Late-night hosts pay tribute to Boston bombing tragedy

Monday's late-night TV took a somber and serious tone in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings. Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O'Brien all took time out of their Monday night monologues to address the bombings at the Boston Marathon, which killed three people and left more than 170 wounded earlier that day.

And while they all noted that they still had a show to do and wanted to make people laugh, they could not ignore the day's tragic events.

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On CBS' "Late Late Show," Ferguson noted that his monologue would be taking a different tone than his usual comedic fare.

"Tonight's show is a little bit different," he began. "Obviously the news of today is so horrendous that it would seem insensitive at best to say, 'It's a great day for America,' so I won't be starting the show with that tonight. Is anyone else sick of this s---? I seem to have to say that too often."

He added: "People say to me, 'Craig, your job is to make people laugh at the end of the day.' And I think, 'yes, that's true,' but I've never professed to be any damn good at that. And, the thing is, people want their mind taken off it. And I think, 'well OK, if you want your mind taken off it, you know, watch a cartoon or a video or something.' I understand it, it's perfectly acceptable. I don't think it's a terrible thing to not want to think about it, but I can't not think about it."

Ferguson also mentioned that he shot his first stand-up special in America in the city of Boston and noted that he spoke at Faneuil Hall after becoming a U.S. citizen in 2008 at the invitation of Boston Mayor Tommy Menino.

"I like that town," he said. "I'm appalled by this thing, and when I watch it on these streets that I know, it's horrifying.

"If I have all this inside of me, if I have all this rage and anger and distress and upset inside of me, I'm not a good enough comedian to hide all that from you."

ABC's Kimmel also began his monologue by addressing the tragedy, saying that it had been a "terrible day."

"Very bad things happened today for no good reason," he said. "And our thoughts are with the people of Boston and everyone who is suffering as a result of the bombings at the marathon. It's a disgusting thing. I don't understand it. But my job is to make you laugh, so I will try to do that-- and I will probably fail. I'm failing already."

O'Brien, who hails from Boston and still has family there, began his TBS show by stating what an "upsetting and sad day it has been." He also, addressed his own connection to the city by saying, "Boston's my hometown. It's where I grew up. It's where my family lives."

"I wanted to take a moment to say that -- like everybody here -- my thoughts and prayers are with the people of Boston and everybody who has been affected by this absolutely senseless act," he continued. "That said -- it is our job to do a show. We're going to try and entertain you the very best we can -- which, given our track record, gives you people a 20 percent chance of having a good time tonight."

Jimmy Fallon, Jay Leno, and David Letterman did not have live shows on Monday night. But earlier in the day, Ellen DeGeneres addressed Monday's tragedy at the end of her Tuesday taping: "Before we end the show today, I wanna tell everyone in Boston that we're thinking about you. We're watching the news and it is incredibly sad. As we're taping, we're still learning new details. And, please know that you're in our hearts. Be kind to one another."

Check out a video of the late-night hosts here and DeGeneres' address below: