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 ...
Because tv is dead.
Deceit is a lie.
And the Spirit says out.
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That’s about when I could start watching again. I watched a few times and that was it.
Yep you've missed nothing. Now all the late night show hosts are elitist. They have nothing in common with the average American.
You can find some of those Carson guests on YouTube if you look around.
We had actual writers then.
“The golden age ended with the retirement of Jay Leno.” Rather, the golden age ended when Jay Leno refused to retire and refused to hand the golden age to Conan. Big mistake. Leno killed late night tv by staying on, Conan got stuck on TBS, and then inverted people took over for Letterman and Leno. Leno and Letterman re-runs will never be interesting.
Conan’s too quirky for The Tonight Show. Anyway, it had to end because there are more entertainment options. It’s still on NBC now but who cares when you have Netflix?
I still watch Johnny Carson every weekday night.
#21 I did too back in the early 1980’s with a 8ft then a 10ft dish antenna. My neighbors could tell I was watching tv as my antenna would swing back and forth !
Later they scrambled the tv signals but you could buy kits to unscramble.
#33 Johnny Carson is on the free Pluto tv app that you can add to your Roku device. You can also watch it on the computer.
https://pluto.tv/en/live-tv/johnny-carson-tv
Thanks!
Yep. The Johnny Carson Show ran from 1962 to 1992.
I adored Craig's show in spite of his cringy moments—a true original. But I suspect he is an acquired taste, since he is very intelligent and, for all the hilarity, has a hard time covering it up. Many people are suspicious of and hostile to high intelligence. Look how they treat DJT.
I still watch Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson reruns on YouTube from time to time.
Flyover country was more geared to agricultural life, where early rising is necessary, and ergo early to bed as well. The power centers of media and office work on the urban coasts used to start work at 9:00 AM in the last century, before universal 24/7 global communications. By the 90s, opening bell had sneaked up to 8:00 AM.
Now, with Tivo, streaming and remote work, any sort of time-slots attached to TV programming will become less and less meaningful. I hope they keep most of the obscenity off the air when schoolchildren are awake; but it is creeping into everything.
I believe I saw him pictured at the funeral for James Gandolfini a few years ago. Surprised me. He has really stayed quiet, except for some Broadway and off-Broadway. I understand he suffers from depression. He also is friendly with Colbert, Katie Couric and Woody Allen, so.... lost cause.
You can still find Carson on many off-the-air TV markets. Just look on the sub channels. In Tampa its 10.2 or 8.2
How many people getting up to work at 5am or 6am after working to 6pm or 7pm and then cooking for the kids are watching TV at midnight?
For me, it ended when Letterman when full blown left in ‘08 , for the devil , barack hussein. All the other shows, except Leno, followed in his footsteps.
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