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    Seth Meyers Approves of the Obamas Dissing Donald Trump

    The “Late Night” host remarked that former President Barack Obama burned Donald Trump “without even saying a word” on Day 2 of the D.N.C.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.Double-Teaming Donald TrumpFormer President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, gave rousing speeches on the second night of the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday.On Wednesday’s “Late Night,” Seth Meyers said that Michelle Obama “brought down the house when she tore into Trump.”“She is very, very good. I’m a little bummed she doesn’t want to get into politics, but I’m very happy she doesn’t want to host a late-night talk show.” — SETH MEYERSBarack Obama’s speech, Meyers said, “got everyone talking when he took a jab at the size of Trump’s crowds.”“He did it without even saying a word — just a tiny hand gesture.” — SETH MEYERS“I’ve said it for years, and I’ll say it again: the best Obama is standup Obama.” — SETH MEYERS“That was the first time Trump was like, ‘That’s enough TV; I’m going to go exercise and read a book.’” — JIMMY FALLON“The last time Trump got burned that badly, he locked himself in his tanning bed.” — JIMMY FALLON“Yeah, then Stormy Daniels said, ‘Nothing to fact check there.’” — JIMMY FALLON“I see what he did there. Yeah, yeah, that’s brutal. That’s the second time this summer that the Secret Service has failed to protect Trump from a lethal attack.” — JORDAN KLEPPER, guest host of “The Daily Show”The Punchiest Punchlines (Turn Down for What Edition)“I just know that when Lil Jon wrote this song, he was thinking to himself, ‘This will absolutely rip at the 2024 Democratic National Convention.’” — JORDAN KLEPPER, on Lil Jon’s appearance at the D.N.C.“I didn’t know politics was so lit. I’m going to start voting!” — JORDAN KLEPPER“Oh my gosh! They don’t call it a political party for nothing’.” — RUPAUL, guest host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live”“C-SPAN even covered it and identified Lil Jon in a lower third, although they should have used his official title: ‘Rep. Lil Jon, Democrat, Crunksylvania.’” — SETH MEYERSThe Bits Worth WatchingDiane Lane, who stars in “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans,” chatted with the guest host, RuPaul, on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and recalled seeing Truman Capote on late-night shows in the 1970s.What We’re Excited About on Thursday NightJon Stewart will host Thursday’s “Daily Show” live from Chicago on the fourth and final night of the D.N.C.Also, Check This Out“My bed is so comfortable,” Hannah Gadsby said, “and that keeps me up at night.”Ian LaidlawThe Australian comic Hannah Gadsby takes on Taylor Swift and fans in a new routine, “Woof.” More

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    For Aja Naomi King, an Emmy Nomination Is a Seismic Event

    The earth shook as she talked about receiving her first Emmy nod, for her role as Harriet in the Apple TV+ show “Lessons in Chemistry.” Literally.A few minutes into a conversation with Aja Naomi King, a first time Emmy nominee for her graceful, purposeful supporting turn in the Apple TV+ limited series “Lessons in Chemistry,” the earth began to move. “Oh my God. Earthquake! Earthquake!” King said. Once the ground quieted, she collected herself.“Sorry,” she said. “I just really got the fullness of that shake.”An Emmy nomination? That has been earthshaking, too. King’s Instagram post about the news is an outpouring of exuberant run-on sentences punctuated by a heart emoji. “If you made it to the bottom of this post you deserve an award,” she wrote.King, 39, graduated from the School of Drama at Yale in 2010. She had been working professionally for over a decade, most notably in the tangy ABC procedural “How to Get Away With Murder,” when she was cast in “Lessons in Chemistry.” Based on the best seller by Bonnie Garmus, the show tells the story of Elizabeth Zott (Brie Larson), a onetime chemist who becomes the host of a 1960s cooking show.King plays Elizabeth’s close friend Harriet. Described in the novel as a middle-aged white woman, Harriet was reimagined as a young Black mother and an aspiring lawyer who fights to save Los Angeles’s Sugar Hill neighborhood from the incursions of the freeway system.When Elizabeth, concerned for her career, declines to participate in the fight, King’s Harriet confronts her. “You’re always talking about the things that keep women down, but who does that include?” Harriet says.While King was initially concerned that Harriet would be a mere foil for Elizabeth, she was gratified by what she described as “the fullness of Harriet’s Black womanhood” that the show allowed for.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    ‘Love Island USA’ Reunion: 5 Biggest Takeaways

    After a chaotic and fun season, even more drama unfolded on social media in the weeks that followed. This Peacock special broke everything down.This summer’s season of “Love Island U.S.A.” has been the most popular of the franchise so far. And, if it feels like everyone is talking about it, it’s because they probably are — during the second week of July, this show was the most watched streaming original series in the U.S., according to Luminate, an entertainment data tracking service. That means it outranked “The Bear.”Because of the season’s popularity, it made sense for the show to have its first ever reunion special. Hosted by Ariana Madix, whose training included being grilled by Andy Cohen during her many “Vanderpump Rules” reunions, the show featured 25 Islanders — both OGs and Casa Amor — discussing not only what went on during the season but also all the messy drama that has unfolded on social media in the weeks after the show aired.Here are the five biggest takeaways from the reunion.Full footage of the firepit vote between Serena Page, Olivia Walker, Leah Kateb and Kaylor Martin is revealed.One of the biggest and longest running dramas in the villa this season had to do with the dumping of Andrea Carmona. At the time, Carmona was coupled up with Rob Rausch, who had just gotten out of a couple with Leah Kateb.A handful of the women in the villa had to decide whom to dump between Carmona, Nicole Jacky or JaNa Craig.The decision to send Carmona home caused many fights, including one during which Martin and Walker told Rausch that Kateb had been the one pushing to send Carmona home — and this information discouraged Rausch from recoupling with Kateb. Kateb maintained that she “tried to take a back seat” in the decision making.Throughout and following the season, viewers asked on social media why the show didn’t just air the entire unedited footage of the four women making the decision, instead of allowing a seemingly endless “he-said-she-said.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    ‘Reservation Dogs’ Showed D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai What Is Possible

    The actor received his first Emmy nomination for his performance on the acclaimed Native comedy. In an interview, he talks about breaking down stereotypes, and possibly reviving his character.Much like his “Reservation Dogs” character, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai grew up wondering if he was a good guy.If his dedication to his craft and his community is any indication, the 22-year-old actor of Anishinaabe, Guyanese and German descent seems to be a pretty upstanding citizen. The day we chat about his Emmy nomination for lead actor in a comedy series, for example, he is visiting his parents in his native Toronto (from his adopted hometown, Los Angeles) and has spent most of the morning chauffeuring his auntie around on a several-hours-long excursion. After all, mothers, grandmothers and aunties are considered the bedrock of Indigenous communities.That’s a fact any “Reservation Dogs” fan would know. With the groundbreaking FX series, the creators Taika Waititi and Sterlin Harjo provided a rare look at everyday life on an Oklahoma Indian reservation through the eyes of four teens reeling in the aftermath of a friend’s suicide. Harjo, who also served as showrunner, has said there was only one way to do it: with an all-Indigenous team of writers, directors and regular actors who could authentically tell this story.Alongside his young co-stars, Woon-A-Tai made uncharted television territory feel warm, raw and utterly relatable, garnering “Rez Dogs” broad acclaim as well as four Emmy nominations this year, including a best comedy nod. His portrayal of Bear Smallhill also earned him an Emmy nomination, placing him alongside Lily Gladstone (“Under the Bridge”) and Kali Reis (“True Detective: Night Country”) as the first Indigenous actors to be nominated in 17 years.In an interview, he talked about breaking down stereotypes, possibly reviving his “Rez Dogs” character and being a good, healthy Indigenous man. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.Despite critical acclaim, “Rez Dogs” was notably overlooked by the television academy for its first two seasons. What does it mean to you to break through with a best comedy nomination and one of the few Indigenous acting nominations in Emmys history?We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Phil Donahue’s Neutral Wardrobe Kept the Focus on His Subjects

    The talk show host made a career of exposing polarizing topics while dressed in a relatively neutral wardrobe.The hoary tabloid axiom “if it bleeds, it leads” played no small part in the decades-long career of Phil Donahue, the pioneering host of “The Phil Donahue Show,” who died on Sunday at 88. Mr. Donahue spent three decades exposing subjects difficult for many Americans to confront — homosexuality, atheism, civil rights, consumer protection and abortion among them — to the disinfectant light of daytime TV.Central to Mr. Donahue’s success was his physical appearance. A conventionally handsome man with a boyish cast to his features, he had a perpetually merry look of bemusement and a virile, Kennedy-esque thatch of hair that grayed and then whitened as he aged in front of viewers in their living rooms. The aura Mr. Donahue conveyed was that of genial, avuncular family doctor who distracts you with innocuous banter as he rips off the bandage.Mr. Donahue deliberately played to that look with an on-air wardrobe that occasionally veered toward dapper — vested three-piece suits, wide ties, broad ’80s lapels — but was seldom, if ever, flamboyant. No “groovy” Merv Griffin shirts or turtlenecks for him, or the loud jackets and pastel polyester suits that were Johnny Carson’s sartorial signature. By comparison, Mr. Donahue’s style was resolutely neutral: He wore good clothes that fit his trim frame neatly but still seemed unremarkable, as though bought off a rack at J.C. Penney.When at times Mr. Donahue shed his jacket, it was to roam the studio aisles with his shirt sleeves rolled up, wielding the mic like a baton and putting it and the authority into the hands of audience members, whose questions he once remarked were often better than his.“Donahue’s subjects were often sharp, but his presentation was soft,” Wayne Munson, the author of “All Talk: The Talk Show in Media Culture,” said in an interview. Mr. Munson’s 1993 book took aim at a cultural form that, reviewers noted, blended interpersonal exchange and mediated spectacle and that would ultimately, as few then predicted, give way to all the yapping now consumed on social media.Mr. Donahue’s appearance, demeanor and habit of sharing the mic with audience members suggested his was never to be the authoritative voice of God but that of a neighbor.Getty ImagesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Late Night Congratulates Biden for Staying Up So Late

    When the president finally took the stage at the Democratic convention, “the cheers were so loud that even Biden could hear them,” Jimmy Fallon said.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.Past His BedtimeThe Democratic National Convention kicked off in Chicago on Monday with a focus on celebrating President Biden.Late-night hosts took the opportunity to poke fun at his age once more. Jimmy Fallon said that when the president took the stage for his speech, “the cheers were so loud that even Biden could hear them.”“Biden gave a speech highlighting his accomplishments. He talked about the economy, health care and how he walked to the podium.” — JIMMY FALLON“Biden stood on that stage, gave a powerful speech and proved to the country and the world that he can stay up past 8 p.m.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“They decided to have Biden speak on Monday, in hopes that he’d be done by Thursday.” — RUPAUL, guest host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live”The Punchiest Punchlines (For the People Edition)“It was an extraordinary night and extraordinarily long.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Each night of the convention has its own theme, and tonight’s was ‘For the People.’ Yeah, it’s a big change from a month ago, when the theme was ‘For the Last Time, Please Drop Out.’” — JIMMY FALLON“Surprise, it’s Kamala! Which one month ago became the Democrats’ campaign slogan.” — STEPHEN COLBERT, on Kamala Harris’s unscheduled appearance at the convention on MondayThe Bits Worth WatchingMichael Keaton talked about reprising his role as Beetlejuice (for a sequel, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”) on Monday’s “Tonight Show.”What We’re Excited About on Tuesday NightColman Domingo, star of “Sing Sing,” will sit down on Tuesday with RuPaul, the guest host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”Also, Check This OutRichard Belzer, left, and Andre Braugher in a scene from “Homicide: Life on the Street.”NBCU Photo BankThe foundational ’90s cop drama “Homicide: Life on the Streets ” is available to stream for the first time, on Peacock. More

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    5 Takeaways from the ‘Love Island U.S.A.’ Season 6 Reunion

    After a chaotic and fun season, even more drama unfolded on social media in the weeks that followed. This Peacock special broke everything down.This summer’s season of “Love Island U.S.A.” has been the most popular of the franchise so far. And, if it feels like everyone is talking about it, it’s because they probably are — during the second week of July, this show was the most watched streaming original series in the U.S., according to Luminate, an entertainment data tracking service. That means it outranked “The Bear.”Because of the season’s popularity, it made sense for the show to have its first ever reunion special. Hosted by Ariana Madix, whose training included being grilled by Andy Cohen during her many “Vanderpump Rules” reunions, the show featured 25 Islanders — both OGs and Casa Amor — discussing not only what went on during the season but also all the messy drama that has unfolded on social media in the weeks after the show aired.Here are the five biggest takeaways from the reunion.Full footage of the firepit vote between Serena Page, Olivia Walker, Leah Kateb and Kaylor Martin is revealed.One of the biggest and longest running dramas in the villa this season had to do with the dumping of Andrea Carmona. At the time, Carmona was coupled up with Rob Rausch, who had just gotten out of a couple with Leah Kateb.A handful of the women in the villa had to decide whom to dump between Carmona, Nicole Jacky or JaNa Craig.The decision to send Carmona home caused many fights, including one during which Martin and Walker told Rausch that Kateb had been the one pushing to send Carmona home — and this information discouraged Rausch from recoupling with Kateb. Kateb maintained that she “tried to take a back seat” in the decision making.Throughout and following the season, viewers asked on social media why the show didn’t just air the entire unedited footage of the four women making the decision, instead of allowing a seemingly endless “he-said-she-said.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Phil Donahue’s Most Memorable Episodes

    In his very first episode, which aired locally in Dayton, Ohio, the host, who would go on to redefine such talk shows, interviewed one of the most notorious figures in America.Phil Donahue, who died on Sunday at age 88, will long be remembered as the king of daytime television.Starting in 1967 at a local Ohio station, he immediately set a new tone for what a talk show could be by tackling some of the most taboo topics of the day. His unique approach, which included making audience participation fundamental, proved wildly successful, and over the next 29 years, he would record more than 6,000 episodes of “The Phil Donahue Show” — shortened to “Donahue” during his heyday in the late 1970s and ’80s.He was such a juggernaut that in Oprah Winfrey’s early days, she was told it would be impossible to compete. In an Instagram post on Monday that included a glitzy black-and-white photo of them together, Winfrey said, “There wouldn’t have been an Oprah Show without Phil Donahue being the first to prove that daytime talk and women watching should be taken seriously.”In a lengthy 2001 interview with the Television Academy, Donahue said he struggled the most with questions like, “Who was your best guest?” These questions are easy to ask but impossible to answer, he said.Even if Donahue himself was loath to pick the most memorable moments, some episodes do stand out from the pack. Here are three that explain how he endured.Madalyn Murray O’HairWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More