2017 was the year late night grew up, and we did too

In an earlier, better time, late night was the place where smart comics got to write mostly meaningless jokes about transitory crap. 

Ah, what an era. 

2017 didn’t change all of that — there will always, sadly, be space in our culture for James Corden sing-a-longs — but it did force late night comics to lean in one two directions. Either they could take the easy breezy hair-fluffing Jimmy Fallon road and be ridiculed by rose emojis on Twitter, or they could go the Jimmy Kimmel route and wonk it out on national television.

Most chose the latter, to the benefit of their profit margins and ratings and sometimes, even, get ready for it — the American people.  Read more…

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