User:Oceanflynn/sandbox/Best of Late Night TV

Best of Late Night TV is a column in The New York Times that originated as an experiment mid-February 2017, to provides a "daily roundup of the best jokes, punch lines and comic skits" from late night television. At first only two people curated the shows: Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, Trevor Noah, Samantha Bee, James Corden, Bill Maher, Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Kimmel Patrick Healy, who covered the 2016 presidential election as "national reporter for the Times politics desk", is the deputy culture editor and Sopan Deb, who contributed to the CBS coverage election coverage, "culture reporter." The column was so successful that the Times hired Gio Russonello to write a permanent regular Monday through Thursday column.

Distinct strains of comedy
The shows curators observed that, Colbert, Noah, Meyers and Oliver "educate as well as amuse viewers." Others focus on "making people laugh". Healy described Colbert as "funniest and sharpest" host and also the one who is "most willing to be edgy."

"Noah is sharper than he is given credit for. He doesn’t have the delivery that Jon Stewart, his ‘The Daily Show’ predecessor, did but he has the edge and a strong writing team. Fallon is the most apolitical, unsurprisingly, out of all the late-show hosts. His show is about making people laugh — and that’s it, for better or worse. Fallon offers a safe space — for both the comedian and the audience."sharper than he is given credit for. He doesn’t have the delivery that Jon Stewart, his ‘The Daily Show’ predecessor, did but he has the edge and a strong writing team."

- Sopan Deb February 15, 2017

Recurrent themes
Jokes about Betsy DeVos, Elizabeth Warren, Stephen Miller and Ivanka Trump...