00:00every night, but it seems to be becoming increasingly difficult lately.
00:06There's no denying that 2017 has been a tough year on many fronts, from the worst
00:10mass shooting in modern U.S. history, to ongoing health care debates, to white
00:13nationalists, Ku Klux Klan members and Nazis marching on Charlottesville, Virginia,
00:17and numerous shocking sexual harassment allegations.
00:20The events of the year have been so weighty that the late night hosts have often
00:23needed to spike their trademarked senses of humor with anger, criticism and sorrow
00:27as they stepped up to the plate to tackle these issues. Here, we take a look back
00:31at the year late night got serious.
00:33Hamming exposés on powerhouse producer Harvey Weinstein, who was accused of decades of alleged
00:38sexual misconduct towards numerous women. Weinstein proved to be just the beginning
00:42as the floodgates opened and scores of accusations came to light from women and men
00:46across the country against many high-profile names in media and politics.
00:50On CBS's The Late Show, host Stephen Colbert referred to Weinstein as
00:53Human Shrek, called his actions indefensible and said the allegations amounted to
00:58monstrous behavior that in a just world would not have been allowed to go on for decades.
01:03Referencing the fact that Weinstein's lawyer defended the mogul by calling him
01:06an old dinosaur learning new ways, Colbert retorted,
01:09A, that's no excuse. B, dinosaurs did not touch themselves in front of the employees.
01:16The T-Rex's arms were way too short.
01:18Meanwhile, NBC's Seth Meyers invited female members of his late-night writing staff to address
01:22the scandal and Weinstein's apology in their own segment.
01:25He blamed disrespected women on growing up in the 60s and 70s, which would be a good
01:29excuse if he came to the present via time machine.
01:32Other reactions to Weinstein's apology went something like this.
01:35He compared himself to Jay-Z?
01:41Of course, before long, Late Night had plenty of other high-profile allegations to address,
01:45from Kevin Spacey to Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose, Senator Al Franken, Senate candidate Roy Moore.
01:49The list goes on.
01:51Spacey was accused by Star Trek Discovery actor Anthony Rapp of making a pass toward him
01:55when he was only 14. In response, Spacey tweeted his sincerest apology and came out as a gay man.
02:01Unsurprisingly, his statement was met with plenty of backlash.
02:04On Comedy Central's The Daily Show, host Trevor Noah took aim at Spacey, ridiculing his apology.
02:08Talk about the worst time to go public with your sexuality. I mean, it's always good to live your truth,
02:13but don't use it to get out of trouble, the host said.
02:15Imagine if a cop pulled him over, he'd be like, sir, are you drunk? I need you to come out of the vehicle.
02:19He's like, that's not the only thing I'm willing to come out of.
02:22When it came to former CBS anchor Charlie Rose, Myers focused his Closer Look segment in part on Rose,
02:27comparing it to ABC's The Bachelor.
02:29This whole situation is like a reverse Bachelor. Nobody wants to accept this rose.
02:34The host also took aim at the politicians and political candidates accused of sexual harassment and assault.
02:39ABC's Jimmy Kimmel found himself in a Twitter wall with Roy Moore after sending a correspondent to one of Moore's rallies to mock his supporters.
02:46When we sit down, I will share with you what I learned at my church. At my church, forcing yourself on underage girls is a no-no.
02:53On October 1st, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history occurred in Las Vegas when a gunman opened fire
02:58on an outdoor country music festival from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel.
03:03The following night, hosts addressed the senseless violence on their programs.
03:06Kimmel, a Vegas native, opened his show on October 2nd with an emotional monologue in which he called out politicians
03:12and questioned why they continue to allow these deadly acts of violence to occur.
03:16Common sense says you don't let those who suffer from mental illness buy guns.
03:23Maya shared a similar sentiment on his program, saying,
03:26It always seems like the worst displays of humanity in this country are immediately followed by the best,
03:31and then, sadly, that is followed by no action at all. And then it repeats itself.
03:35Are there no steps we can take as a nation to prevent gun violence?
03:39He then made a pointed statement to Congress.
03:41Because when you say, now is not the time to talk about it, what you really mean is,
03:46there is never a time to talk about it.
03:48On The Daily Show, host Trevor Noah also called for gun control and issued a heartbreaking apology.
03:53To the people of Las Vegas, I can't give you thoughts and prayers, he said.
03:56I can only say that I'm sorry. I'm sorry that we live in a world where there are people who will put a gun before your lives.
04:04On TBS, Conan O'Brien expressed his sadness over the terrible and numbing tragedy and noted how tragically times have changed since 1993 when he said,
04:12For me or any TV comedy host back then to come out and need to address a mass shooting spree was practically unheard of.
04:20Colbert also addressed the issue of gun control with the suggestion to President Donald Trump saying,
04:24You want to make America great again? Pass any kind of common sense gun control legislation.
04:31On the weekend of August 12th and 13th, white supremacists, Ku Klux Klan members, Nazis and more,
04:36marched on downtown Charlottesville, Virginia to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate leader Robert E. Lee.
04:42Opposing marches arrived and violence ensued, resulting in the death of one woman, Heather Heyer.
04:46President Trump addressed the incident and claimed there was violence on many sides,
04:50prompting the late night host to not only address the shameful incident, but Trump's comments as well on their shows that Monday night.
04:56Many sides? Mr. President, this is terrorism, not your order at KFC.
05:00Colbert said he'd seen angrier Yelp reviews than Trump's Saturday response and pointed out that it was especially disturbing
05:06because his comments immediately following the tragedy made it hard for reasonable people to discern if he was condemning Nazis or not.
05:13On NBC's Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon noted that even though his program is not a political one,
05:17it was his responsibility to stand up against intolerance and extremism.
05:21He called the events in Charlottesville disgusting and said they made him feel sick to his stomach.
05:25The fact that it took the president two days to come out and clearly denounce racists and white supremacists is shameful.
05:31To read more and watch full segments from the year late night got serious, including Jimmy Kimmel taking on the health care
05:36debate in the wake of his son Billy's birth and Conan and Colbert acting as ambassadors abroad, head to THR.com.
05:42For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Lyndsey Rodrigues.
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