Late night talk show guests: December 20-26

Posted by: Paul Little  •  December 20, 2010 @ 6:29pm

Christmas is only a few days away! Do you celebrate the corporate holiday? The non-corporate version? A bit of both? Neither? Yes, that's lots of questions -- maybe you'll take to the comments section and answer some of them! (Who am I kidding? You're all too shy to comment.)

Anyway, because Christmas falls on the weekend this year, a lot of the late night shows have new episodes right through Thursday. The next couple weeks will be repeats from most (if not all) the shows, so take this as your opportunity to catch as many first-run jokes, bits, and guests as possible before your television is completely lacking anything new until early-to-mid January.

So what should you try not to miss this week? Here's my Top 5:

• Jason Segel (Monday on Fallon, Thursday on Conan) - One of the funniest men out there, How I Met Your Mother's Jason Segel is out promoting his new movie with Jack Black, Gulliver's Travels. He's also been filming the new Muppet movie (which he co-wrote, as well). I hope he has some good Muppet-related stories!
• Gillian Jacobs (Wednesday on Fallon) - From perhaps the best show on TV, Gillian Jacobs (Brita on Community) hits up Late Night for what may be her first traditional talk show appearance (she's been on Last Call before). I find she's the most underrated and least-talked-about main cast member on the show, which is too bad, because she's really good in her role (even though the character is sometimes annoying). Her tweets, like the rest of the Community cast, are hilarious, so I'm sure she'll be so on here, too.
• Jack Black (Monday on Letterman, Tuesday on Fallon, Wednesday on Conan) - He's a pretty entertaining guy, and is all over the talk shows this week, so try to catch Mr. Black in one (or more) of his appearances promoting Gulliver's Travels. Not sure if I want to see the movie, but that's not really relevant in this case. He'll be funny chatting with Dave, Conan, and Jimmy.
• Erika Nelson (Wednesday on Conan) - I love it when Conan has unique guests on. This week, it's Erika Nelson, who runs (and take a breath first if you're reading this out loud) the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things Traveling Roadside Attraction and Museum. I took a short look around their website, and all I have to say is that Conan and Andy are going to have tons of fun with whatever she may bring on the show! Good luck, Erika, on your first-ever late night appearance!
• Holiday Special (Friday on Strombo) - Last year, George brought us both Michael Bublé and Metric doing their own versions of classic Christmas tunes. This year, there are a few goodies, but none more awesome than the great Hawksley Workman (possibly my favourite artist -- definitely in my Top 3 of all time). A few years back, he released a holiday-themed record called "Under a Full Moon" filled almost exclusively with quirky, original tunes. Hopefully he plays one of those, but regardless, it will be a performance not to miss, I'm sure.

The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS)

• Mon 12/20: Jack Black, Marv Albert
• Tue 12/21: Jamie Foxx, Sofia Vergara
• Wed 12/22: Denis Leary, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals
• Thu 12/23: Amanda Peet, Jay Thomas, Darlene Love
• Fri 12/24: Pre-empted

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC)

• Mon 12/20: Larry King, Garrett Hedlund, Pink Martini
• Tue 12/21: Emma Stone, Marjorie Johnson, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
• Wed 12/22: Javier Bardem, Jarod Miller, Naturally 7 with the Agape International Choir
• Thu 12/23: Zachary Levi, Whitney Cummings, the West Angeles Choir
• Fri 12/24: Pre-empted

Conan (TBS, CTV)

• Mon 12/20: Aaron Eckhart, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Beach House
• Tue 12/21: Kevin Spacey, Kristen Schaal, Los Lobos
• Wed 12/22: Jack Black, Erika Nelson, Jimmie Vaughan
• Thu 12/23: Jason Segel, Shane Smith, Reggie Watts

Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC)

• Mon 12/20: Kevin Spacey, Olivia Wilde, Goo Goo Dolls (Repeat)
• Tue 12/21: Mila Kunis, Ian Somerhalder, Social Distortion (Repeat)
• Wed 12/22: Dan Aykroyd, Brian Austin Green, Brad (Repeat)
• Thu 12/23: James Franco, Darius Rucker (Repeat)
• Fri 12/24: Rachael Ray, Garrett Hedlund, Darker My Love (Repeat)

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS)

• Mon 12/20: Kristin Davis, Dick Cavett
• Tue 12/21: Jane Fonda
• Wed 12/22: Michael Clarke Duncan, Grant Imahara
• Thu 12/23: Kathy Griffin, Ruth Gerson
• Fri 12/24: Pre-empted

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC)

• Mon 12/20: Jason Segel, Hailee Steinfeld
• Tue 12/21: Jack Black, Stephen Dorff
• Wed 12/22: Ethan Hawke, Gillian Jacobs, Jose Feliciano
• Thu 12/23: James Earl Jones, Dave Attell, Aaron Neville
• Fri 12/24: Pre-empted

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, CTV)

• Mon 12/20: Ricky Gervais (Repeat)
• Tue 12/21: Michelle Williams (Repeat)
• Wed 12/22: Seth Green (Repeat)
• Fri 12/24: Gordon Brown (Repeat)

The Colbert Report (Comedy Central, CTV)

• Mon 12/20: Steve Martin, Frank Stella, Shepard Fairey, Andres Serrano (Repeat)
• Tue 12/21: Daniel Ellsberg, Julie Taymor (Repeat)
• Wed 12/22: Patti Smith (Repeat)
• Thu 12/23: David Boies, Stephen Sondheim (Repeat)

Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC)

• Mon 12/20: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Metalocalypse, Jimmy Eat World (Repeat)
• Tue 12/21: Donal Logue, Edgar Wright, Alberta Cross (Repeat)
• Wed 12/22: Kristen Schaal, B.o.B., Chef Wolvesmouth, the Walkmen (Repeat)
• Thu 12/23: Morgan Spurlock, Buff Monster, Kate Nash (Repeat)
• Fri 12/24: Pre-empted

Lopez Tonight (TBS)

• Mon 12/20: Xzibit, Cirque Du Soleil's "Mystere"
• Tue 12/21: Terrell Owens, Bettye Lavette with the Ese Vatos
• Wed 12/22: will.i.am
• Thu 12/23: Jack Black, Hailee Steinfeld, Filter

George Stroumboloupoulos Tonight (CBC)

• Mon 12/20: Deepak Chopra, Clint Eastwood (Repeat)
• Tue 12/21: General Rick Hillier, Robert Herjavec (Repeat)
• Wed 12/22: Tim Burton, John Waters (Repeat)
• Thu 12/23: Arianna Huffington, Richard Branson (Repeat)
• Fri 12/24: Holiday Special: Christmas songs from Chrissie Hynde, OK Go, F*cked Up, Hawksley Workman, Johnny Reid, Kardinal Offishall, Maestro, Moka Only, Michie Mee, Buck 65, Saukrates, D-Sisive

Kevin Pollak's Chat Show (Online)

• Sun 12/26: Billy Bob Thornton

Tags: Conan O'Brien, David Letterman, Jay Leno, Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Fallon, George Lopez, George Stroumboloupoulos, Kevin Pollak, talk shows

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Paul Little is the founder and Managing Editor of ShowbizMonkeys.com. When not interviewing his favourite musicians and comedians, he can also be found putting on and promoting music and comedy events with The Purple Room in Winnipeg, or co-producing the live comedy game shows Pants on Fire and The Great Patio Showdown. (@comedygeek)

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