Posted on 09/16/2017 3:11:00 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Once upon a time Red State types were just like their Blue State brethren.
They settled in for the night by watching Jay, Conan, Dave, or Jimmy. A few monologue jokes later, and they were off to dreamland with a grin on their faces.
That was then, and by "then" we mean roughly five years ago. Today, some of the late-night faces have changed. Jay became Jimmy (Fallon). Dave gave way to Stephen (Colbert). And new talent like Trevor Noah, Jim Jefferies, and Chelsea Handler entered the arena.
The entire tenor of late night changed, too. What was once a comic free-for-all where stars gathered to hawk their product became yet another cog in the Left-Wing Propaganda Machine.
Sure, some product hawking still goes on. A few monologue jokes make you smile. But seemingly every night, on nearly every show, there's an angry comment, a rant or simply a vulgar turn of phrase aimed directly at the GOP.
Remember the oral sex joke Colbert told about President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin? Or, more recently, how Jimmy Kimmel cracked that Sen. Ted Cruz pleasures himself to the thought of poor people lacking health care.
Comedy Central's Jefferies once called First Lady Melania Trump both "wooden" and a "dirty girl."
Late night went from Johnny Carson mocking himself for a lousy gag to comedians trafficking in the most offensive ways to insult politicians they hate (GOP members and their "co-conspirators").
And the hate flows freely on most late-night shows, with "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon" being a notable exception. "Conan" over at TBS often sticks to the late-night script, too.
Matters will only get worse when progressive comic Sarah Silverman enters the fray.
Which begs the question: are there any right-of-center souls sticking around to watch it? If so ... why?
None of this means conservatives should wall themselves off from criticism. Nor should we adopt the pose struck by some Trump Train passengers, whose skins are as thin as our commander in chief's. It's just that watching shows that rigorously insult one worldview while giving the other a pass isn't entertaining for those in the crosshairs. So why watch it when the modern content revolution is in full swing? Endure the umpteenth time Colbert demands Trump resign, or watch one of Netflix's killer shows like "Ozark"?
Not a tough call.
What's most amazing is that no one in Hollywood is stepping up to address the sizable imbalance. Years ago, Roger Ailes looked at the TV news landscape and realized an alternative voice was in order. His Fox News didn't just rock cable television. The channel owned it.
... will call you ....
Colbert, Trevor Noah, Kimmel, Seth Myers, and Samantha Bee.... Shouldn’t one requirement be that hey are funny? Witty? Entertaining? None of them are. Snark and derision.
I always had a job I had to get up for. Late night tv just wasn’t a priority, and it has never been must-see stuff.
And didn’t Roots play a vulgar song when Michelle Bachmann visited Jimmy Fallon before he got the Tonight Show? I haven’t watched him, or any other late night host since then.
There is nothing like a dame! There is nothing you can name ...
Always liked Mitzi Gaynor....
She was cute and very talented.
We don’t anymore. The late night standards have fallen so far from those of Johnny Carson. Why would anyone lose sleep and stay up to watch a bunch of tasteless, unfunny jokes. It’s their choice to write off millions of potential viewers. Trump supporters certainly won’t lose any sleep over it.
Maybe I will. I got halfway through Herman Wouk’s novel about life in the Caribbean, “Don’t Stop the Carnival!” before it was due back at the library. Jimmy Buffett wrote the musical, but it didn’t make it to Broadway.
This particularly gross low point didn't even get mentioned. The author is saying things got worse in the past five years, while this was eight years ago. I haven't watched much TV in many years, in part because of exactly this nonsense. Imagine saying the same things about "Slutty flight attendant Michelle Obama" or about Sasha or Malia getting pregnant. If it is not acceptable about a democrat, it's not acceptable when targeting a real American either.
I stopped watching late night shows about the time Johnnie Carson started using mean-spirited humor. I assumed it was the Don Rickles Effect. And as for any series, I stopped watching any of them before J R got shot. Result is I’ve never seen classics like Seinfeld, Moonlighting, Friends, Game of Thrones etc, etc, although I am aware of them because of news about them. We cut the cable when the last kid left home about three years ago. Have not missed it at all.
I knew a guy who knew a Carson writer. He said every day, they would write a big stack of great jokes, and Carson would throw them out: “Too good. Too good. Too good.” Jokes that bombed was Carson’s main schtick.
I honestly think Fallon isn’t in any way a liberal but is being pressured into falling in line with the rest of the liberal blowhards. He’s done that, but when he “stands up to Trump(barf)” it’s usually pretty half hearted.
I wanted to grow up and have legs as pretty as Mitzi Gaynor—
What a Babe. I tell you the A list & B List ladies of the 1930’s and 1940’s movies & radio put today’s so called actress’ to shame talent and looks wise.
Another ting about late night, Carson remains about the only person who was willing and loved finding and showcasing new talent. Since he left in 1992 no one does it.
Mitzi was not tall, but had a dynamite figure. Trim but curvy. I admired her a lot. Comical, could sing and dance. A star.
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