Late Night Last Century: James Earl Jones’s Top Ten Effects of Y2K on Letterman

Late Night Last Century is a weekly column highlighting some of the funniest and most unforgettable comedy from late night, talk shows, and variety shows of the 20th century currently streaming on YouTube. Today, we go back to Y2K in honor of the late, great James Earl Jones.

James Earl Jones was prolific. And, of course, brilliant. Few artists so effortlessly transcended the culture, from the popular— Darth Vader in Star Wars—to the high—the Broadway stage, where he won a pair of Tony Awards (and later an honorary third for lifetime achievement). 

To think of Jones is to hear his voice. But it was his presence too. He commanded whatever stage or screen on which he appeared. And his eyes—how intense they could be. Think of Field of Dreams (1989), in which he plays a man who transitions from deep resentment to wonder; a pair of furious eyes glaring at Kevin Costner in Boston, only to glisten like those of a child on a ballfield in Iowa.

In 2011, Ben Kingsley presented Jones with an Honorary Academy Award, ushering in the man to that elusive club of entertainers known as EGOTs. The Grammy came for his work on Great American Documents, a spoken word album on which he, Orson Welles, Helen Hayes, and Henry Fonda read the nation’s sacred texts. Jones ended the album by reading the Emancipation Proclamation.

A trio of Emmys came across diverse categories. The first, in 1991, for his work as a supporting actor in the miniseries Heat Wave. Then, that very same year, he won for his role as the lead actor on the drama series Gabriel’s Fire. In 2000, he won Outstanding Performer in Children’s Special, for his work on the television movie Summer’s End. That was the thing about Jones: you never knew quite when, where, or how he might show up.

In addition to all the characters he played and voiced, he was also one of the most beloved performers to slide into the Ed Sullivan Theater to steal an episode of The Late Show with David Letterman. Shortly after news of Jones’ passing broke, the Letterman YouTube page was quick to post an homage to some of their favorite instances of the actor showing off his comedic chops.  

Included in that compilation are classics like the February 13, 2001 segment, “Top Ten Things That Sound Cool When Spoken By James Earl Jones.” But, in the spirit of this column, we leave you with another. As the nation braced to leave the 1900s, and indeed the 1000s behind, Letterman turned to James Earl Jones to get America ready for the year 2000 problem, better known as Y2K. Go back in time to December 31, 1999, with James Earl Jones:

Will DiGravio is a Brooklyn-based critic and researcher, who first contributed to Paste in 2022. He is an assistant editor at Cineaste, a GALECA member, and since 2019 has hosted The Video Essay Podcast. You can follow and/or unfollow him on Twitter and learn more about him via his website.