Late-night television once offered Americans an escape: a dose of comedy after a long day, maybe a clever joke or memorable guest, nothing more complicated than that. It was about unwinding and connecting through shared laughter, rather than enduring a tedious lecture on whatever issue the left felt inclined to promote that week. But in today’s climate, that seems to have vanished.
Obviously, much of the current chatter about the increasing irrelevance of late-night talk shows is centered around the cancellation of “The Late Show,” which Stephen Colbert drove into the ground. But the whole genre has become unwatchable. Save for one, anyway.
On Thursday, I learned that some Hollywood actor named Alan Cumming guest-hosted “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” and his stint was a prime example of how out-of-touch these shows have become, hijacking late-night humor for sanctimonious rants and finger-pointing at average Americans.
Cumming, for reasons that no one can explain, dove straight into a grandiose speech on transgender issues, using the stage to paint the nation as hopelessly backward. According to him, trans people are “superheroes.”
“Of course, these superhero movies are only pretend, but I happen to believe that there are actual superheroes in real life who walk among us, and these superheroes are called trans people,” he said. “Just like superheroes, trans people are born with something special and magical about them, and they also have to hide what’s special and magical about them from other people.”
I can remember when single mothers, policemen, firefighters, and veterans were lauded as superheroes. Now, mental illness is being celebrated as a superpower. Oh, how far we have fallen.
Alan Cumming gives crazy monologue on Jimmy Kimmel's show.
— Hotep Jeffiziah Charles🏴 (@jeffcharlesjr) July 24, 2025
Bashes America over gun violence and treatment of transgender people. pic.twitter.com/MMiufZY1mG
Cumming used his guest-hosting stint not to entertain, but to scold Middle America with the usual Hollywood talking points. He recycled the tired claim that trans people are perpetual victims, painted average Americans as ignorant bigots, and took a cheap swipe at the Second Amendment, all while pretending this was some brave stand for truth.
In reality, it was just another tone-deaf performance for the coastal elite, preaching to the X crowd while sneering at anyone outside the Hollywood bubble. For Cumming and his leftist allies, disagreement isn’t just unwelcome; it’s immoral. And they wonder why no one’s watching anymore.
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Of course, Cumming couldn’t resist closing out his performance with one last tired jab at Donald Trump, accusing him of making wild, unspecified claims about transgender people, never mind the facts. But that’s just part of the script now. In today’s warped version of late-night TV, anyone behind the desk is expected to parrot leftist dogma, demonize conservatives, and dress it all up as “common sense.”
This is exactly the kind of smug, one-sided nonsense that sent viewers fleeing from Colbert, Kimmel, Fallon, and the rest. What was once a haven for sharp, bipartisan humor and genuine cultural commentary has devolved into a tired assembly line of virtue signaling and progressive groupthink. Late night forgot what made it matter in the first place.
And that’s precisely what gave rise to “Gutfeld!” on Fox News. When you drive half your audience away with sanctimonious left-wing propaganda, it was only a matter of time before those viewers flocked to a conservative alternative. Now "Gutfeld!" is crushing them all in the ratings, while the others cling to their shrinking, self-congratulatory echo chambers.
The truth is, most Americans don’t tune in to be scolded by coastal elites reading DNC talking points off a teleprompter. They want to laugh, not be lectured. They want jokes, not sermons. Until the old guard remembers that, they’ll keep fading into irrelevance, one pompous monologue at a time. No matter how many TikTok clips they churn out, the message from the audience is loud and clear: late night can go to hell.
Except for “Gutfeld!”
