I had a conversation a couple of weeks back with a friend in the entertainment business about the current state of late night comedy. We both grew up during the age of Jay Leno and David Letterman. For the most part we discussed why Leno always beat Letterman in the ratings and part of the reason we discussed was the fact that Leno appealed more to the classical late night audience. If you remember late night during those days the structure of a show was pretty simple.
1. Opening Monologue
2. Comedy Skit or Bit
3. Interview Two Celebrities
4. Musical Guest
5. Sign Off
Pretty straight forward stuff. There was also a slight political aspect to the feud as well. Letterman especially during the George W. Bush days would goof on him a lot …show more content…
Leno and Letterman are gone and they have been replaced with a different kind of late night comedian. A kind of comedian who puts politics first and jokes second. When Jon Stewart left the Daily Show in 2015, a void was placed in the arena of news and political satire comedy. Suddenly many of his former correspondents left to start their own shows like Trevor Noah who took over for Stewart, Stephen Colbert who took over for David Letterman, Samantha Bee, and John Oliver to name a few. Suddenly, the tone of late night comedy to a noticeable shift away from letting us all laugh together to being a platform for political and social commentary
Over the last few weeks Jimmy Kimmel has made national news not for anything to do with the content of his show, but he has become the mouthpiece for left-wing commentary in America calling for universal healthcare and gun control. He isn't the only one. Stephen Colbert who has been venomously anti-Trump for years makes headlines for going after the president on many occasions. Same goes for Seth Myers, Conan O'Brien, James Cordon...suddenly you realize, I'm not watching late night for comedy anymore, I'm watching it late night political
1. Opening Monologue
2. Comedy Skit or Bit
3. Interview Two Celebrities
4. Musical Guest
5. Sign Off
Pretty straight forward stuff. There was also a slight political aspect to the feud as well. Letterman especially during the George W. Bush days would goof on him a lot …show more content…
Leno and Letterman are gone and they have been replaced with a different kind of late night comedian. A kind of comedian who puts politics first and jokes second. When Jon Stewart left the Daily Show in 2015, a void was placed in the arena of news and political satire comedy. Suddenly many of his former correspondents left to start their own shows like Trevor Noah who took over for Stewart, Stephen Colbert who took over for David Letterman, Samantha Bee, and John Oliver to name a few. Suddenly, the tone of late night comedy to a noticeable shift away from letting us all laugh together to being a platform for political and social commentary
Over the last few weeks Jimmy Kimmel has made national news not for anything to do with the content of his show, but he has become the mouthpiece for left-wing commentary in America calling for universal healthcare and gun control. He isn't the only one. Stephen Colbert who has been venomously anti-Trump for years makes headlines for going after the president on many occasions. Same goes for Seth Myers, Conan O'Brien, James Cordon...suddenly you realize, I'm not watching late night for comedy anymore, I'm watching it late night political