A Scene from Jen and Colbert

As Sarah predicted when it was announced a few weeks ago that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will be cancelled because of alleged corporate f-ckery, the one silver lining to the development is whatever creative freedom Stephen will lean into for over the course of the season – and it’s not just him, it will also be his guests. 

He’s popular, his late night peers have a lot of respect for him, celebrities have a lot of respect for him. Colbert has never had an issue booking guests but he’ll certainly be even more attractive to the most A-list guests from now until the last episode, and most of them will be likely to play ball with him in clowning the network. For example George Clooney who's expected to campaign for Oscar with Jay Kelly, and if The Late Show is one of his stops during the press tour, I can’t wait to see those two go for it. 

Colbert welcomed Jennifer Aniston to the show last night and they talked about her dog Norman and she participated in his regular rescue dog bit but my favourite segment was the audition. This built off of Colbert’s reveal at the beginning of the interview that he had auditioned for Friends and was rejected so the callback at the end was Jen being all like, hey, so I hear you’ll be unemployed next summer so many we should do a scene together and see if you’ll be right for The Morning Show. 

It's a smart way to both promote TMS’s upcoming fourth season but also put the heat, once again, on Colbert’s forced departure, with Jen’s charm and comedic timing on full display. She is great in this scene, and she has to be because she’s been asked to carry it, it only works if Colbert assumes the supporting role and she leads. Which she does, beautifully. Her strategic pauses, the way she engages with the audience, how she instinctively knows how to land a joke… this is Peak Aniston. And her expression when Colbert says, “…but changed just enough to not be legally actionable”? Chef’s kiss. The line is perfectly written, he delivers it well. But it’s her face, her nodding, the knowing look in her eyes, that really f-cking sells it. This is five minutes of your time but it’s worth it. 

 

I appreciate that Jen was willing to do this, not just because it’s a great showcase for her abilities but also because it fits so well with The Morning Show, a series about network television and the shenanigans that go into making it. 

Now to Jen’s fashion choices – always black, of course, and she wore a long LBD for the interview, but she arrived in a better LBD that I prefer more. Halter, drop waist, and flirty, this is so cute on her. 

That said, it’s a dress that’s better standing than sitting, these are considerations that go into styling. A dress that looks great doesn’t always pass the sit test. So you need to make sure it gets its moment at the entrance.