A show that makes you want to car-seat-dance
The show: James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke The moment: Stevie Wonder’s phone call
“This is indulgent of me,” Late Late Show host James Corden, driving, says to Stevie Wonder, in the pas- senger seat. “My wife doesn’t believe I’m in the car with you.” “What’s her name?” Wonder asks. “Julia,” Corden says. “She’s gonna lose her s---.”
Corden passes his phone to Wonder. Julia answers. “This is Stevie,” Wonder says. He sounds a note on his harmonica and begins to croon: “I just called to say James loves you.” Corden’s eyes fill with tears.
Late night talk shows have become less about the shows themselves and more about the bits that trend the next day. Interestingly, each host’s best bit plays to his personality.
Jimmy Fallon, who is painfully sycophantic and competitive, uses both in his wildly popular Lip Sync Battles. Jimmy Kimmel, whose very face looks like a wisecrack, excels at getting people to make fun of themselves, hence his hit Mean Tweets (celebs reading mean tweets about themselves).
Corden, by contrast, is not about snark; he’s about sincerity. And there’s nothing more sincere than driving around in a car singing to the radio. Corden may be a successful talk show host, but he’s also a bloke who understands that harmonizing and car-seat-dancing might well be the best parts of our work days. To be able to do that with singers such as Adele, Jennifer Hudson or Justin Bieber: he knows what a dream come true that is and he conveys that, unabashedly. He loses his s--- for us and we love him for it. Carpool Karaoke can be seen on YouTube. Johanna Schneller is a media connoisseur who zeroes in on pop-culture moments. She usually appears Monday through Thursday.