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 ...
It ended when the cbs and abc Friday night late movies ended.
The sadness of what was almost brings tears to the eyes.
Huh? Has the clown who wrote this never heard of Johnny Carson?
Ed McMann, Johnny Carson’s sidekick had it right when he said, I don’t talk about politics. Both sides drink Budweiser and that’s what I’m selling so why alienate have your potential customers.
I could never understand why both coasts run their local news at 11:00, while for “flyover country” it’s always been at 10:00.
Agreed!!!
Any mention of Gutfeld?
Makes sense. Plus he loves cars. From his monologues, he appears to be a bit old school.
Ditto
It was Golden when Trump was a frequent guest in the 80s.
If the Earth were to open up and swallow Colbert and it were known in advance, his ratings would be over the top.
It was really a slow death after Johnny Carson. Johnny was just huge. People put TV’s in their bedrooms just to watch Johnny Carson.
Dick Cavett is still around. At age 85, Dick is almost as old as Crazy Nancy. Dick has stayed out of current events completely for at least the last 30 years.
I guess he had gotten his fill of the limelight.
Some celebrities never do.
Late night tv ended with Carson.
Leno kept the fire burning for a while.
Never could abide Letterman.
The Golden Age of late night ended with the retirement of Johnny Carson.
The “Golden Age” of late night television ended when Carson stepped down.
Yeah he could come up with great replies right off the cuff.
I liked him. Had a decent roll on the Drew Carey show.
I don’t own a TV. Haven’t for 10 years.
CC
That should have won a Grammy!
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