trow125

I'll bet Christie wouldn't have dared to appear on TDS with Jon post-Bridgegate (he was a guest once, back in 2012, when he was at the peak of his bipartisan popularity post-Sandy). Especially since by that time, Jon was living in New Jersey. Frankly I'd rather not see ANY presidential candidates on late night entertainment shows, since with rare exceptions those conversations aren't particularly illuminating or newsworthy -- it's usually the candidate doing all s/he can to show s/he is a good sport; Bernie Sanders' "soul food sit-down" with Larry Wilmore is a perfect example of that. But I realize that's all part of the "game" nowadays.

Dude's got almost 40 million YouTube subscribers. He's probably a lot better known than Yo-Yo Ma, sad as that may seem. I wonder if this is part of a CBS late night strategy, because James Corden had an entire show devoted to YouTube celebs a couple of weeks ago (Jenna Marbles, Tyler Oakley, etc.).

Speaking of listings, here is the latest. I'm including this week's guests because there are several changes. Monday, Sept. 28 First Lady Michelle Obama; John Legend Tuesday, Sept. 29 Actress Ellen Page; Actor Jesse Eisenberg; Inventor and Designer Dominic Wilcox Wednesday, Sept. 30 John Oliver; Founder of Snapchat Evan Spiegel; interview with Singer-Songwriter Bill Withers and performance by Ed Sheeran Thursday, Oct. 1 Secretary of State John Kerry; Actress Claire Danes; YouTube Comedian PewDiePie Friday, Oct. 2 Actor Morgan Freeman, executive producer of the CBS drama series “Madam Secretary”; Actress Ruth Wilson; interview with and demonstration by Hello Games founder Sean Murray Monday, Oct. 5 Senator John McCain; Cellist Yo-Yo Ma; interview with and performance by ballerina Misty Copeland Tuesday, Oct. 6 Comedian Billy Eichner; musical performance by Florence and the Machine Wednesday, Oct. 7 Actress Gina Rodriguez; Economist Ben Bernanke; musical performance by Tame Impala Thursday, Oct. 8 Actress Cate Blanchett; CEO of Airbnb Brian Chesky Friday, Oct. 9 James Corden, host of the CBS’s “The Late Late Show”; Co-Founder and CEO of Vice Media Shane Smith; musical performance by Halsey

Trevor Noah Hosts His Final Test ‘Daily Show’ Answers some questions, including the one about the theme song: "Even the familiar opening theme, composed by the rock musician Bob Mould, is sticking around for the time being."

Did anyone else notice that Paul Dinello was portraying the Swiss Guard? Loved the bit at the very end where Stephen tried to make the miniature Popemobile jump over the Guard, failed, and then Stephen just jumped over him himself!

I was totally distracted by the phone -- I assumed it was going to be part of the bit. Has it always been there? If so, why?! The interview with Elizabeth Warren was, to me, the closest he's come to disappearing back into "the character," for instance, when he started talking about "rich guys like me," something he used to do all the time on TCR. I felt he was holding himself back from being combative as he would have been if "Stephen" had been interviewing her. (She appeared on the Report twice, BTW.)

First week guests: September 28: actor/comedian Kevin Hart, "What Now? Tour" September 29: Whitney Wolfe, founder and CEO of Bumble September 30: Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ), Republican Presidential Candidate October 1: musician Ryan Adams, "1989"

I got a big laugh out of the fake "Johns Hotpants" diploma in Stephen's Totally Legitimate Online PhD Program because I have a real B.A. from Johns Hopkins and now I can finally pair it with a PhD.

My all-time fave was when Dave had South African group Die Antwoord on -- check out his reaction when he goes to greet them at the end. He made reference to the name of their song ("I Fink You Fweeky") for days afterward. Of course, Dave's favorite band was the far-more-mainstream Foo Fighters, who performed on the show numerous times. I don't know how much influence the host has over the musical guest bookings -- probably not all that much -- but the Black Keys appeared twice on the "Report," so it wouldn't surprise me if Stephen had a hand in booking the Arcs (a Black Keys side project).

Next week: Monday, Sept. 28 First Lady Michelle Obama; Mindy Kaling; John Legend (n) Tuesday, Sept. 29 Actress Ellen Page; Actor Jesse Eisenberg; Inventor and Designer Dominic Wilcox (n) Wednesday, Sept. 30 John Oliver; Author Elizabeth Gilbert; interview with Singer-Songwriter Bill Withers and performance by Ed Sheeran (n) Thursday, Oct. 1 Actress Claire Danes; Founder of Snapchat Evan Spiegel; interview with and demonstration by YouTube Comedian PewDiePie (n) Friday, Oct. 2 Actor Morgan Freeman, executive producer of the CBS drama series “Madam Secretary”; Actress Ruth Wilson; interview with and demonstration by Hello Games founder Sean Murray (n)

More updates... Mo 9/21: John Hodgman, Ron Funches, Jessica Lowe Tu 9/22: Doug Benson, Justin Willman, Ron Funches We 9/23: Ron Funches, Jesse Joyce, Sara Schaefer Th 9/24: Ron Funches, Chris D'Elia, Yassir Lester Mo 9/28: Rob Riggle Tu 9/29: James Davis We 9/30: Tom Lennon, Jen Kirkman, Rhys Darby Th 10/1: Randy Sklar, Jason Sklar

It'll be extremely interesting to see which of the late night shows tackle "Piggate" tonight. I vote for @Midnight as the one most likely to cover it, despite the fact that (1) they're on at 11 PM again this week and (2) the dignified John Hodgman will be on the panel.

Stephen was not at the Emmys, correct? I did not see him... since he has a new show tonight, I guess he skipped it. (Personally, I think TDS won all the awards since we still have Stephen on our TVs, while Jon has retired.)

"The Daily Show" did really well at the Emmys tonight, winning Outstanding Variety Talk Series, Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series and Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series (the latter for the episode with Mumford & Sons, oddly enough). Elliot Kalan accepted the writers' award, but Jon (lookin' good with a neatly trimmed beard) did speak after they won the Outstanding Variety Talk Series, and said, among other things, "You will never have to see me again." Oh Jon, I hope you were joking!!! From Entertainment Weekly:

FYI, the upcoming musical guests next week are: Don Henley, Raury ("known for his eclectic sound mixing soul, hip hop and folk" according to Wikipedia), Pearl Jam, the YMCA Jerusalem Youth Chorus and the Choir of St. Jean Baptiste, and The Arcs ("a side-project by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys").

Yep -- I have a friend who was a human interest guest on Ellen after a good deed she did made national news. There can be a LOT of competition if somebody is getting press... my friend was courted by numerous shows, and I think Ellen has kind of developed a reputation as the most generous host (indeed, Ellen wound up giving her a free vacation at the end of the segment). I'm sure Texas Clock Kid is fielding offers from everybody right now. Since Stephen is a big science/space fan, of course I think he'd be the perfect person to interview him. David Letterman always used to have the Piedmont Bird Callers on every year. I live near the school and have wondered if Stephen will continue the tradition, but he might not want to do something so closely associated with his predecessor.

I wanted to see if I could find a clip to send my mom, a big Jeopardy fan who missed last night's ep as she's traveling, and I dug up this HuffPo article: UGH. I really, truly hope that all the attention she's getting doesn't prompt other people to start acting like idiots.

Well, anyone who was hoping for a weird arm waving, swaying contestant certainly got their wish with Talia. I suspect Alex was also very glad she didn't win. I can't remember the last time I felt so embarrassed for a contestant. I wonder if a clip of her appearance will show up on "The Soup" this Friday. I was kind of hoping somebody would incorrectly answer "Uncle F---er," another song from the "South Park" movie, because I'm curious what would happen if somebody wrote a profanity in FJ.

Updated list. I'm bummed that Patton Oswalt and Blaine Capatch are no longer scheduled for Thursday, but here's hoping they'll be rescheduled soon. We 9/16: Heather Anne Campbell, James Adomian, Jon Daly Th 9/17: Jim Jefferies, David Koechner, Mary Lynn Rajskub Mo 9/21: John Hodgman, Ron Funches Tu 9/22: Doug Benson, Justin Willman, Ron Funches We 9/23: Ron Funches, Jesse Joyce Th 9/24: Ron Funches, Chris D'Elia, Yassir Lester

Trevor will be the lead guest on tomorrow's (Thursday) episode of "Late Show with Stephen Colbert."

Salman Rushdie is such a great panel guest. I love him on "Real Time with Bill Maher." Hope he comes back to TNS even when he doesn't have a new book to plug!

Frequent @midnight guest Steve Rannazzisi is in the news for fabricating a story he told about his whereabouts on 9/11.

He's co-starring in "Freeheld," which is one of the big Oscar-bait fall releases, so we could see him soon (fingers crossed!!!). I wonder if he would ever have Sam Bee on to promote her new late night show (which debuts in January)? It might be in the 11-11:30 PM time slot (it hasn't been announced yet exactly when it will air), so maybe they won't be direct competitors...

TNS renewed for another year

Agreed -- great show (I'll even tolerate the mooning over Chris's engagement photos just this once). I LOVE eBay Price is Right. I wish this had been a Thursday night show so we could have gotten an extended version!