Late-Night TV Highlights in 2017: Trump, Russia, Weinstein and More

In the first year of President Donald Trump’s administration, the role of late-night TV comedians has changed dramatically — perhaps permanently. It’s almost impossible to watch even five minutes of a show nowadays without some mention of politics.

Since February, I’ve written “Best of Late Night,” a daily column highlighting standout moments from the weeknight talk shows. In a year defined by Trump’s unorthodox presidency, each host has seemed to build a personal approach to handling him.

On “The Late Show,” Stephen Colbert, no stranger to political satire, has tended to focus on the Russia scandal, even taping a week of shows in Russia last summer. Jimmy Kimmel, once a rather apolitical figure, cloaked himself in activist garb, pushing for — and against — legislation in a way that forebears like Johnny Carson and Jay Leno wouldn’t have imagined. Even Jimmy Fallon, whose stage persona remains sunny and easygoing, often takes on politics, mostly by emphasizing the silliness — not the severity — of what unfolds in Washington.

The hosts didn’t abandon broader cultural concerns, either, confronting topics like the airline industry and the #metoo movement. Here’s your year-end “Best of Late Night,” with some of the funniest quips and most memorable moments.

Colbert has tracked the Russia investigation more assiduously than any other host. When the fired FBI director James Comey testified before Congress in June, Colbert gleefully pointed out that Comey had taken close notes on his conversations with Trump, for fear that the president might mischaracterize what had been said.

Trump stayed rather quiet on the topic of late-night shows, even as he became their idée fixe. But he couldn’t help attacking Colbert in May. Colbert, whose ratings ticked up when he started consistently taking on Trump about a year ago, welcomed the feud.

Trump has been less restrained about criticizing journalists, and late-night hosts often used their soapbox to push back against his jabs at the news media’s credibility.

On “The Daily Show,” Trevor Noah expressed dismay that Trump’s incendiary words still prove influential.

Bee’s “Full Frontal” airs once a week, on Wednesdays, giving her time to prepare more in-depth pieces. In October, she presented an examination of Scott Pruitt, the Environmental Protection Agency’s administrator and a longtime foe of environmental regulation.

Bee also kept up a line of attack against accused sexual harassers and abusers. Many male late-night hosts seemed a bit flat-footed as the #metoo movement gathered steam, but Bee took on Harvey Weinstein ferociously, and never let up.

By late November, when Charlie Rose was fired by CBS, Bee’s counterparts were reacting more swiftly.

No host is more emblematic of late-night TV’s evolution over the past year than Kimmel. A former host of “The Man Show” and an exponent of tawdry humor, he once seemed unlikely to become a liberal darling. But since May — when he revealed that his newborn son suffered from a heart condition and urged Congress to protect the health care law — his diatribes on topics from health care bills to gun control have provided some of late night’s most-discussed moments.

There have been plenty of nonpolitical heels for hosts to snipe at this year, too. The airline industry came in for a drubbing, especially after passengers were involuntarily removed from United and Delta flights in the spring.