Posted on 08/23/2022 3:58:00 PM PDT by Libloather
In July, TBS announced that, after seven seasons, "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee" would not be returning, and Desus Nice and The Kid Mero disclosed that their Showtime show, "Desus & Mero," was ending. That news came just months after James Corden revealed that he'd be leaving "The Late Late Show" and about a year after Conan O'Brien decided to say goodbye to late-night after almost 30 years.
If late-night television had a true golden age, we probably passed it sometime in the past decade. After a period of what looked like unchecked expansion, with new late-night shows popping up like wildflowers (or sometimes weeds), the reaper seems to have arrived. Late night's future is now looking much more limited, if not completely grim.
The genre's winnowing arguably began with Jon Stewart's decision in 2015 to walk away from "The Daily Show," which he hosted for more than 16 years. Unlike David Letterman and Jay Leno, who both stayed on well into their 60s, Stewart was only 52 when he stepped away. And O'Brien was only 58.
While Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon are still around as network hosts, their ratings have certainly taken a hit, especially among audiences between the ages of 18 and 54. And among the newer hosts who are still surviving, it seems unlikely many will have runs anywhere near as long as the recent legends.
Losing hosts of color, like Nice and The Kid Mero, and Bee, the most prominent woman host since Joan Rivers in the 1980s, is also not a sign of a prospering genre. At least Amber Ruffin, who broke out on "Late Night with Seth Meyers" and is now starring in her own show on Peacock, has made a strong start.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Wow dude, that was a treat. What a sharp mind.
The “Golden Age of Late Night TV” began within the past year when “Gutfeld” became the #1 show.
Is this article from the eighties?
Their predecessors Steve Allen and Jack Paar blazed the trail and should not be forgotten.
Also part of the "golden age" of late night tv that needs mentioned is SNL and Midnight Special. Not talk shows, but both shows had brief moments of brilliance before fading to irrelevance.
I suppose things change but the main reason for me not doing what I was doing when Carson was king is what I am staring at now. There is a golden age we are living in right now and it is the golden age of the internet. For most Freepers I would guess this website is the core of said internet and it replaced talk shows of any kind a long time ago. I consider my computer monitor and surfing the web to be just a more interactive form of tv. It’s much more versatile than old time tv was and hopefully has diminished the cult of celebrity for many of us.
I like watching old Carson reruns and the Ed Sullivan show.
I stopped watching after Carson retired.I never warmed up to Leno. I liked Letterman for about the first ten years. My schedule didn’t really allow for TV at that time for about a decade after that, and I never got back into the habit when my schedule changed. The best late night years for me were when Carson, Letterman and “Tomorrow” with Tom Snyder were on.
Letterman was funny with his top ten and some of his skits. Then he became bitter and political. Not sure when but maybe around 2000.
I liked Conan O'Brien too in the beginning. Then I got tired of him. There wasn't any point to watching his TBS show. Craig Ferguson could be funny as well. There's nobody like that now, except maybe Greg Gutfeld.
He's better in a niche role where he can be funny in certain situations. He can't carry a show like Leno.
Correct.
They went in the toilet when they let the DNC take them over. They’re just crap now.
The endless skits and jokes about Klintoon should be an entire DVD series.
C. 2000 Leno doubled over cracking up how he was seriously “going to miss this guy!”
Klintoon was a goldmine for comedians!
(But that ugly lech bastard Letterman was too above it all to crack too many jokes on Klintoon.)
Exactly, when Carson retired that was it.
May 22, 1992, to be exact.
Not one of these late night people, Leno included, ever showcased new talent. Carson had new talent on all the time and actively was always looking, when he retired that stopped, Leno was never secure enough to do that.
THIS
But enter Greg Gutfeld. He has a new format for late night. No band, but funny people that occasionally includes comedians. Guests are Republicans or libertarians. That includes an occasional RINO, but the show is the polar opposite of all competition. It is entertainment. It’s also over due. It’s time that conservatives own part of modern culture.
☑️
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