Although late-night talk shows are largely absent in Chinese television landscape, the genre has gained popularity among Chinese viewers on Internet platforms. First, we draw from the concept of narrative transparency and briefly discuss how late-night talk shows have the ability to appear culturally familiar despite their unfamiliar origins. Then we examine how the practice of "subbing" by fans renders these shows accessible to other fans and viewers. The fan-subtitling help highlight certain elements of these shows, namely playfulness and contentiousness, which intersect with China’s Internet culture. Through interviews with fans and analysis of data from fan forum posts and online discussions, this study shows how these familiar interpretive tools help make sense of the American late-night talk shows and further provide a basis for consumption pleasure and reflexivity.