TORONTO — The hosts of TV’s late night shows continued to crack wise Monday about troubled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.
On The Late Show, David Letterman — introduced at one point by announcer Alan Kalter as “a crack smoking drunk” — explained why Ford continues to be the butt of jokes. “Out of nowhere, the guy is world famous. Just the mayor of Toronto? Not anymore, my friend.”
Jimmy Kimmel agreed, stating on his show: “He’s my favourite new reality show. If he lived in America we’d be renewing him for a second season.”
Tonight Show host Jay Leno said simply: “God bless this man. This is God’s gift to comedy. I love this guy.”
Here’s a look at some of the late night fun with a Ford focus:
Jimmy Kimmel Live
During his monologue, Kimmel seemed to take a sympathetic tone when talking about Ford.
“The Toronto city council has been stripping the mayor of his powers because no one has a sense of humour anymore,” he said. “One of the only powers the mayor has left is the ability to represent the city at official functions. That’s the one I would be worried about.”
Kimmel then threw to a clip of Ford accidentally knocking over councillor Pam McConnell as he ran across the floor of the council chamber on Monday and suggested it was “like Canada’s running of the bulls or something.”
The show also poked fun at the mayor miming drunk driving in the council meeting and his interview with CNN’s Bill Weir.
Kimmel said he’s anxious to meet Ford. “I really would love to sit down with Rob Ford,” he said, before extending an invitation to the mayor.
“This is a standing offer. Whenever you are available, I’d like to get to know you, I’d like to take you to a go-kart track … maybe we can make a buddy cop movie together,” said Kimmel.
Late Show with David Letterman
Ford’s name came up at the top of Letterman’s monologue.
“This guy’s in a great deal of trouble but he doesn’t seem to understand that he’s in a lot of trouble,” said Letterman, who explained how Ford attended Sunday’s Argos game despite being asked to stay away.
“They found out he was there and they put his picture up on the big crack-cam,” he told the audience.
In a segment called “Rob Ford Lie,” Letterman showed a clip of the mayor on Fox News insisting he’s in a gym for two hours every day.
“Wow, I wonder where he gets the energy,” Letterman quipped.
The show’s nightly Top Ten List was once again dedicated to Ford.
Letterman listed the “Top Ten Words Used to Describe Toronto Mayor Rob Ford,” including: Crack-nadian, Molson-of-a-bitch, The Round Mound of Unwound, Neckless, Shame-Resistant and Large-and-no-longer-in-charge.
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
In his monologue, Fallon wasted no time getting into the Ford fiasco.
“After he admitted to smoking crack, Ford is now threatening to sue his former staffers for saying he once hired a prostitute,” he said. “Ford was like, ‘That is lie, I did it way more than once.’
“No, actually, he did say that he never hired a prostitute and then he added, ‘I tend to blackout when I’m really high, so who knows? Maybe I did.'”
Fallon referred to Ford’s oft-repeated statement that he is getting professional help. “Of course, the professional’s name was Cinnamon,” he said.
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Stewart started his show talking about U.S. president Barack Obama’s recent woes, including being boo’ed at a basketball game. “To give you some sense of perspective about where things are for the president, this is how a crowd greeted the crack-smoking train wreck of a mayor in Toronto on Saturday,” Stewart said over footage of Ford being cheered at the Argos game (which was, in fact, on Sunday).
Then, The Daily Show aired the footage of Ford knocking down McConnell.
“Do not get between me and my crack!,” Stewart exclaimed, mocking Ford. “I will knock you over!”
The Colbert Report
Ford got only a mention on The Colbert Report, when the host made fun of CNN anchor Don Lemon’s comparison of the political dilemmas of Obama and Ford.
“The parallels are everywhere, folks. Both had press conferences… and that’s it,” Colbert said sarcastically. “But folks, comparing the first black president to the first blackout mayor isn’t unfair at all.”
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Leno also mentioned Ford’s admission last week that he has purchased illegal drugs since being in office. “In fairness to him, he said it was long before he learned to cook his own crack.”
Leno then showed the clip of Ford mimicking a drunk driver during Monday’s council meeting and spoke about Ford showing up at Sunday’s Argos game.
It didn’t end there.
“Here’s the greatest part of this story,” Leno continued. “Mayor Ford and his brother Doug got their own TV show. It premiered earlier tonight. Isn’t that unbelievable? Finally, a TV show with people on it with less talent than the Kardashians.”
The Arsenio Hall Show
Hall, introduced at the top of the show as “the next mayor of Toronto,” mentioned Ford in his monologue.
Worse, though, Hall segued into the next joke by saying: “Speaking of international embarrassments…”
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