Mr Stewart opted for satire to critique ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! indefinitely following comments he made about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Mr Colbert took a more serious approach, calling Mr Kimmel’s suspension “blatant censorship”.
Mr Fallon praised Mr Kimmel and vowed to keep doing his show as usual. Then an announcer spoke over him and replaced most of his critiques about US president Donald Trump with flattery.
Their guests the day after Kimmel’s suspension – which also came two months after CBS said it would cancel Mr Colbert’s show – also varied widely.
Mr Fallon’s guests were actor Jude Law, journalist Tom Llamas and actor and singer Jonathan Groff – none of whom addressed Mr Kimmel’s situation.
Mr Stewart and Mr Colbert interviewed guests who could address censorship concerns raised by Mr Kimmel’s suspension. Journalist and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Maria Ressa spoke to Mr Stewart.
When Mr Stewart asked Ms Ressa, the author of How To Stand Up To A Dictator, tips on coping with the current moment, Ms Ressa recounted how she and her colleagues at the news site Rappler “just kept going” when she was faced with 11 arrest warrants in one year under then-Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte.
“We just kept doing our jobs. We just kept putting one foot in front of the other,” Ms Ressa said.
Mr Stewart’s show opened with a voiceover promising adherence to the party line.
“We have another fun, hilarious administration-compliant show,” it said.
He lavished praise on the president and satirised his criticism of large cities and his deployment of the National Guard to fight their crime.
“Coming to you tonight from the real (expletive), the crime-ridden cesspool that is New York City. It is a tremendous disaster like no-one’s ever seen before. Someone’s National Guard should invade this place, am I right?” Mr Stewart said.
Mr Stewart fidgeted nervously as though he was worried about speaking the correct talking points.
When the audience members reacted with an “awww” he whispered: “What are you doing? Shut up. You’re going to (expletive) blow this for us.” He took on a more stilted tone when he started describing Mr Trump’s visit to the United Kingdom, calling the president “our great father”.
“Gaze upon him. With a gait even more majestic than that of the royal horses that prance before him,” he said.
Mr Stewart normally hosts only on Mondays. The Emmy winner helmed The Daily Show from 1999 to 2015, delivering sharp, satirical takes on politics and current events and interviews with newsmakers. He returned to host once a week during the run-up to the 2024 US presidential election.
Mr Fallon opened his Tonight Show monologue addressing Mr Kimmel’s suspension. “To be honest with you all, I don’t know what’s going on. And no-one does. But I do know Jimmy Kimmel, and he’s a decent, funny and loving guy, and I hope he comes back.”
Mr Kimmel made several remarks about the reaction to Mr Kirk’s killing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday and Tuesday nights, including that “many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalise on the murder of Charlie Kirk”.
ABC suspended Mr Kimmel’s show after a group of ABC-affiliated stations said it would not air the show, and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said his agency had a strong case for holding Mr Kimmel, ABC and network parent Walt Disney Co. accountable for spreading misinformation.
Mr Kimmel has not commented. His supporters say Mr Carr misread what the comic said and that nowhere did he specifically suggest that Tyler Robinson – the man Utah authorities allege fatally shot Mr Kirk – was conservative.
In July, CBS said it would cancel ” The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” next May. The network said it shut down the decades-old TV institution for financial reasons. But the announcement came three days after Mr Colbert criticised the settlement between US president Donald Trump and Paramount Global, parent company of CBS, over a 60 Minutes story.
