New Year's Eve is arguably one of the most exciting times for live television, and Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper are a large reason for that. The two famed friends have frequently shouldered the responsibility of hostingCNN's New Year's Eve broadcast from Times Square, and it doesn't take much else to get them and viewers at home giggling at the sillier moments of the night. (Especially when booze is allowed.) 2023's biggest near-cat-astrophe involved a check-in with a hilariously straight-faced John Mayer from a cat bar in Tokyo, and the internet couldn't get enough of the entire thing.
As the drinks flowed at Times Square in New York City, Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper catwalked into an interview John Mayer, who was already well into New Year's Day in Tokyo. Mayer was stationed at a "cat bar" for the segment, which, as he'll lay out in the video below, is exactly what it sounds like. Check out the segment, and watch Cooper lose any ability to form a sentence due to a wild case of the giggles:
I'm not sure how many snarky comments Andy Cohen will respond to after that laughing fit by Anderson Cooper, but readers can rest assured that there was no shortage of people who loved seeing the entire segment from start to finish. Some, like @xoraveen, almost lost control more than the CNN host, and couldn't get enough of John Mayer fully embracing the mission of telling all there is to know about a random cat bar in Japan many watching will never venture to:
John Mayer in this damn Cat Cafe and Anderson crying laughing is too much and I’m about to pee on myself. #CNNNye
The real highlight of this clip has to be Anderson Cooper, who couldn't get enough of the cats' buttholes frequently being exposed to the camera. Perhaps this celebrity with a famous parent wasn't used to being confronted with a cat's butt so intimately, or he was aware of how much some folks at the network likely hated that image going out to countless viewers. In either case, his giggles made the segment, and many like @caliiinoel loved it because of that:
John Mayer at a cat cafe in Tokyo and Anderson's uncontrollable giggles has me wheezing in my living room.
And while Swifties may still attack John Mayer despite Taylor Swift's plights to inspire other behavior, he's certainly won some cool points with me for this interview. This segment wouldn't kill if Mayer didn't maintain his deadpan seriousness during the interview, unwilling to even acknowledge any ridiculousness of it all. @Vandel_Buster noticed the same thing and loved the contrast between the two parties:
John Mayer being just absolutely dead serious at a cat bar is probably one of my absolute favorite things on any of the #CNNNYE's. They're dying at the cats just being there, his deadpan, and themselves.
I've known John Mayer had comedic chops since his criminally underrated sketch on Chappelle's Show, and power to him for stone-facing it through this interview, but he can't get all the credit in this instance. I know I've already mentioned it, but it can't be said enough how the entire hilarity of this whole New Year's Eve segment boils down to seeing a cat butthole on television. As @MrEAnders pointed out, the whole segment descended into chaos as soon as the cat butt was right at the camera:
Anderson is losing his absolute mind at John Mayer inadvertently pointing cat ass right to the camera #CNNNYE
I have to say that it's refreshing to wake up in 2024 with some pleasant viral moment to kick off the year rather than some phony drama where Andy Cohen snubbed Ryan Seacrest like we had last year. That said, the new host of Wheel of Fortune might be a little miffed in the new year, knowing that one of the biggest viral moments of the night didn't happen on his special:
This interview with John Mayer at a cat cafe in Tokyo was the funniest stuff I’ve ever seen on a Times Square broadcast #CNNNYE
I have to agree with @thekennaj's take, and if this viral moment is any indication of the energy the 2024 TV schedule will bring into the new year, we're in for a treat. That said, I do hope that's the final time I see a cat's butt on my screen for a while, unless it's tastefully done.
New Year's Eve on CNN was a great time, but it's time to look ahead to 2024. CinemaBlend will, of course, continue to deliver the news on some of the best things coming to television in the new year, and keep readers updated on the movies front as well. I can't promise it'll be as hilarious as John Mayer in a cat bar, but few things in life are.
