Late-night TV is a competitive sphere where shows compete for viewer eyeballs and celebrity guests, and wage war in a never-ending quest to go viral. Ali Wentworth satirically filets the genre with Nightcap, in which she plays the neurotic talent booker for the outrageous (and fictitious) late-night talk show Nightcap With Jimmy. While we don’t meet the titular host, viewers do get a peek at the tomfoolery behind the scenes of his show. But the high jinks aren’t limited to the dysFUNctional crew — the show’s A-list guests are just as batty!
The 10 episodes of Nightcap are star-studded, with real-life celebs gamely playing outrageous versions of themselves. A few of the famous folks stopping by for a shot of the antics are Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Jessica Parker, Paul Rudd, Kelly Ripa, Mark Consuelos, Debra Messing, Whoopi Goldberg, Michael J. Fox, Mario Batali, Wendy Williams, Andy Cohen, Mark Cuban, Jim Gaffigan, Mariska Hargitay and Beth Stern.
In tonight’s premiere episode, “Babymaker,” Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos are on the hunt for a surrogate to carry a child for them, Andy Cohen plays with his food, and Sarah Jessica Parker forms an unlikely bond with an old “friend” on the staff. And in a second, all-new episode, “A-List Thief,” Gwyneth Paltrow reveals herself to be a thief and overall filthy woman. And when Jimmy’s dog Monty moves into the office, interior decorator Nate Berkus designs a space suitable for dog royalty.
Nightcap has the same delightfully irreverent energy of 30 Rock and Up All Night, and as someone who worked on a talk show, I can attest that the madness that goes on behind the scenes is often funnier than what ends up on air. With a hysterical and adept supporting cast, Wentworth and Nightcap deserve another round.
Nightcap > Pop > Wednesdays at 8pm ET/PT, beginning Nov. 16
