Seth Holds a Surprise Inspection of His Monologue Writers in April 2023

Seth checks in with his monologue writers and holds a surprise inspection to review the quality of their jokes.
Late Night with Seth Meyers. Stream now on Peacock: bit.ly/3erP2gX
Subscribe to Late Night: bit.ly/LateNightSeth
Watch Late Night with Seth Meyers Weeknights 12:35/11:35c on NBC.
Get more Late Night with Seth Meyers: www.nbc.com/late-night-with-se...
LATE NIGHT ON SOCIAL
Follow Late Night on Twitter: / latenightseth
Like Late Night on Facebook: / latenightseth
Follow Late Night Instagram: / latenightseth
Late Night on Tumblr: / latenightseth
Late Night with Seth Meyers on KZbin features A-list celebrity guests, memorable comedy, and topical monologue jokes.
GET MORE NBC
Like NBC: / nbc
Follow NBC: / nbc
NBC Tumblr: / nbctv
KZbin: / nbc
NBC Instagram: / nbc
Seth Holds a Surprise Inspection of His Monologue Writers in April 2023 - Late Night with Seth Meyers
• Seth Holds a Surprise ...
Late Night with Seth Meyers
/ latenightseth

[@asdusty4372]

I admire Seth's dedication to utilise every piece of content he can. You tube comments. Rejected jokes. Nothing gets wasted. He is the Cajun chef of late night.

[@QDWhite]

Don’t forget Jokes Seth Can’t Tell.

[@jehCdrum]

and he serves up a MIGHTY fine Liberal Lagniappe!

[@sparrowofglory]

Well that explains why these jokes are so offal

[@LilSebastian_]

Offal… lol… it’s awful. Be honest, was it 9th or 10th grade when you dropped out of school?

[@mr.littlepumpkin7721]

Uno-Reverse Offal: the entrails and internal organs of an animal used as food. "eating pieces of braised offal turned his stomach" When did *you* drop out of school?

[@wooderson6616]

Seth is one of the few that never forgets how important the writers role is.

[@Cancun771]

Because he is a writer himself of course. Same reason Colbert neglects his writers but fawns over actors instead.

[@mismissy]

Yes him and Conan. For the same reason

[@akryeguy]

If ever there is a comedy about prospectors in Colorado looking for Gold, I want Seth in it, trying to sell the holes they made. "I mean, come on, guys. They are naturally cool in the summer time. And so it's dark all winter anyway! All we have to do is circulate air better...and entrap the parts with Radon with another exhaust fan hooked under it."

[@dmcgee3]

Well there is a SNL skit Gus Chiggins Old Prospector that has Seth in it

[@naomiarram5187]

Yup, and a good writer would even put in apostrophes where they belong! 😉

[@TheGreatAtario]

Scollins is a hero for preserving the tradition of dark humor

[@samringwald]

Scollins is a hero for many reasons. Mostly because he wore that shirt tho

[@kmcalary]

Honestly, the Grandma joke got me

[@geoffreymaher7169]

@@kmcalary That was one I laughed the hardest at.

[@IMArt-kx2ci]

Both his jokes were awesome 😂

[@MyBiPolarBearMax]

Correction: Seth said these were bad jokes but in fact, both of Scollins’ were amazing.

[@marioalbertogonzalez484]

That Des Moines joke was honestly top-tier dad joke material.

[@vincentho3792]

Seth has found a way to utilise his writer's bad jokes. Genius

[@alfredotebasco]

There be treasure in that trash

[@AdrianColley]

Reduce, reuse, recycle!

[@tanzoniaflakes5068]

Yeah. It was a pretty ingenious idea for a segment. 😊

[@tucci007da]

The writers got paid to write them, might as well get something back.

[@barb4641]

Lnmjnmp

[@bretthake7713]

The idea of a snake wearing one shoe is the funniest thing to me for some reason, I'm crying laughing

[@geneparmesan8748]

Also he was wrong about the whole joke being that snakes would only wear one shoe: that’s part of the joke, but I’d say the REAL joke is the idea that taking shoes off on a plane is so bad that it’s worse than there being a snake onboard.

[@samanthaphillips12345]

Me too 😂

[@peterpaul4518]

Hey Seth, as always I love your show. I have a correction for you: James Watson and Fancis Crick didn't find the double helix, it was Rosalind Franklin. They worked on it in parallel but stole her findings to complete their model based on her fotographs of the helix. I'd love if you could clear that up. Greetings from Germany, Marius

[@jrs3739]

Much needed correction, well done!

[@heavymetalbassist5]

Very good correction!

[@cbpd89]

Yes! This better make corrections.

[@sanseijedi]

Thanks for remembering such important facts that too often get overlooked through our older learning mantras! Kudos.

[@brigidbollweg2645]

Yes, yes, give credit to Rosalind Franklin!

[@QDWhite]

Come on! “change their minds/change Des Moines” is a genius level double entendre. Give that writer a medal.

[@cassidya5629]

That one had me actually laughing out loud!

[@S.Pociecha]

There's trouble in the ways Des Moines is pronounced, though. The natives pronounce it their own way, and other-city dwellers have 3 or 4 different ways. How many of the Ss are silent? and are the Es long, short or silent?

[@-xirx-]

The Des Moines joke is even better the second time

[@StarUnreachable]

I love that I've seen enough of these that I can start guessing whose jokes they're going to be. Karen's are always adorable, Scollins' are usually dark, Matt likes puns for some reason...

[@RVCfilm]

And Brian does the dad jokes.

[@feminist5641]

Love Surprise Inspection. Scollins is a terrible human being but we love him for it. And somehow I already knew that picture of him was taken shortly after he shoved a child.

[@unmeshl.6708]

It's has child shoving energy

[@ElonsDiamondMine]

@@unmeshl.6708 All you need is shove

[@nikobatallones]

​@@ElonsDiamondMine What the world needs now is shove, sweet shove

[@juliaconnell]

woah - that's a bit harsh - he's a 'terrible human being' - you don't actually KNOW him! and you know Seth was joking, right? Scollins didn't *actually* shove a child. he did however appear, in that 'top' in a work zoom meeting during covid lockdown.

[@unmeshl.6708]

@@juliaconnell thanks, didn't realize this was a comedy show till you pointed that out. Scollins for President!

[@JazzyTuddles]

As a member of the pharmacy world, I truly cackled at the CV joke.

[@justinmawi3745]

I don't think Seth gets enough credit for how funny he is. The way he comes up with great jokes and zingers on the spot is impressive

[@gal1885]

Totally !

[@pseudonym8791]

That Michelangelo joke was a marble of modern comedy. …I’ll see myself out

[@reeveharper6061]

Don't! That was better than the original

[@Rolbell]

Statue idea of a joke?!

[@censomh8446]

​@@Rolbell cover letter for the show?

[@gerbmcnuggets5466]

4:31 Karen will always be one of my favorite writers, she also occasionally appears on “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me!”

[@XopheAdethri]

Karen is just *SOOOOOO* genuine. Love her optimism when she gets on camera.

[@emu_warrior]

I literally don't get the joke.. it's funny because it makes no sense unless I'm missing something :( Whale says it's their cocaine... why? because whales wash up on shore and get beached? WHAT?!

[@thork6974]

Seth is right-- "a whale with a neck tattoo" would have saved it.

[@tubabelle]

Karen is fabulous on WWDTM! She comes up with some super funny quick responses. I'm always glad when she's one of the panelists.

[@kaitzi]

Yeah people hating on her don’t realize these are the bad jokes…

[@TheBlade996]

I gut-laughed so loud for that last Scollins joke I think the neighbors might have called an ambulance! 🤣Best writers on late night comedy, no question, and Seth is such a generous guy to share the spotlight with them on Surprise Inspection.

[@mrhappy3032]

2:09 was my favorite 😂😂😂😂

[@marieparish8507]

I also loved this one 😂

[@jericolandry9872]

"No uh, applause that time?" Hahahah

[@thomthom6268]

He showed his staff. They all got face time on national TV. Clever and rather gracious.

[@XopheAdethri]

I love how much Seth involves his team members. He makes sure they get credit for making such a great show... ... Even when that credit *IS* the _joke_

[@smithjohn383]

If I'd be Seth I would also make sure that people know I didn't write all the material. Now he has a plausible deniability on everything.

[@nitawynn9538]

Only Seth can make bad jokes hilarious. 😂

[@mjolnir3309]

Correction: these CAN be used in the show. You'd just need some sort of segment where you can highlight the kinds of jokes these writers turn in. Like some sort of unscheduled audit.

[@patrickfinnegan5230]

This is one of my favorite bits. I like to play along at home in a game I call “was it Scallins”? I’m usually right, I’m happy to say.

[@Lepidopterous.]

5:14 The snake joke was fabulous and you know it!!

[@RubyDoobieScoo]

Stop lying to yourself Ian.

[@AisuruMirai]

The less glaring problem with the snake joke was that if you suddenly encountered a surprise plane passenger, unshod, the length of time their shoes were off 1) wouldn't make any difference to you in that instant and 2) wouldn't even be something you could know.

[@UBERJAVS]

Scollins with the home run closer!

[@fishonkayakadventure]

the snake 🐍 🐍 joke was GOLDEN!!!

[@conj764]

One of the best Surprise Inspections ever! I'm still creasing from the Bjorn joke 😂

[@burnyizland]

Creasing? That sounds dirty.

[@untexan]

He's going to put it on his CV

[@keithmassey3914]

I can now recognize Scollin jokes before Seth identifies the writer, is that bad?

[@peerblickdicht8401]

No, that is very very good & a sign of how awesome this show is

[@mihajlo961x]

Thanks to Seth and the team for taking our past advice to heart: including who wrote the joke after each one!

[@aabhahuddar]

Honestly i might dress up as Scollins for Halloween 😅 that look is so iconic 😅😅

[@mrhappy3032]

Scollins killed it 😂😂😂😂😂my favorite is 2:09 that Cosby joke was hilarious 😂

[@deementia6796]

It's scary that at least 90 percent of the time, when I hear a cringe-worthy but hilarious joke, I say, "Oh, that's OBVIOUSLY Scollins," and it is.

[@myhatmygandhi6217]

It was the best jokes and it got the least amount of laughs. Man are people afraid to appear as being "non-PC".

[@mollydeschepper6872]

I really liked that Peppa Pig joke. Calling it like it is. Good job, Ian!

[@vikio452]

Yeah I thought that Peppa Pig joke wasn't broken like the rest

[@YosefASelim]

I'd usually give Karen a free pass on account of her just being plain adorable, but even I think that Charlie Brown monstrosity is a fireable offence 🤣

[@Swangdangflang]

Hah yeah! And Arnold from Hey Arnold! was right there! Widest face ever

[@mstar303]

@@Swangdangflang it feels like she must have meant Hey Arnold right???

[@JRcomments]

was gonna say.....

[@ezioaltairac]

Most of her jokes are awful. I have no idea who she knew to get this job.

[@mstar303]

@@ezioaltairac she had a decent resume writing comedy before Seth Meyers so she must be throwing out a gem every once in a while.

[@greywolf2155]

I feel like every one of us who follows the show went, "dammit, Scollins," at that third joke

[@RubyDoobieScoo]

The picture of Ian reminds me of a sloth, also the last Scollins joke was fantastic.

[@JeffBoen]

I've noticed that Amber and Jenny are never part of the surprise inspection. Is that because they get screen time on "Jokes Seth Can't Tell" or are they just such AMAZING writers that they never pitch a bad joke?!?!?!?! 😁😆😁😋

[@ellenlouise5503]

They don't really write for the monologue so their jokes aren't eligible

[@JeffBoen]

@@ellenlouise5503 Ah! Thanks for the clarification. 👍🙂

[@halycon404]

They've also got an entire other show they spend most of their time on. Amber headlines a show on Peacock and Jenny is the head writer of it. They don't spend as much time on Seth's show as they did. They are more contributing writers now. They do stuff on this show which doesn't work on their shows format. Mostly recurring bits from before they got their own show. I said 'show' a lot....

[@JeffBoen]

@@halycon404 That's okay... saying "show" a bunch just shows that you know lots about the show and like to show it. 😁

[@trappleton]

Karen is the most underappreciated artistic genius of our time

[@grubiebub6851]

I want to hear Karen explain the Charlie Brown joke so bad.

[@anthonyhewetson5086]

Scollins doesn't do stupid or confusing - he just goes straight for dark.

[@LoganRexus]

The Texas Peppa Pig joke was excellent and should have been in the show! 😂

[@squishyshelli]

The Peppa Pig joke got some genuine chuckles out of me 😂

[@rex-racer]

Wasn’t this segment (maybe accidentally) already included as a bonus to the monolog video posted earlier?

[@Risenshinenfall]

They've done that a lot lately.

[@emu_warrior]

Scollins is just amazing

[@Idontcarewhathandleihave]

Surprise inspection continues to be the best sub segment of the whole show. Can’t wait for the next one!

[@courtney-ray]

Actually the bjorn one, the cvs one and the grandma one were good! If those were delivered in the monologue they each would’ve gotten a laugh 😂

[@dmercury292]

Seth, we need you 365 days a year.

[@mariyamwaniki]

I agree but his mental health is more important

[@GaryDunion]

Congratulations to Ally though on being the only person from Florida ever to have heard of Francis Crick

[@ciaartin2221]

Some words appeared to Ally😅😅😅😅

[@PeterVelociPeter]

They need to do a version where he reads the joke, then tries to guess who wrote it.

[@mnchls]

I don't know if it's indicative of either (a) how incredible this show is by several metrics or (b) how much of a massive lamewad I am... but whenever I see a new Surprise Inspection, I pump my fist and let out an audible "hell yeah!"

[@pseudonym8791]

…also needing to add that Rosalind Franklin should share credit with Watson, Crick and Wilkins for the discovery of the structure of DNA given her work in x-ray crystallography :)

[@GaryDunion]

Yeah but you can't have a Franklin in your neck

[@reeveharper6061]

Yes absolutely! We talked about her in class and I'm sure if she hadn't died so young she would have gotten a Nobel Prize as well

[@ericminch]

@@reeveharper6061 ...or even a Nobel Prize.

[@Elkator]

I loved the snake on a plane joke.

[@SJN861]

Grandma napping. Brilliant

[@kalebproductions9316]

In defense of the whale joke it’s important to remember that whales have blow holes.

[@cokesquirrel]

Ha!!!

[@rosemarieholt2261]

That’s it Seth - you have to be as smart as the writer. Hope this makes it into #Corrections.

[@matteoar]

In defence of the joke inspection it's also important to remember: that's a blow hole, not a snort hole

[@AlexWhiteVideo]

she should have worked that into the joke fr

[@essiebessie661]

Ahhh…..

[@gregshort12]

The Des Moines joke was gold, come on now.

[@Kid_Ying]

This and Ya Burnt are my favorite segments of any late night show

[@eriktruedson5658]

the grandma joke is gold

[@kstepko]

I expected that last Scollins’ punchline about National Napping Day to also be about Bill Cosby.

[@ericminch]

But it's just plain napping, not kidnapping.

[@dylanchangedeverythingfore1312]

Some of the puns+plays on words at the beginning of this bit actually made me laugh.

[@Feintgames]

On Halloween, you should have a segment that's called Scollins's Jokes from the Dark Side.

[@nonsum489]

Dammit. I knew the Cosby joke was Scollins long before Seth said it. I might be a Late Night superfan. *sigh*

[@yaseenbrown]

Jackal here, Watson and Crick did not discover the double helix of dna, Rosalind Franklin discovered it when she took the first xray pics and Watson and Crick took credit,

[@MarcColten-us2pl]

The stress on those writers must be brutal. They're like chickens swearing they'll have an egg tomorrow.

[@monicaolivares8089]

For real, I laughed out loud at that Des Moines joke 🤣

[@julieholt7889]

I love hearing Karen cracking up throughout this whole thing

[@ryanhartmanisgreat]

The nap joke was killer

[@peerblickdicht8401]

LOL! It was so clear who wrote that Cosby joke, we all shook our fists at the sky, trying to whisper "Scollins!" while failing to keep our smiles from turning into giggles....

[@joanneweiss3864]

I'm sorry but I like the CVs joke, yay Ian 😂

[@sailordaigurren8225]

I love his ribbing of Karen's joke😂

[@chadgarrett6947]

The biggest surprise to me was the groan over the peppa pig joke I laughed my ass off at lol

[@druidictroy1157]

Please have another Things Karen might Know or whatever that segment is called. It's always so so good.

[@ericveneto1593]

“What Does Karen Know”. It makes me feel old afterwards. I’m 46

[@druidictroy1157]

@@ericveneto1593 LOL. Yeah I'm 55 so I know how you feel. Still a great segment and they haven't done it in forever it seems.

[@leahklein6814]

I KNEW IT!! I knew that terrible Cosby joke was gonna be Scollins before he even said who it was, lmao 😂😂😂

[@cheriann6461]

I never would have expected that watching a late-night show host publicly shame his writers would be so very hilarious. Well played Mr. Myers...Well played.

[@mmjackk667]

The "National Napping Day" joke was really good.

[@camc9225]

The Grandma one was hilarious 😂

[@djc6323]

I like the national napping day joke😂

[@christianbender6877]

I just knew, KNEW that it was Scollins when I heard the Cosby joke. SCOLLINS!

[@ardynites1733]

That’s Ian’s Eureka face😂

[@jordanbal9432]

I love Scollins jokes

[@unmeshl.6708]

You can usually spot a Scollins joke

[@MarthaSpizziri]

I love this segment because it makes me feel like *I* could be a comedy writer at a major TV network.

[@davewebb9452]

Ironically, this has become one of the funniest bits.

[@reidintx7570]

I love every time they do this bit.

[@mercyxmutual]

The jokes this time were EXTRA stinkers. Even queen Karen truly tanked this month 😂

[@TheSLOShadow]

Favs segment next to corrections

[@julieharden2433]

My favorite segment. The ABBA joke was hilarious. Lol. omg, the grandma joke was even funnier. LOLOLOLOL. omg.

[@DraaelD]

I love these surprise inspection episodes. My favorite is figuring out what joke Mike Scollins made and this time... i was on the money. That Bill Cosby joke... wow, good stuff.... dark.... but wow.

[@alias093001]

CVS was my personal favorite. The wordplay was fantastic.

[@MariaBareiss]

2:15 Jaw actually dropped! 😮

[@davidknightx]

A Cosby and dead grandparents joke with Collins in the background pic like "What!? What I do!?" *Chief's kiss*

[@huffore]

Thank you for sharing your collective comedy genius. 👏 😀 Great way to start a Wednesday.

[@taylortate8082]

One of my favorite segments

[@rd6203]

I'm sorry, but the Peppa Pig joke was frikken gold!!

[@jakegilbert8116]

Just kidding, my favorite surprise inspection!!!!!❤

[@WAMTAT]

Love all the writers. Keep up the great job

[@cg1704]

We're taking a trip to NY this fall and I want to see a taping. Hubby asked which bit I would want to see. Answer - surprise inspection. He was surprised - not corrections? I looked sadly off into the distance... there's no audience for corrections...

[@knockeledup]

As a pharmacy technician, I truly appreciated the CVS joke.

[@Lsb412]

The use of "venomous" was beautiful.

[@jasonsreid]

you had a whole snake/plane genre to work with!

[@OleRogeberg]

Correction: The snake with a boot joke failed because the art department didn’t get the obvious Richard Scarry reference.

[@rd6203]

This

[@mattcurr9931]

that napping closer joke is absolute gold!!

[@NemohHoes]

Dude wtf Scollins jokes were lit 😅

[@TheNo1pencil]

This is my absolute favourite segment you guys do