This Past Week in Late Night: Will Arnett fills in for Jason Bateman

This Past Week in Late Night: With most of the shows on hiatus this week, there wasn’t a whole lot going on. But there were two things that stuck out. First off, Jason Bateman was originally slated to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Wednesday night. However, when he backed out, his Smartless podcast co-host Will Arnett stepped up to the plate, and wasted no time ripping on Bateman while eating a steak dinner.

Plus, John Oliver returned this last Sunday for his eighth season with Last Week Tonight. And he delivered a pretty brilliant (is anyone surprised?) monologue about the odds of another pandemic, and measures that can be taken to prevent it. It’s definitely good to have him back! And finally, Desus & Mero talk about the Bruno Mars catfish and Kevin Hart’s personal shopper stealing over a million dollars in items.

Will Arnett Saves the Day After Jason Bateman Bails on Jimmy Kimmel
“Will talks about filling in as guest after Jason Bateman cancelled, his 8 month old son Denny, getting back to work and having to venture out into the world, his podcast “SmartLess” with Jason Bateman & Sean Hayes, booking Billie Eilish, FINNEAS, Paul McCartney and many other great guests, and having a billboard with his face on it up in his hometown of Toronto, all while eating a steak dinner that Jimmy sent over.”

The Next Pandemic: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
“As COVID-19 continues to spread, John Oliver discusses what could cause the next pandemic, what we can do to avoid it, and why you shouldn’t kiss pigs.”

People Give Rave Reviews for Fake Mark Hamill Movie
“ Things are starting to open back up in California and our Governor, Gavin Newsom, announced today that in some parts of the state movie theaters could be up and running as early as next week. So we decided to have some fun with that by making a fake poster for a fake movie and stationing ourselves outside a theater here in Hollywood. We told people walking by that we were doing a commercial for it and asked if they would give it a rave review without seeing it. Rave they did in a special COVID edition of “Lies, Camera Action” with Mark Hamill as Albert Einstein in Thawing Albert.”

Jimmy Kimmel Prank Calls His Aunt Chippy – COVID Vaccine
“It’s “Random Acts of Kindness Week,” so Jimmy thought it would be kind to check in on his Aunt Chippy by pretending to be a representative from the place where she’s getting her COVID vaccine.”

Ted Cruz Heads to Sunny Cancun While Winter Storm Cripples Texas
“ Senator Ted Cruz decided to hop on a plane to Cancun with his family for a vacation while fellow Texans are freezing and without power, pictures of him at the airport went viral and backlash was so severe that he had no choice but to immediately book a flight home, United Airlines put out a new video in an attempt to distance themselves from the controversy, Ted released a statement claiming that he was just trying to be a good parent by taking his kids on vacation, the Mexican tourism industry is getting a big shot in the arm thanks to the news coverage, COVID scammers are running wild, Jimmy has a new idea for getting Americans to trust the vaccine, NASA’s Perseverance rover completed its journey to Mars, and an exclusive interview with Ted Cruz! If you want to pitch in and help those who need it right now in Texas, our local affiliate in Houston, ABC 13, has teamed up with the Houston Food Bank. Just text “ABC13” to 41444. For every $1 donated, 3 meals will be given to those who need them.”

Bruno Mars IG Catfish & Kevin Hart Ripped Off for $1M by Personal Shopper | DESUS & MERO | SHOWTIME
“A scammer on IG pretended to be Bruno Mars to steal $100K, while Kevin Hart’s personal shopper is accused of stealing $1.2M to buy items from Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Rolex, Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, Bearbrick, and Kaws.”

Desus & Mero Play Cupid on This Valentine’s Day Zoom Blind Date (Extended) | DESUS & MERO | SHOWTIME
“Desus and Mero play matchmaker on Valentine’s Day by hosting a Zoom blind date with singles Sarah and Paul. Will it be a love connection?“