Fallon Michelle Obama - H 2013
NBCThis story first appeared in the June 21 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.
What a year for late night! The beleagured Tonight show landed its (latest) heir apparent in Jimmy Fallon, and reigning ratings king Jay Leno got kinda cool for a hot minute.
Jimmy Kimmel jumped ahead an hour and shocked with an impressive debut that topped Leno’s ratings and those of Kimmel’s hero, David Letterman.
Emmy darling Jon Stewart, winner of the variety statuette 10 years running, saw his show outperform those of his fellow cablers once again.
But it’s the 10 hosts’ hottest viral moments — ranked here — that are making the race for late-night gold a true battle of the buzziest.
PHOTOS: Emmys: Behind-the-Scenes Photos From THR’s Comedy Showrunner Roundtable
Late Night With Jimmy Fallon
TWITTER: @jimmyfallon, 8,944,458 followers
FACEBOOK: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, 569,317 likes
YOUTUBE: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, 453,835 subscribers
VIRAL MOMENT OF THE YEAR: “Evolution of Mom Dancing With Michelle Obama”; 15.9 million hits on YouTube.
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
TWITTER: @jimmykimmel, 2,630,108 followers
FACEBOOK: Jimmy Kimmel Live, 444,733 likes
YOUTUBE: Jimmy Kimmel Live, 2,316,425 subscribers
VIRAL MOMENT OF THE YEAR: “I Told My Kids I Ate All Their Halloween Candy Again”; 40,800,323 hits on YouTube.
TWITTER: @StephenAtHome, 4,955,733 followers
FACEBOOK: The Colbert Report, 2,952,903 likes
YOUTUBE: Comedy Central (part of its channel), 1,921,703 subscribers
VIRAL MOMENT OF THE YEAR: Colbert addresses Boston Marathon bombing; 892,126 hits on www.colbertnation.com.
The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,Video Archive
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
TWITTER: @TheDailyShow, 1,539,258 followers
FACEBOOK: The Daily Show, 3,836,276 likes
YOUTUBE: Comedy Central (part of its channel), 1,921,703 subscribers
VIRAL MOMENT OF THE YEAR: Stewart skewers Mitt Romney’s “47 percent” leak; 957,844 hits on www.thedailyshow.com.
TWITTER: @ConanOBrien, 8,410,667 followers
FACEBOOK: Conan O’Brien Presents: Team Coco, 2,099,260 likes
YOUTUBE: Team Coco, 709,999 subscribers
VIRAL MOMENT OF THE YEAR: Will Ferrell gets choked up over Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson‘s breakup; 6,566,883 hits on YouTube.
More videos can be found on the next page.
The Tonight Show With Jay Leno
TWITTER: @jayleno, 567,886 followers
FACEBOOK: Jay Leno, 586,666 likes
YOUTUBE: Tonight Show With Jay Leno, 53,666 subscribers
VIRAL MOMENT OF THE YEAR: “Pumpcast News, Part 1,” 16,305,525 hits on YouTube.
Chelsea Lately
TWITTER: @chelseahandler, 5,424,568 followers
FACEBOOK: Chelsea Handler, 2,174,213 likes
YOUTUBE: Chelsea Lately, 256,321 subscribers
VIRAL MOMENT OF THE YEAR: Handler and Conan O’Brien’s naked shower fight; 2,729,171 hits on YouTube.
Real Time With Bill Maher
TWITTER: @billmaher, 2,149,241 followers
FACEBOOK: Bill Maher, 1,672,778 likes
YOUTUBE: Real Time With Bill Maher, 81,304 subscribers
VIRAL MOMENT OF THE YEAR: Maher and Ann Coulter debate “real racism”; 274,180 hits on YouTube.
The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson
TWITTER: @CraigyFerg, 1,682,514 followers
FACEBOOK: The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, 274,142 likes
YOUTUBE: TVs Craig Ferguson, 43,501 subscribers
VIRAL MOMENT OF THE YEAR: Ferguson gives sobering cold open the night of the shooting in Aurora, Colo., on July 20; 598,875 hits on YouTube.
Late Show With David Letterman
TWITTER: @LateShow, 240,525 followers
FACEBOOK: Late Show With David Letterman, 431,063 likes
YOUTUBE: The Late Show With David Letterman, 14,741 subscribers
VIRAL MOMENT OF THE YEAR: Letterman and Lindsay Lohan on going to rehab; 3,526,496 hits on YouTube.
