One of TV's best traditions continued this Christmas
Darlene Love, who many will know as Trish Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon films, has had an extensive career as a soul singer. Her big success is the song Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), which first appeared on 1963 Christmas music compilation album A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector.
In 1986, she was invited to perform the sing on Late Night with David Letterman on his last show before Christmas, which became an annual tradition on the show right through to the final Late Show With David Letterman pre-Christmas episode in 2014.
Last year, someone at The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon had the bright idea to invite Darleve Love onto the show to reprise the tradition. And it seems to have stuck, with Love performing the show once again on Thursday night, the final episode of Fallon for the year.
She was backed on stage by Steven Van Zandt’s band Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, along with former Late Show band leader Paul Schaffer. They backed her on stage last year too.
I think this is a glorious tradition and hope it continues on for as long as either the 84 year-old Love is able to, or at least until whichever US late night chat show is the last one to turn off the lights.
If you are curious about that very first 1986 performance on Late Night with David Letterman…
News Desk
Kevin Arkadie, an Emmy-winning writer-producer, has died at age 68. He was alco the co-creator of New York Undercover. Read: THR
James Ransone, best known for playing Ziggy Sobotka on The Wire, has died at age 46. Read: Variety
Last Samurai Standing, one of my top 10 shows of 2025, has been renewed for a second season at Netflix. Read: Variety
Apple TV has cancelled The Last Frontier after just one season. Read: THR
Paramount+ has cancelled NCIS: Tony & Ziva after a single season. Read: Dark Horizons
Former Little Britain star David Walliams has denied allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards young women after being dropped by his publisher HarperCollins UK. Read: BBC
While David Walliams will be seen on UK TV in pre-recorded Christmas specials, with adaptations of his short stories also airing this week, Walliams has been has been removed from the line-up for Waterstones’ children’s book festival. Read: The Telegraph
Bowen Yang has exited SNL. Variety’s Alison Herman flags concern that it adds to the creative vacuum evident in the show this season. Read: Variety
What was SNL’s Colin Jost doing in the Epstein files… Read: Late Nighter
Alexander Ludwig and AJ Michalka are the first actors officially announced for The White Lotus season 4. Read: Variety
You might want to check out the website Netflix built for Warner Bros Discovery shareholders to win their hearts and minds. Read: NetflixWBTogether.com
Freeview Australia is testing DVB-I technology, which will enable users to access free-to-air broadcast channels streamed, but using the TV’s usual broadcast TV interface. Read: Freeview
Aimee Hart has written about the recurring theme of propaganda running through screen entertainment this year. Read: Polygon
This review by Sean Hollister of the hot (US-only) kids video game console for kids Nex Playground makes me feel like Nintendo has missed a step by moving away from the physicality to present in the Wii experience. Read: The Verge
Trailer Park
Salvador debuts on Netflix Feb 6.
"Salvador" is an action drama series in which Luis Tosar steps into the shoes of Salvador, a father and emergency medical technician who fights to leave behind his past with alcohol and make amends for the mistakes he made with his family.
Dynamite Kiss debuts Dec 24 on Netflix.
That’s the newsletter for the today.
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