Missing Late Night Shows?

[yourlibrarian]

It's surprising that it hasn't been that long since late night shows have been off the air, but it's been long enough that I've frequently forgotten about them. We have always watched them during meal times (as we never watch anything live). So instead we have been going through various other shows during those times (the latest has been the Marie Antoinette series aired on PBS).

It was 3 months yesterday that the WGA struck, and some of this time would have been a hiatus for these shows anyway. John Oliver in particular usually had several months off at a time and sadly Samantha Bee got cancelled before the strike even happened. James Corden's show has ended, to be replaced by something different. But generally it wasn't more than a few weeks to a month that these shows would be on break. So this is a really long time for them to be unavailable.

It makes me wonder if when they return if their audience will return in the same numbers. I think the pandemic made obvious that when normal habits grind to a halt due to some change, they don't necessarily get picked up again or in the same way. I seem to remember reading that this has been true for the long gaps for streaming shows as well, in that there is often a drop off between a first and second season, in part because people just forget about them. (I can't say for sure since streaming services don't generally release viewing numbers, but I gather it's factors into why so many shows only run a few seasons).

I'm particularly wondering what will happen with The Daily Show, which was in the midst of guest host weeks and so has no set host or format to come back to.

Anyone else miss these talk or variety shows?

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Comments

[olivermoss]

I think they serve some purpose, but for me I don't really care. They used to be good because you could see celeb interviews, but today with so many more outlets and also celebs who want to being able to do tweets or insta or tiktok, every time I watch a night show interview of a celeb I care about it's so boring. The interviews are always meant for the broadest possible audience.

Most night shows are political with the monologues and news reviews and I think that serves some purpose, a re-assurance that certain POVs are actually mainstream. So, I think they have a purpose, but just not one for me.

[yourlibrarian]

Yes, I've always seen the interview time as filler, a cheap way to use up airtime. And I think that most of the hosts are poor interviewers as well. Whenever we watched Colbert or Daily Show we'd skip over them.

[starwatcher]

I'm catching reruns of folks (Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon) I didn't follow before. The monologues are a bit dated (but still scarily relevant, dammit! Why can't we get rid of the orange blob? [/rhetorical]), but the interviews are new to me. OTHO, I'd forget, too, if my DVR didn't automatically catch them for me, and I can see them in my lineup.

Yeah, I expect things won't be the same... but something has to fill those hours. Perhaps the shows will continue, even with lower numbers, until viewing habits adjust again.

I actually liked the "weekly guest host" format of The Daily Show, with a format similar to what Trevor Noah established; it would be fun to see it continue that way, as a base for some established hosts and a "try your wings" for new hosts.

Perhaps more noticeable to the viewers will be the conspicuous lack of new shows and new episodes of established shows from the middle of September to the middle of October. Even if the strikes were resolved tomorrow, it's far too late to get Fall shows ready that quickly.

Of course, all of this is moot until the fat cats release their clutches of the almighty dollar and agree to give actors/writers/crews in the TV and Film industry a viable contract that assures a truly livable wage.

[yourlibrarian]

Your mention of reruns reminded me that there's channels showing old Tonight Show episodes. One could see why Carson was popular but the interviews were just death. I remember one I saw had him interviewing Jimmy Stewart. Even in the year it was done it was well past Stewart's time, and he had nothing to promote. Yet he was given a lot of deference given his status as a film star. But he wasn't that talkative and had nothing interesting to say.

I know that a lot depended on the guest and it wasn't always the case that the interviews were dull, but some of it came down to pacing which was a lot slower in those days.

I liked the weekly host concept for Daily Show as well, though it was somewhat up and down. Some people were great whereas others weren't such a good fit. Given how things stand I suspect that when they come back they're going to try to get someone experienced and a "get" in order to bring the show back on people's radar. They're in a tricky spot since the other shows, people will know what they were missing.

Yes, things look grim for the strikers. I really hope they're able to secure some gains.

[facethestrange]

I think I can honestly say that I've never watched an episode of a late night show? I've only seen clips here and there when people share them. It's not in any way a criticism (I love hearing about people's different tastes and interests, and they're not 'worse' or 'better'), it just is a genre of tv I've never considered seeking out on purpose.

[yourlibrarian]

I never watched any before The Daily Show hit its stride. Of course it would also have required recording the shows because I was either getting ready for bed or reading at that hour. I don't like to watch TV late at night.

[rodo]

I only half miss them, because I also watch the German equivalents (they don't have celeb interviews, but are otherwise similar), and those are still on (or on regular summer break).

[yourlibrarian]

Oh interesting! Are they shorter? While Oliver and Bee rarely had anyone on, interviews are definitely a staple of most shows.

[rodo]

About the same length, I'd say. There's Jan Böhmermann's ZDF Magazin Royale (which apparently does have guests? I tend to watch them on Youtube, so everything always gets chopped up and that must have passed me by), which is kind of like Last Week Tonight, and the heute-show, which is kind of like The Daily Show. I honestly don't like the guest part much, so I tend to skip it whenever a show like this has them on.

[yourlibrarian]

Yes, I've only occasionally watched interviews on these shows. Most of the time I just don't find it very interesting.

Back in the early days of Daily Show they used to have on a lot of authors of non-fiction books, and these could lead to some informative talks. It was less so on the Colbert Report because of Colbert's persona on that show -- it got in the way of exploring ideas. And now with Late Night, he doesn't tend to have many authors on, it's a lot of celebrities promoting their projects.

[rodo]

Yeah, it's always very fluffy, and I prefer the stuff that has more of an edge to it. I will watch an interview if it's with a person I'm a fan of or about a project that I love, but otherwise... nope. Just not interested.

Btw, if you're interested in what Jan Böhmermann does on his version of Last Week Tonight, have some links to his songs: Allemagne Zero Points (the song that should have been our Eurovision entry, even if it wasn't a candidate) and Right Time to Thiel (Peter Thiel Bond villain song), both in English.

[jo]

The only one I used to watch was the John Oliver Show (we don't have HBO so we'd torrent it the next day), but stopped watching a couple of years ago. Increasingly we found we'd just watch the opening funny section and then not really care much/at all about his deep dive into the shitty-thing-about-the-US of the week segment (not being American). So no, don't miss them at all.

[yourlibrarian]

Yes, it's very U.S. oriented. It's something I miss about Hasan Minhaj's show -- or even Daily Show when Noah was the host. More of an international and outsider's perspective.