Late Night Television

[brundlefly]

I too was sad to see this thread revived to do something other than celebrate this recent cultural accomplishment.

[Farley Flavors]

The Daily Show needs a shakeup, one where Stewart is completely gone, even from his position as producer. They missed the boat by not giving the job to Roy Wood, but there are many fresh voices out there that aren't as jaded as Jon has become. The right person could be Hassan Minhaj, who was originally slated to take over the job last year.

They originally missed the boat by not handing the gig to Samantha Bee, who proved that she could have easily handled the job when she went on to host Full Frontal. She was the longest running correspondent when Stewart left and one can only presume it was rampant misogyny that led to her not even being considered.

[pianocrash]

I too was sad to see this thread revived to do something other than celebrate this recent cultural accomplishment.

I admit I've seen every episode of this CBS late night show, but this segment might be the crowning achievement (aside from "Is It Caked?", which, sadly, is now crowdsourcing all future content due to lack of caked photographs currently on-hand).

As for Samantha Bee, TBS lost a wave of good-to-great programming when it folded most of their original programming, but at least they have Impractical Jokers (from truTV) and the forthcoming Joe Schmo Show?!? It's ruff out there, folks!

[brundlefly]

I too was sad to see this thread revived to do something other than celebrate this recent cultural accomplishment.

I admit I've seen every episode of this CBS late night show, but this segment might be the crowning achievement (aside from "Is It Caked?", which, sadly, is now crowdsourcing all future content due to lack of caked photographs currently on-hand).

As someone weaned on the Lettermanian ethos that there’s no higher calling than wasting network television time, “Push or Pull?” came on like an ideal realized.

I too have taken to regularly winding down with @fter Midnight (though on YouTube). I didn’t catch the Chris Hardwick show much, tuned out when I did. Tomlinson can be very good in this, which is strange to me; her stand-up is so well-crafted and personal you’d think throwaway monologues and interjections wouldn’t hold much satisfaction. Maybe it’s that she’s often familiar with the guests, maybe her work ethic makes her incapable of indifference.

Do sometimes bail halfway through. It’s a show that hinges on the guests finding chemistry as they read their pre-scripted “answers.” I don’t know what it means that the best ep I’ve seen so far was the very first I saw, but the 100th episode featured a panel that had evident camaraderie and looked to jump the rails. Like Pete Holmes said:



And it was my introduction to Jess McKenna, who can be something of a wonder while improvising whole musicals or bits like "A Scene from David Mamet’s Workplace Drama ‘Build a Bear-y Glenn Ross.’” So now I’ve got a Dropout subscription to get me through Taylor’s hiatus.

[pianocrash]

Tomlinson can be very good in this, which is strange to me; her stand-up is so well-crafted and personal you’d think throwaway monologues and interjections wouldn’t hold much satisfaction. Maybe it’s that she’s often familiar with the guests, maybe her work ethic makes her incapable of indifference.

The first season was filled with a kind of chaos that the second season hasn't quite lived up to, unfortunately, though there are times when it shines through. It helps that a majority of the panelists seem hand picked for their previous working relationships with one another (the through-line is easy in the world of Los Angeles comedy circles), inasmuch that their chemistry and teamwork can make or break the show. It also helps the three to go off the rails depending on the material, so I don't mind when the CBS-fed casting of Ghosts or whatever Star Trek off-shoot program shows up, because they all are least trying to have a good time & occasionally be funny. It also helps that Taylor knows so many comedians as a result of her endless work schedule, so there's a higher chance of the panelists strictly trying to make her laugh over making the audience laugh.

Just don't watch the episode wherein three of the show's staff writers are the featured panelists (the second taping the day after this year's presidential election, and I'm sure no other option was available), as it was the absolute nadir of trying to make your boss laugh at your lousy jokes that they already heard three hours earlier at rehearsal.

[brundlefly]

Tomlinson leaves After Midnight, CBS shudders show and abandons time slot.

[dx23]

Tomlinson leaves After Midnight, CBS shudders show and abandons time slot.

The show was good but felt that the original one at Comedy Central had a better rotation of comedians. Taylor has all the makings of a star so I wonder why she has decided to return to stand up touring instead of film/tv as the next step in her career.

I'm guessing the door is closing more and more on late night TV. Affiliates will probably make more money running reruns of Big Bang Theory at that time than with any other late show experiment.

[pianocrash]

Taylor is a great stand-up comedian, and she's stated in the past that she'd be fine doing just that, and I don't know if that kind of burst into other media is really in her wheelhouse. She still continually sells out shows wherever she goes, & her material is palatable to a wide segment of people. However, we're in a kind of area of specificity of what that means, with more comedians pushing into the endless podcast sea & commercial work, while still focusing on their material & branding themselves as hard as possible. She's also stated that the stand-up atmosphere with a live audience is where she thrives, and the frustration with the formatting changes during the show's second season were pretty uneven (it also didn't help that she was touring every second or third weekend a month & performing around the country, only to come back to her grueling TV schedule where she was more or less responsible for keeping the gears for 150 people going). The first season's chaos was such a breath of fresh air that I understand why they couldn't keep that going while attempting to both court viewership & appease CBS/Paramount, who had already cut the staff at the beginning of season 2. It really felt like half of the writers were trying to tether that (lots and lots of games), and she wanted to keep a foot in the talk-show aspect & the day-to-day relevant monologues. Attempting to court Gen Z from their phones with disparate materials from buzzworthy social media posts w/ semi-lucid commentary was never the big fish they thought it could be, but I always enjoyed the panelists' energies, the more chaotic and unhinged, the better.

With the way people tend to consume television (if you even have cable, or whatever facsimile thereof Paramount+ actually serves apart from that experience), it's hard to believe there is ANY original late night programming, aka the thing people watch while either trying to have sex with or without their partner before bed, or waiting for the meds to kick in before sleeping, or some combination of both along with whatever sleeping disorder du jour seems appropriate. The Million Dollar Midnight Movie seems like a legit & honest thing again, and somebody out there probably needs to catch the second half of This Island Earth for the first time once before they die, right?

[dx23]

Funny thing you mention the Million Dollar Midnight movie. With the birth of my kids in 2018 and 2021, my late night for a while was feeding them/getting them back to sleep while watching MeTV, cult films and old cartoons. Finally was able to watch Frogs and Mr. Sardonicus

[brundlefly]

Dumb show closing out strong.

[domino harvey]

Late Night with Colbert has been canceled and CBS will retire the brand

[dx23]

CBS/Paramount has decided to cancel the Late Show with Stephen Colbert citing "financial reasons". The show is ending in May of next year. I'm sure that $15 million dollar settlement with Trump has nothing to do with this. Skydance is off to a great start by doing this and their fight to not pay South Park for a new season.
. Almost like if their intention is to destroy a network before taking over.

[beamish14]

CBS/Paramount has decided to cancel the Late Show with Stephen Colbert citing "financial reasons". The show is ending in May of next year. I'm sure that $15 million dollar settlement with Trump has nothing to do with this. Skydance is off to a great start by doing this and their fight to not pay South Park for a new season.
. Almost like if their intention is to destroy a network before taking over.

Coupled with the despicable gutting of PBS/NPR today, the dominos are really falling for the end of network television and terrestrial radio in America. CBS went downhill content-wise under Les Moonves, but this is pathetic

I would love to see Colbert develop shows for HBO

[dx23]

HBO is under cost cutting moves with idiot Zaslav at the top, and he has destroyed CNN to boot, so I feel Colbert's only choices would be Disney, NBC/Universal, Netflix or the obscurity at Apple TV

[domino harvey]

Considering the Daily Show is also rumored to be nearing cancellation, perhaps Colbert and Stewart get the band back together

[beamish14]

Considering the Daily Show is also rumored to be nearing cancellation, perhaps Colbert and Stewart get the band back together

I want him and Amy Sedaris to team up again

[dx23]

Considering the Daily Show is also rumored to be nearing cancellation, perhaps Colbert and Stewart get the band back together

Wouldn't be surprised about Daily Show getting cancelled by the end of the year. Anything to silence any voice that criticizes dear leader. Still, as I mentioned before, the Daily Show getting cancelled is almost self inflicted too. They could easily have gone with the best candidate, Roy Wood Jr. Instead, they went back to a part time Jon Stewart and a so so lineup of sidekicks

[Brian C]

I loved Colbert in the Daily Show and early Colbert Report days before Colbert Report got stale, and I gave his Late Show run a chance for the first couple of months when he moved there. I thought he was an extremely awkward fit for Late Show, and when I've tuned in occasionally over the past few years, I think he's actually gotten a lot worse as time goes on. It's just a really bad show, and what's weird about it, is that the more of a firebrand he tries to be, the more unfunny he is. It's the complete opposite of the period when he broke through on The Daily Show and Colbert Report.

Crazy to think that he's been there for 10 years now. And all the while, he's become more and more anonymous. That doesn't seem to be how it should go!10 years ago he was a pretty famous guy, but now, people would hardly notice that his show was being cancelled if it wasn't obviously retaliatory and therefore political points to be scored. Lots of people angry today that CBS is killing the show, but no one talking about how they're actually going to miss it.

[dx23]

I loved Colbert in the Daily Show and early Colbert Report days before Colbert Report got stale, and I gave his Late Show run a chance for the first couple of months when he moved there. I thought he was an extremely awkward fit for Late Show, and when I've tuned in occasionally over the past few years, I think he's actually gotten a lot worse as time goes on. It's just a really bad show, and what's weird about it, is that the more of a firebrand he tries to be, the more unfunny he is. It's the complete opposite of the period when he broke through on The Daily Show and Colbert Report.

Crazy to think that he's been there for 10 years now. And all the while, he's become more and more anonymous. That doesn't seem to be how it should go!10 years ago he was a pretty famous guy, but now, people would hardly notice that his show was being cancelled if it wasn't obviously retaliatory and therefore political points to be scored. Lots of people angry today that CBS is killing the show, but no one talking about how they're actually going to miss it.

Somewhat disagree with you here. When Colbert was on the Daily Show and Colbert Report, he was basically playing a straight right wing talking head, which made it incredibly funny to his audience, the left leaning crowd. Many right wingers really thought that "that" Colbert character was a die hard republican making fun of everyone. Once the right wing went batshit crazy during the Obama years, Colbert tried to play it more center. The right wing move to the extreme right while the Colbert character stayed the same, thus it kinda stopped being funny and he became more wary about where things were going. Once he moved to the Late Show, Colbert stopped being the character and is just being himself, a nice guy who is incredibly worried where this country is going. I don't think he became less famous, but he went from the cool channel the geriatric network and in the process late night TV is simply dying. He still as famous as ever and that's one of the reasons yesterday's news hit hard and spread quickly. Similar to the Simpsons, people are used to the show being there. People still are used to seeing clips and have the comfort of some things staying the same.

As an adult, I'm still bewildered of how Late Night TV ever worked and gets an audience. I mean, even as a teenager and in my college years, where I was an owl and stayed up all night, late night TV felt targeted towards boomers, especially Leno and Letterman. My parents went to sleep around 10PM as they both worked, and my friends parents were the same. So who was/is watching these late night shows that hit past midnight when they work the next day and have to be there at 8AM? I understand if some DVR it now but pre-DVR, who stayed up that late to watch?

[pianocrash]

I used to tape Conan on my VCR & watch it the next afternoon, most of the time. Pre/early internet, late night TV was a bastion of near-madness thanks to David Letterman, who was always worth catching in comparison to the more staid Tonight Show (Johnny Carson-era was a whole other plane of thought for the previous generation, while Leno was filling the void afterward). The budgetary notions for these shows were low at first, I would assume, and that's why the do-what-you-can-with-what-you-have style of comedy felt a lot fresher than what modern late night TV ended up becoming. After Midnight had a running gag with their "Potato or iPhone?" game, which always made me laugh because that's essentially what it actually was about (it was 99% a potato).

Most of what advertising is these days is prescription drugs or lifestyle enhancements, and cornering a whole generation who are already a hard sell for anything (and prefer to keep their commercial breaks either muted for 200 countdown seconds or skip it entirely if possible) seems harder with each new year. That Colbert stayed on as long as he did is a kind of miracle, and his show has been booking a great selection of musical guests since he arrived, which seems like the biggest loss, personally speaking (again, a sign of the times regarding people's tolerance of music as an artform vs. music as wallpapering whatever else is happening around you). I haven't seen Kimmel in years, but his kowtowing the Carson schtick never really was my bag in the first place, and Fallon will continue to be on as long as his games get goofier & Lorne can milk the show into endless clips on Youtube. In fact, I believe they were the first of the late night shows to air full interviews that were cut down for broadcast with some guests when the show went long with gags or whatever, which was a nice, click-friendly gesture that probably nobody seemed to notice.

Meanwhile, Hot Ones is ten years old & episodes are on tubi (free but it's on tubi), and I can see why just about anyone would choose that instead of Guy In Suit Tells Trump Jokes while you fall asleep. And for that matter, I believe, for a time, that most late night shows really were the buffer between "should we have sex or just go to sleep" for couples who still slept together in one bed, and possibly were on the line of booking a Carnival cruise on either side of that decision (::"Lust For Life" by Iggy Pop thunders in the background::). That's Marketing 101, folks!

[knives]

Jimmy Kimmel is functionally cancelled due to comments about Kirk.

[domino harvey]

Welcome to the age of cowardice

[Boosmahn]

I thought he must have celebrated Kirk's death (as some people online are doing), but this article suggests he just said the shooter could be a Republican?

That's it? Are you kidding me?

[Big Ben]

The FCC has always sucked ass but that's a new level of bootlicking on their part. I hope Kimmel sues.

[swo17]

No penalties though for saying that Tim Walz ordered the hit on Melissa Hortman