AS ANOTHER FRIDAY night rolls around, a bit of socially distant light banter might help to break up the monotony. 

With the drop in temperatures, there’s no better night to sit on the couch and watch some quality chat shows. 

Here’s our latest round-up of talk show content from the week and what will be on tonight. There should be plenty here to keep anyone occupied. 

Tricks or treats? 

• The Late Late Show, RTÉ One, 9.35 pm  

It’s hard to believe that five months have passed since Daniel O’Donnell last joined Ryan for a chat and a sing-song. So naturally, he’s back tonight.

You can take this news as either an All Hallows Eve scare at bedtime or a chance to dance off the cobwebs with Donegal’s finest – it is what they invented dancing for…

He’ll be performing Come What May from his new album as well as speaking about the ongoing struggles facing the Irish music industry.

Supervet Noel Fitzpatrick will be on to chat about the “life-changing event” that happened to him earlier this year, and how he allegedly predicted the pandemic would happen. Having never seen Super Vet, I can only assume, and hope, that the programme’s theme tune is a reworked version of Rick James’ Superfreak. 

Campaigner and historian Catherine Corless will be on discussing the significance of this week’s clarification by the government that adoptees and survivors of Mother and Baby Homes are legally entitled to access their personal data.

Comedian Bernard O’Shea will be offering up his experience of his mid-life crisis, and chef Donal Skehan will also chat about his recent return to Ireland, and keeping anxiety at bay.

Tonight’s video link guests are tv presenters Phillip Schofield, and Cat Deeley. 

Schofield made headlines earlier this year when he decided to come out on This Morning. He’ll be telling Ryan about what prompted him to first speak about his sexuality, his early days in children’s television, and his friendship with Holly Willoughby.

Deeley, who found fame on US television, will be chatting about her decision to move back to the UK after 14 years. Her Irish connection is her husband, Patrick Kielty, so expect a full segment on that. 

• The Graham Norton Show, BBC One, 10.45 pm

Ireland is well represented on the red couch this evening with actress Jessie Buckley, who is starring in Netflix’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things, and Dermot Kennedy who will be performing his current single Giants. 

Among the guests joining Graham tonight are comedian and Strictly contestant Bill Bailey, Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer, who is in the new film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches, BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner, and comedian and children’s author David Walliams. 

Across the pond 

Jimmy Kimmel looks at team Trump’s last full week on the campaign trail in his monologue. Highlights include Trump’s disdain of the weather at his rallies and Lil Wayne’s visit to the White House, with Kimmel dubbing them Young Money and No Money.

Trevor Noah spoke with Ice Cube about the goals behind his Contract with Black America, and the backlash he received after news broke that he was working with the Trump White House on closing the racial wealth gap.

Daily Show correspondent Jordan Klepper headed to a Trump rally in Pennsylvania to gauge the reaction of the US president’s supporters on the “hail mary October surprise” that is Hunter Biden’s laptop, while others equate the work of Ivanka Trump to the late Lady Diana.

On Last Week Tonight, John Oliver discusses immigration and how the Trump administration has handled asylum seekers over the past four years. An issue that was central to Trump’s 2016 election campaign, but not so much this time around. 

Meanwhile, Stephen Colbert spoke with Sacha Baron Cohen about his new Borat film and the story behind his infamous interview with Donald Trump during his Ali G days. 

And with the weekend that’s in it, Bette Midler spoke to Seth Meyers about her new mockumentary In Search of the Sandersons sisters, based on the 1993 film Hocus Pocus. 

From the archives

Have you ever wondered what scares horror author Stephen King? In a 1986 interview, he admitted cars and trucks have frightened him since childhood. My money would have been on clowns, to be honest.