters work in a rotation, but there are some accents, some ways of speaking, that require just a little bit more expert handling. Terry’s thick East London accent is one of those.“For the time being,” Tounakti said, “John Terry is mine.”Speaking to the WorldTounakti’s career as the Arabic voice of beIN’s imported experts was in many ways accidental. As a delegation from Qatar prepared to fly to Zurich in December 2010 to make its final pitch to host the 2022 World Cup, beIN realized it did not have an interpreter who spoke both French and English.Tounakti, a university professor with a doctorate in linguistics and experience interpreting for the country’s emir, was enlisted for the trip, which ended with his voice relaying the shocking news that Qatar had won the rights to bring the World Cup to the Middle East for the first time. “They say I am the guy that made 350 million people cry,” he said.In the decade since the vote, beIN, which is owned by the Qatari state, grew into one of the world’s biggest broadcasters, spending billions of dollars on sports rights every year and expanding into dozens of countries. Most of that expansion has been preparation for this moment: a month of televising the World Cup from Qatar.BeIN Sports has devoted six channels to the World Cup, including two that are Arabic only. Erin Schaff/The New York TimesWhile the 64 games have been a centerpiece of the coverage, a significant part of the network’s content has revolved around the high-profile guest commentators the company has hired at great expense to bring credibility, celebrity and commentary to its coverage.Last week, in the street separating two buildings in beIN’s complex in Doha, Peter Schmeichel, a former Denmark and Manchester United goalkeeper who is one of the company’s longtime analysts, arrived for an evening shift in the studio accompanied by Jermaine Jones, a German-born former U.S. midfielder.A Brief Guide to the 2022 World CupCard 1 of 9What is the World Cup? More

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      Golden Globes Nominations: ‘The Banshees of Inisherin,’ ‘Elvis’ Among Nominees

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      The tarnished awards ceremony will air on NBC in January in a one-year trial. But which stars will show up to collect their trophies?The companies behind the tarnished Golden Globe Awards pushed forward with a rehabilitation effort on Monday, announcing nominations for a televised ceremony on Jan. 10 that will find “The Fabelmans,” “Elvis” and “The Banshees of Inisherin” among those in contention for the top film prizes.Who will show up to collect the trophies is another matter.NBC canceled the 2022 telecast amid an ethics, finance and diversity scandal involving the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the unorthodox organization that bestows the Globes. Citing extensive H.F.P.A. reforms, NBC in September agreed to return the ceremony to its air for an 80th installment — under a one-year trial. For the first time, the show will also be available simultaneously online, through Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming service.Most movie studios view the Globes telecast and accompanying red carpet spectacle as crucial marketing opportunities for winter films, especially dramas, which have been struggling at the box office. But not everyone in Hollywood is eager for the Globes to return. Publicists and agents say that some stars (those with the most to gain from the exposure) have an open mind, while others want the Globes to be retired forever.Kelly Bush Novak, the chief executive of ID, a leading Hollywood publicity and marketing firm, said she would encourage clients to participate, in part because she expected Globe voters to recognize a diverse group of artists. “Many of us — in a truly collective effort — held the organization accountable, and many of us are encouraged by the strides and commitment that have resulted,” Novak said. (She added, however, that more work needed to be done.)Last year, after The Los Angeles Times enumerated the foreign press association’s well-known but long-overlooked lapses, Tom Cruise returned his Globe trophies. More recently, Brendan Fraser, who has received rave reviews for his performance as a morbidly obese man in “The Whale,” said that he would not attend the ceremony if nominated. In 2018, Fraser accused a then-member of the H.F.P.A. of groping him in 2003, which the member denied.Fraser was nominated on Monday for best actor in a drama. Other notable nominees include Ana de Armas, for her performance in Netflix’s widely derided Marilyn Monroe biopic “Blonde.” James Cameron was nominated as best director, for “Avatar: The Way of Water,” which opens worldwide on Friday.Some awards prognosticators had expected to see Cruise among the best actor nominees, for his performance in “Top Gun: Maverick.” But he was left out. (The movie did receive a nomination for best drama.) Will Smith, vying for awards attention with “Emancipation,” also failed to make the list.The stand-up comedian Jerrod Carmichael will host the Golden Globes ceremony, which is being held on a Tuesday (as opposed to its accustomed Sunday spot) to avoid NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.”With a new interim chief executive, Todd Boehly, leading a turnaround effort, the H.F.P.A has overhauled membership eligibility, recruited new members with an emphasis on diversity, enacted a stricter code of conduct and has moved to end its tax-exempt status and transform into a for-profit company with a philanthropic arm. Boehly is awaiting final governmental approval for that plan. Once it comes, he is expected to disband the H.F.P.A. and rebrand the charitable division.The 96-member organization now has six Black members — up from zero — and has added 103 nonmember voters, a dozen or so of whom are Black. One member was recently kicked out for conduct violations, including fabricating quotes, which leaders of the group have cited as proof of their reformed ways.Live awards shows, including the Oscars, have lost tens of millions of viewers over the past decade, but the biggest ceremonies still attract a larger audience than almost anything else on traditional television, aside from live sports. The most recent Golden Globes telecast, held without celebrity attendees in early 2021 because of the pandemic, attracted about seven million viewers, according to Nielsen. Prepandemic, the show was attracting about 18 million viewers annually.Here is a list of the nominees:Best Motion Picture, Drama“Avatar: The Way of Water”“Elvis”“The Fabelmans”“Tár”“Top Gun: Maverick”Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy“Babylon”“The Banshees of Inisherin”“Everything Everywhere All at Once”“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”“Triangle of Sadness”Best Director, Motion PictureJames Cameron, “Avatar: The Way of Water”Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”Baz Luhrmann, “Elvis”Martin McDonagh, “The Banshees of Inisherin”Steven Spielberg, “The Fabelmans”Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, DramaCate Blanchett, “Tár”Olivia Colman, “Empire of Light”Viola Davis, “The Woman King”Ana de Armas, “Blonde”Michelle Williams, “The Fabelmans”Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or ComedyLesley Manville, “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris”Margot Robbie, “Babylon”Anya Taylor-Joy, “The Menu”Emma Thompson, “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande”Michelle Yeoh, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in any Motion PictureAngela Bassett, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”Kerry Condon, “The Banshees of Inisherin”Jamie Lee Curtis, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”Dolly de Leon, “Triangle of Sadness”Carey Mulligan, “She Said”Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, DramaAustin Butler, “Elvis”Brendan Fraser, “The Whale”Hugh Jackman, “The Son”Bill Nighy, “Living”Jeremy Pope, “The Inspection”Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or ComedyDiego Calva, “Babylon”Daniel Craig, “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”Adam Driver, “White Noise”Colin Farrell, “The Banshees of Inisherin”Ralph Fiennes, “The Menu”Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion PictureBrendan Gleeson, “The Banshees of Inisherin”Barry Keoghan, “The Banshees of Inisherin”Brad Pitt, “Babylon”Ke Huy Quan, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”Eddie Redmayne, “The Good Nurse”Best Screenplay, Motion PictureTodd Field, “Tár”Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”Martin McDonagh, “The Banshees of Inisherin”Sarah Polley, “Women Talking”Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, “The Fabelmans”Best Original Score, Motion PictureCarter Burwell, “The Banshees of Inisherin”Alexandre Desplat, “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”Hildur Gudnadottir, “Women Talking”Justin Hurwitz, “Babylon”John Williams, “The Fabelmans”Best Original Song, Motion Picture“Carolina,” “Where the Crawdads Sing”“Ciao Papa,” “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”“Hold My Hand,” “Top Gun: Maverick”“Lift Me Up,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”“Naatu Naatu,” “RRR”Best Motion Picture, Animated“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”“Inu-Oh”“Marcel the Shell With Shoes On”“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”“Turning Red”Best Motion Picture, Foreign Language“All Quiet on the Western Front”“Argentina, 1985”“Close”“Decision to Leave”“RRR”Best Television Series, Drama“Better Call Saul”“The Crown”“House of the Dragon”“Ozark”“Severance”Best Television Series, Musical or Comedy“Abbott Elementary”“The Bear”“Hacks”“Only Murders in the Building”“Wednesday”Best Limited Series, Anthology Series or a Motion Picture made for Television“Black Bird”“Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”“The Dropout”“Pam & Tommy”“The White Lotus”Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, DramaEmma D’arcy, “House of the Dragon”Laura Linney, “Ozark”Imelda Staunton, “The Crown”Hilary Swank, “Alaska Daily”Zendaya, “Euphoria”Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Musical or ComedyQuinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary”Kaley Cuoco, “The Flight Attendant”Selena Gomez, “Only Murders in the Building”Jenna Ortega, “Wednesday”Jean Smart, “Hacks”Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or a Motion Picture Made for TelevisionJessica Chastain, “George & Tammy”Julia Garner, “Inventing Anna”Lily James, “Pam & Tommy”Julia Roberts, “Gaslit”Amanda Seyfried, “The Dropout”Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, DramaJeff Bridges, “The Old Man”Kevin Costner, “Yellowstone”Diego Luna, “Andor”Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul”Adam Scott, “Severance”Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Musical or ComedyDonald Glover, “Atlanta”Bill Hader, “Barry”Steve Martin, “Only Murders in the Building”Martin Short, “Only Murders in the Building”Jeremy Allen White, “The Bear”Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or a Motion Picture Made for TelevisionTaron Egerton, “Black Bird”Colin Firth, “The Staircase”Andrew Garfield, “Under the Banner of Heaven”Evan Peters, “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”Sebastian Stan, “Pam & Tommy”Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Television Musical, Comedy or Drama SeriesElizabeth Debicki, “The Crown”Hannah Einbinder, “Hacks”Julia Garner, “Ozark”Janelle James, “Abbott Elementary”Sheryl Lee Ralph, “Abbott Elementary”Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Television Musical, Comedy or Drama SeriesJonathan Lithgow, “The Old Man”Jonathan Pryce, “The Crown”John Turturro, “Severance”Tyler James Williams, “Abbott Elementary”Henry Winkler, “Barry”Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Television Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television MovieJennifer Coolidge, “The White Lotus”Claire Danes, “Fleishman Is in Trouble”Daisy Edgar-Jones, “Under the Banner of Heaven”Niecy Nash, “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”Aubrey Plaza, “The White Lotus”Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Television Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television MovieF. Murray Abraham, “The White Lotus”Domhnall Gleeson, “The Patient”Paul Walter Hauser, “Black Bird”Richard Jenkins, “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”Seth Rogen, “Pam & Tommy” More

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      How ‘Peter Pan’ Inspired Richard Branson

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      The businessman and subject of a new documentary series is a fan of “Mare of Easttown,” “Sharkwater” and letting his grandchildren beat him at chess.In the opening moments of the HBO documentary series “Branson,” Richard Branson looks into the camera to say goodbye.“It’s always strange recording something when you’re alive and healthy,” he said, “knowing the only reason this video will be seen is if something has gone awry.”Branson, a serial entrepreneur whose businesses include the aerospace company Virgin Galactic, has bid farewell before when he thought he needed to prepare for the worst — “I’ve written letters to my children and my grandchildren on a number of occasions,” he said in a phone interview last month — but in this case, it was 16 days before he tried spaceflight.Even though that 2021 trip was a success, the footage didn’t go to waste. It made its way into “Branson,” a four-part series that covers his life and career, including his founding of the Virgin empire. Talking about his life, he believes, is part of the mission.“Your life is not wasted if you’ve learned a lot and you’ve shared it,” he said in the documentary. “If you’ve learned a lot and you don’t share your life, I personally feel that your life is wasted somewhat.”Here, Branson shares the people who have inspired him, the books he returns to and why he keeps losing at tennis. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.1. “Peter Pan” I found the “Peter Pan” story as a kid and thought it was a magical story. Being able to just flap the arms and fly has been my most recurring dream.2. Forgiveness It was an honor to be able to spend quite a bit of time with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. And one of my favorite books is Nelson Mandela’s “Long Walk to Freedom.” I think that the overriding lesson that the two of them taught the world was the importance of forgiveness. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission that they set up in South Africa was completely and utterly remarkable.3. Grandchildren The best present I ever received was when my grandkids put on a show for me, which they performed in the middle of the dining room table. Shows from kids, and then grandkids, are often the best presents.4. “Biko” I was in South Africa with Nelson Mandela when they unveiled a statue of Steve Biko, a Black activist who was killed in a prison cell by white people during apartheid. After Mandela made his speech, I managed to get the microphone off him and handed it to Peter Gabriel and suggested that he just sing his song, “Biko,” without any instrumentation. The streets were filled with people, and every one of them sang along with him.5. “Swallows and Amazons” As a very young kid, I loved the Arthur Ransome novel “Swallows and Amazons.” It’s about a group of children having adventures in England. Now I read it to my grandkids. It’s a beautiful book.6. “Mare of Easttown” Kate Winslet ended up marrying into our family — married my nephew. I think her best performance ever was in “Mare of Easttown.” It’s extraordinarily powerful that she can do a Philadelphia lady and do it so well. I hope she makes a follow-up on that.7. “Sharkwater” A strong documentary can really wake one up. There’s a brilliant documentary called “Sharkwater,” which the late Rob Stewart made to campaign against the mass killing of sharks and other species in the ocean for things like shark fin soup. After I saw it, I started spending a lot of time campaigning to get sharks protected.8. Joe’s Stone Crab I’d rather swim with the fish than fish for fish these days, even though that sounds a bit “Godfather”-ish. When my wife, Joan, and I are in Miami, we like to eat at Joe’s Stone Crab. It’s got the best fish and crab and a lovely atmosphere as well.9. Chess I play lots of chess. And I like chess boards, which you’ll find around every corner of our home. I like boards to be simple, not the Balinese pieces where I don’t know which one is the queen and which one is the king. I started playing with my grandkids when they were quite young, and I let them beat me all the time to keep them interested. But my 7-year-old grandson has been taking lessons, and it was tough going recently, so I decided to beat him. I think he’s now at an age where he’ll want to come back for more.10. Tennis I play every morning and evening with a tennis pro. It’s a good way of being humble because I get beat, morning and evening, every day. More

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      What’s on TV This Week: Lots of Holiday Specials and ‘Yellowstone’

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      NBC, The CW and ABC celebrate the holidays and the Paramount show airs its midseason finale.Between network, cable and streaming, the modern television landscape is a vast one. Here are some of the shows, specials and movies coming to TV this week, Dec. 12-18. Details and times are subject to change.MondayBAKING IT: MAYA RUDOLPH & AMY POEHLER’S CELEBRITY HOLIDAY SPECIAL 10 p.m. on NBC. Maya Rudolph is kicking off the second season of her show, “Baking It,” with a holiday special co-starring Amy Poehler. The network announced that her season one co-host, Andy Samberg, would not be returning. On this episode Fred Armisen, Kristen Bell, Nicole Richie and JB Smoove compete in festive holiday baking challenges while also raising money for charity.TuesdayFrom left: Representative Nancy Pelosi, Senator Chuck Grassley, Senator Chuck Schumer in “Pelosi in the House.”Courtesy of HBOPELOSI IN THE HOUSE (2022) 9 p.m. on HBO. This documentary about the speaker of the house, Nancy Pelosi, filmed over three decades by her daughter Alexandra Pelosi, got a big preview when the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol played snippets of Alexandra’s videos from that day during their final hearing. Now, we will see moments before and after including Pelosi’s first State of the Union under President George W. Bush, the infamous moment of her ripping up a copy of President Donald Trump’s speech as she sat behind him and her persistence to verify the ballots even after the attack.THE VOICE 9 p.m. on NBC. This week’s two-hour live finale will feature performances from the top five finalists competing for a $100,000 cash prize and a record deal with Universal Music Group. They won’t be the only ones singing, though — Kane Brown, Kelly Clarkson, Maluma, One Republic and Adam Lambert are all set to perform.WednesdaySURVIVOR 8 p.m. on CBS. A three-hour episode, which includes a reunion, will wrap up the 43rd season of this reality competition show. This season, like the two that came before it, is a shortened version — filming took place over just 26 days to create 12 episodes. The show has already announced that it will be coming back for a 44th season.ThursdayH.E.R. as Belle in “Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration,” a movie that’s part live action, part animation.Christopher Willard/ABCBEAUTY AND THE BEAST: A 30TH CELEBRATION 8 p.m. on ABC. In 1992, Disney released an animated film that tells the story of Belle, a booksmart and headstrong girl who enters in the mansion of the Beast to save her father. Through true love, the Beast is transformed into his original form — a handsome prince, and of course, Belle and the prince live happily ever after. To celebrate the beloved fairy tale, this made-for-TV movie is part live action, part animation. Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson, known as H.E.R., stars as Belle, Josh Groban stars as the Beast and Rita Moreno narrates. The rest of the cast is also star studded, with almost too many Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award nominations between all of them to count.FridayFOUR CHRISTMASES (2008) 9 p.m. on AMC. While some holiday movies focus on the importance and joy of spending time with family, this film admits it can be exhausting. Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon play a couple who spend the holidays trudging around from one family event to another after their tropical getaway is canceled. “Yes, it follows a charming, mismatched couple on a sentimental journey involving presents, family and the sharing of food and feelings,” A.O. Scott wrote in his review for The New York Times. “But the picture, briskly directed by Seth Gordon from a snappy, many-authored script, is refreshingly tart and lean, forgoing the usual schmaltz and syrup.”SaturdayHOWARDS END 7 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). The four-part series follows two sisters as they navigate their love lives in Edwardian England. Margaret Schlegel, played by Hayley Atwell, is courted by Henry Wilcox (Matthew Macfadyen), a wealthy widower. Meanwhile, Margaret’s younger sister Helen Schlegel (Philippa Coulthard) falls for a penniless clerk.IHEARTRADIO JINGLE BALL 2022 8 p.m. on The CW. Originally broadcast live from Madison Square Garden in New York City on Dec. 9, a recording of this concert is coming to the small screen. The tour, which travels around the U.S. during the month of December, features performances by Dua Lipa, Lizzo, Lauv and Demi Lovato — just to name a new.THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA (2006) 9:30 p.m. on E! This movie is chock-full of memorable lines. Emily Blunt saying to Anne Hathaway, “A million girls would kill for this job” or Meryl Streep telling Hathaway, “By all means, move at a glacial pace. You know how that thrills me.” Hathaway plays Andy, a journalist who tries to get her big break by working as an assistant to Miranda Priestly (Streep), the editor in chief of Runway magazine, which is loosely inspired by Anna Wintour and Vogue magazine. After galas, a trip to Paris and a whole new wardrobe, Andy has to decide what she actually wants to do with her life.SundayFrom left, Gil Birmingham, Mo Brings Plenty and Luke Grimes in “Yellowstone.”Paramount NetworkYELLOWSTONE 8 p.m. on Paramount. This ensemble show follows a family of powerful ranchers. Last season, it was television’s most watched drama. “The surface layer of ‘Yellowstone’ is part modern-day Western, part family business saga,” the New York Times critic James Poniewozik wrote about the first season. “A kind of cowboy ‘Dynasty’ with some dark-cable ambitions.”MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944) 8 p.m. on TCM. This romantic comedy and musical follows four sisters, including one played by Judy Garland, in the year leading up to the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition World’s Fair. The plot revolves around Christmas, making it the perfect movie to watch this time of year. More

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      Steve Martin and Martin Short Trade Barbs, and Eulogies, on ‘SNL’

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      The two seasoned comedians brought their playful rivalry to this week’s episode, which featured the musical guest Brandi Carlile.A certain playful rivalry has always been the heart of the partnership between Steve Martin and Martin Short. So, taken to its logical extension, the two should be at their funniest when imagining themselves at each other’s funerals.That was the idea behind their opening monologue on this weekend’s “Saturday Night Live,” which paired the enduringly popular comedians (and stars of the Hulu series “Only Murders in the Building”) as hosts on a holiday-themed broadcast that also featured the musical guest Brandi Carlile.At their entrance, Short and Martin humorously stepped on each other’s dialogue, compared how many times they had hosted “S.N.L.” alone (Martin a whopping 16 occasions, Short a mere three) and indulged in some nostalgia for the early days of the series. Having shown a photograph of himself with Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi and Mick Jagger, Martin quipped that after it was taken, “We tested positive for everything.”Next, a few good-natured zingers at each other’s expense. Martin said that working with Short “is like World Cup soccer — somehow, I just can’t get into it.”Short returned fire, observing that their Hulu show “is like Steve at the urinal — it streams for 32 minutes.”Then Martin set up the central premise of the segment, saying that he realized Short wouldn’t live forever, “and that is sad, because you won’t be able to hear the wonderful things I’m going to say at your memorial.”“So I thought: why wait?” he continued. “So what I did was I wrote up your eulogy so you can hear it now.”Beginning his imaginary remarks, Martin said: “Wow, not much of a turnout. Marty did not want to be cremated — too late. But I’ll always be haunted by Marty’s last words: ‘Tesla autopilot, engage.’”Short then launched into his own tribute, saying: “There are so many great things that I could say about Steve Martin. But this hardly seems the time nor the place.” He added, “I know Steve is looking down on us right now because he always looked down on everybody.”Martin said of Short: “Marty was taken away from us too soon. But sadly, not before he played Jack Frost in ‘Santa Clause 3.’”And Short said of Martin, “Seeing you in your casket reminds me of that classic ‘S.N.L.’ sketch ‘Dick in a Box.’”Finally Martin wondered aloud, “Now that Marty’s gone, who will I ever work with?” That was the cue for a cameo from Selena Gomez, their co-star in “Only Murders,” who asked, “What about me?”New holiday standard of the weekIn this week’s opening sketch, “S.N.L.” skipped its familiar topical satire in favor of a musical segment that found Bowen Yang, Cecily Strong and Kenan Thompson standing at a Christmas tree, wondering how to deal with the buildup of anxieties from recent months. (Yang listed the major causes for concern: “War, climate change, the Prince Harry-Meghan Markle documentary.”)Breaking into song, they explained that the holidays made it OK for them to push off their personal worries for a few more weeks. For example, Thompson sang that he could give himself permission to overlook his drinking: “It’s starting to get out of hand / I knew that it may have / Crossed into a dark place / When Burger King said I was banned.”In another verse, Yang asked: “Since when did Hitler come back? / Didn’t we basically all agree, years ago / Hitler should never come back?” (Thompson added, “And why are his new fans Black?”)Old holiday standard of the weekLike the Irving Berlin composition that inspired it, the 1954 movie musical “White Christmas” may be a seasonal classic. But let’s at least admit that it has a couple of bizarre numbers, like “Snow,” in which Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney and Danny Kaye ride a train while crooning about frozen precipitation as if they’ve never encountered it before.That scene was parodied with an absurdist affection in this sketch, where Short, Martin and Strong sing enthusiastically about snow without seeming to understand what it is, and Thompson plays a fellow passenger who is pleasantly baffled by their antics. (If seeing Short and Martin in Christmas sketches is your thing, enjoy these further segments in which they play a department-store Santa and elf and perform an excessively violent reimagining of Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol.” )Weekend Update jokes of the weekOver at the Weekend Update desk, the anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che riffed on the aftermath of the 2022 midterm elections and the release of the basketball player Brittney Griner as part of a prisoner exchange with Russia.Jost began:It was shaping up to be good week for Joe Biden. He got Brittney Griner back, he kept marriage gay, and he’s only got 14 more sleeps until Santa. But then, just when he thought he had it all under control, Kyrsten Sinema said hold my wig. Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema, seen here realizing that someone is actually waving to the person behind her, announced that she is leaving the Democratic Party and is registering as an independent. Explained Sinema, “Pay attention to me.”He continued:WNBA star Brittney Griner was freed from prison in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. It’s actually a great trade because Bout was only averaging five points and two rebounds a game.Che then pivoted to the Georgia runoff:Raphael Warnock defeated Herschel Walker in Georgia’s Senate runoff race. But I don’t think this is the last you’ll hear from Herschel Walker. I mean, unless he’s your biological father. With Raphael Warnock’s win, Democrats in the Senate will no longer have to rely on Vice President Harris for tie breaking votes. Harris can now focus on her main priority, waiting for a worse bike accident. [A screen behind Che shows President Biden falling off a bike.]Nineties nostalgia of the weekIf you’re going to bring Martin and Short together on a pop-cultural comedy sketch series, you’d darn well better let them pay homage to either “Three Amigos” or “Father of the Bride.”“S.N.L.” opted for the latter in this fake ad for “Father of the Bride Part 8,” which casts Martin as the titular father, Heidi Gardner as his now-menopausal daughter preparing for her eighth marriage, Short as his flamboyant wedding-planner character and Kieran Culkin as himself, reminding us that yes, he really was in the previous installments of the franchise, and we’ve all gotten much older since then. More

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      Best of Late Night This Week

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      Comedy CentralThis week, the hosts were thrilled that the Trump Organization was found guilty of tax fraud, skewered former President Trump for his comments about the Constitution and celebrated Raphael Warnock’s win in Georgia.And after seven seasons behind the “Daily Show” desk, Trevor Noah said goodbye.Here’s what the hosts had to say → More

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      Trevor Noah’s Optimism Set His Version of ‘The Daily Show’ Apart

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      Though his final episode made the mysterious reason for his departure a running joke, his specials and memoir suggest he was always comfortable with uncertainty.A talk-show host’s final episode is typically a celebration of their tenure, but in his last time at “The Daily Show” desk, Trevor Noah put the spotlight on others, giving sizable segments to each of his correspondents, doing a gushing interview with the comic Neal Brennan and expressing gratitude to everyone from the executives who hired him to the Black women who raised him to those who hate-watched.In a persistently sunny hour, Noah even had a kind word for Donald J. Trump, quieting his crowd by praising what the former president did for prison reform.Noah has always invited others to see him as an outsider because of his background as a South African comic, but his equanimity and preternatural calm also distinguished him. He’s got to be the only political comic alive who could emerge from seven years of regularly joking about the Trump administration and a global pandemic exuding optimism.“The Daily Show” is famous for its topical jokes, but Noah told very few on his final episode. He took a broader perspective. Outlining lessons learned, which included that people were friendlier than they appear on social media, he struck post-partisan notes and said, “Politics turns people’s brains to mush.”He told a story about Jon Stewart calling to offer him the job and saying, “I see you in me.” Noah seemed shocked, and honestly, why wouldn’t he be?Trevor Noah’s 7 Years on “The Daily Show”The host, who took the reins of the show from Jon Stewart in 2015, exposed America’s many blind spots through witty and passionate commentary.Time to Depart: Trevor Noah announced that he would be stepping down in September, citing a desire for a better work-life balance.Saying Goodbye: In his final episode of “The Daily Show,” Mr. Noah told viewers not to be sad and called the night “a celebration.”An Outsider: The talk-show host, who grew up in South Africa and represented a part of the world often neglected by American news, helped his audience see through his eyes.His Best Moments: Noah’s comic perspective set him apart from other late-night hosts. Here are the highlights.Whereas Stewart’s humor ran hot and righteous, Noah always maintained a cool composure. Stewart was at his best in antagonistic interviews, interrogating ideas and calling out nonsense. Noah always seemed eager to get above the fray and treated guests with deference and awe.One running joke on his last show was the mystery of why he was leaving. Discovering that he doesn’t have another job lined up, the correspondent Dulcé Sloan quipped about Noah, who has a Black mother and white father, “Wow, you really are half-white.”You get a hint about why Noah might have gotten restless from his comment that it might be better to wait before developing a take on something you see in the news. But you can learn more about the reason he left from his stand-up. Noah never stopped performing, putting out three Netflix specials during his “Daily Show” tenure, including one last month called “I Wish You Would.”He’s not an entirely different performer in his stand-up — his twinkly-eyed charm is a constant — but the distinctions are revealing. While his specials dig into politics, it’s not the main subject. That would be the slipperiness and meaning of language. Noah is clearly not just obsessed, but tickled by the way people talk and the eccentricity of languages (he speaks eight). His gift for impressions is the centerpiece of many bits.In fact, a premise often seems like just an excuse for him to show off verbal gymnastics, whether it’s pointing out the similarity between the ways Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama speak or showing that to be president you need a strange voice (cue a lineup of impressions). Even my favorite Noah joke, about how trap music sounds like a toddler complaining (from his special “Son of Patricia”), is a virtuosic display that turns ordinary human sounds into a kind of music.Noah’s stand-up aesthetic is also more subtle and wry than his talk-show punch lines. In a joke from his recent special comparing Will Smith’s character in “Independence Day” to his slap at the Oscars, he displays such a light touch that the actor might not have even noticed the jab. (In fact, Smith gave one of his first interviews after the awards to Noah, a booking coup.) There’s a wit to his voice that recalls an earlier era. I would not be shocked to see him become a regular humor writer for The New Yorker.Noah hit his stride on “The Daily Show” when he started speaking more off the cuff. The segments, released online, in which he did crowd work during commercial breaks were often long monologues culminating in metaphors. They showcased his gift for thinking aloud and in real time. What they don’t have is a ruthless appetite for getting belly laughs or winning an argument. The dearth of that hunger is also part of his legacy at “The Daily Show.”On “I Wish You Would,” you get a sense of his temperament when he talks about why people were so angry during the pandemic. His theory is not that Americans were hopelessly divided, but that we were scared. “As humans, we get so comfortable knowing,” he said, emphasizing that last word in his volume and timing, “that we forget how uncertain life is.”This is not just a more existential thought than is usually expressed on a talk show. It’s existentially fatal to a certain kind of talk show. Because as true as it may be, and it is, the job of daily commentator on political events is a lot easier if he at least keeps up the illusion of having a sure-minded, commanding take. Hamlet could never host “The Daily Show.”Noah is startlingly good at appearing confident and assured, which made him a natural at the job. But talent can be its own obstacle. What you’re gifted at is not necessarily what you should be doing. Watching his stand-up, and especially reading his excellent memoir, “Born a Crime,” you sense that he is most comfortable in the moments of not knowing.Talk shows are far more collaborative than they appear. And “The Daily Show” is a machine that can work with different hosts. We first learned that not with Noah but with John Oliver, who had considerable success filling in when Stewart took a summer hiatus in 2013. The years that followed were a catastrophic period for Comedy Central, when it lost a tremendous amount of funny correspondents, including Oliver, Stephen Colbert and Samantha Bee. Noah deserves credit for rebuilding an impressive roster with a more diverse cast.“The Daily Show” will now use temporary hosts, including Sarah Silverman, Al Franken and the former correspondent Hasan Minhaj. As for the permanent replacement, the understandable temptation is to aim for the shiny new toy, but clearly, overlooking your stable of talent has its own risks.Dulcé Sloan has enough spiky charm for a bigger platform. Jordan Klepper displays a bulletproof deadpan. And in their stand-up as well as on the show, Roy Wood Jr. and Ronny Chieng are cagey, argumentative and prolific joke writers who share a delight in the comic kill that would represent its own departure. To my eyes, they should be the favorites. But would either want this grind?In his goodbye to Noah, Chieng set up a joke by appearing to get emotional: “In all seriousness, on behalf of everyone watching right now and from the bottom of my heart, can I be the new host?” More