From Stephen Colbert to Seth Meyers, Northwestern's Late Night Dominance

Thanks to my old pal and colleague Jenny Hontz for including some of my thoughts about late night TV — particularly in the age of Trump — as part of her cover story in the latest edition of Northwestern's alumni magazine. In "NU Rules Late-Night TV," Jenny notes the surprising number of Northwestern alums dominating the space: Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, Robin Thede, Jimmy Kimmel producer Jill Leiderman and more. An excerpt:

Historically, late-night broadcast TV has played it safe, not wanting to alienate a segment of the audience by taking sides on serious issues. “Hosts from a different generation were really surface in their comedy,” says Medill grad Michael Schneider ’95, executive editor at IndieWire and editor at large at Variety. “They really focused on the more silly aspects of politicians — how they looked, how they acted. That doesn’t work right now because of what’s going on, because of the real issues we’re facing and what this administration is actually doing.”

“Johnny Carson was edgy, but he certainly never made anyone feel uncomfortable,” says Lou Wallach ’91, a communication studies graduate, independent producer and former programming executive at Comedy Central. “The last thing before you went to bed was sort of nice, not polarizing or provocative. Times are changing. Now there’s an expectation — dare I say an obligation — to be polarizing and provocative, and I think Colbert and Meyers do it brilliantly.”

These may be politically polarizing times, but left-leaning political satire has proved popular with late-night viewers. Once Colbert started taking on Trump, he overtook his more apolitical competitor Jimmy Fallon, host of NBC’s Tonight Show, in total viewers and significantly narrowed the ratings gap among young viewers.

“I think the audience is like me: They’re desperate for some relief,” Colbert says. “If half of the country votes for somebody you feel is the absolute nadir of what it means to be an American, and that person gets the highest job in the land, it can be a lonely feeling — that maybe you do not have a community to belong to … . People seem grateful that there are shows like ours or Seth’s on the air to put the day into some context and make you feel not alone.”

Even the affable and typically apolitical host Jimmy Kimmel, whose ABC show Jimmy Kimmel Live! is executive produced by School of Communication graduate Jill Leiderman ’93, has been unable to stay neutral on the sidelines. Kimmel’s highly personal monologues about his son’s heart condition were credited with helping defeat the initial attempts to repeal “Obamacare.” And after one of the worst mass shootings in American history, the concert shooting in Las Vegas last October, Kimmel’s heartfelt call for commonsense gun reform resonated with Americans frustrated to see no action — other than thoughts and prayers — under Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress.

“It especially resonated because Jimmy generally doesn’t take on these types of issues, so when he does, it means this is real,” Schneider says. “This is something personal. He’s not trying to be political. He’s just speaking from the heart.”

In fact, most of these hosts would bristle at the notion that they’re acting in a partisan manner. “They don’t want to be painted as purely liberal or left wing because that does sort of alienate a chunk of the audience,” Schneider says. “They basically shy away from those labels and say they’re just pointing out what’s going on in Washington and speaking truth to power. And right now, who’s in power? It’s Donald Trump and the Republicans.”

Read more here.

THE SPIN-OFF: "The Late Late Show with James Corden" Executive Producer on Carpool Karaoke and Conquering the U.S. in Year One

On the latest edition of KCRW's The Spin-Off, Joe and I chat with "The Late Late Show with James Corden" executive producer Ben Winston about the late-night show's tremendous first year:

Ben Winston's career in television can be traced back to one specific moment when his sister pushed him to take an unpaid, far-away TV internship over a cushy sports management job.

Now the executive producer of The Late, Late Show with James Corden on CBS, Winston takes us through his career, from first meeting Corden years ago to directing a documentary to working with One Direction and Simon Cowell.

He also reflects on the first year of The Late, Late Show, tells us why YouTube numbers matter for a late night show, and gives us his dream list of future Carpool Karaoke singers (which, sadly, included Prince).

Listen below!

KCRW's The Spin-Off: The Evolution of Streaming and a Late-Night Check-In (LISTEN NOW)

On the latest edition of KCRW's The Spin-Off, Joe and I are joined by International Business Times' Oriana Schwindt to discuss the latest headlines from the TV biz:

We're squeezing in one more episode before the holidays start in full force -- and we're not the only ones doing the squeezing. Networks are trying to fit in more shows, on air and online, cable and internet providers are trying to squeeze a few more dollars out of their customers, and CBS is squeezing Stephen Colbert in a big hug -- telling him he'll do great after the Super Bowl. We get to all that and more in this episode of the Spin-off.

Listen below!

Retro: Before Colbert's Visit, Kaye Lani Rae Rafko on TV Guide Magazine

I thought the name Kaye Lani Rae Rafko rang a bell when Stephen Colbert recently guest hosted the Michigan public access show "Only in Monroe." She was one of the more familiar Miss America names in recent memory... and this may be why, above: The Sept. 10, 1988 cover of TV Guide magazine, with Rafko, as Miss America, on the cover.

Here's how she looks now, on the left, with her "Only in Monroe" co-host and Colbert:



And if you haven't watched Colbert's guest hosting gig yet, you must right now!

From the Archives of TV Guide Magazine: The 1995 Launch of "The Late Late Show"

For TV Guide Magazine I recently spoke with James Corden, the new host of CBS' "The Late Late Show." We had a fun chat in his Television City office, and of course, his charm offensive worked beautifully. Self-effacing, quick-witted and a seemingly nice bloke, you can't help but root for the guy. Read my Q&A with him at TV Insider here.

Meanwhile, from the pages of TV Guide Magazine, here's how we covered the January 9, 1995 launch of the original "The Late Late Show," hosted by Tom Snyder:

THE SPIN-OFF: Interview with Rick Ludwin, the Dean of Late Night (Listen Now!)

If you're at all a student of TV -- especially the world of late night -- I hope you'll check out the latest edition of our monthly TV podcast on KCRW, The Spin-Off! In this episode, Joe and I are sit down with Rick Ludwin, who ran NBC late night from 1980 to 2012, and was there for all the big moments -- Carson, Letterman, Leno, Conan, Fallon, Meyers. With the late night world undergoing another big transition, there's a lot to talk about:

We pick his brain about Saturday Night Live, famous late night transitions and reflect on the one-year anniversary of Jimmy Fallon as the host of The Tonight Show. We also look ahead in late night, and ask who could possibly replace Jon Stewart and why there's such a severe shortage of women late night hosts. And we talk about the way late night has evolved as television viewing habits has changed. Fortunately, Ludwin thinks late night still has a long future ahead of it, even if it doesn't look the same as it does now.

Listen by clicking below!

MIKE ON RADIO: Discussing Jon Stewart's Exit on Kevin & Bean

How will we survive the next election cycle without Jon Stewart? I was on the Kevin & Bean Show last Wednesday to discuss Jon Stewart's surprise announcement that he was departing The Daily Show, and what might be next. Listen by clicking below!

Or if that doesn't work, click the icon below to download the podcast:

Anatomy of the David Letterman News Break: How It All Went Down, Step By Step

April 3, 1:03 p.m. (PT): R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills, performing on Thursday night's edition of "Late Show with David Letterman," sends out this Tweet to his approximately 1300 followers:

1:05 p.m.: TV Guide Magazine's Rob Moynihan, a big R.E.M. fan and likely the only TV reporter among Mills' small group of followers, sees the Tweet -- and checks Mills' Twitter feed. He sees that Mills had earlier Tweeted about his guest stint on Letterman that night, and suspects that Mills really is Tweeting about Dave's retirement:

1:10 p.m.: I see Rob's Tweet, and immediately suspected that big news was indeed upon us:

1:10ish p.m.: CNN's Brian Stelter sees Rob's Tweet also, and retweets it. Stelter has more than 200,000 followers, so once he does so, the news is out there. Everyone is off and running.

1:19 p.m.: Stelter confirms the news on his Twitter account:

1:40 p.m.: Everyone frantically calls CBS and Letterman's camp, but they're not responding yet. Perhaps thrown for a bit of a loop by Mills' Tweet, although it was clear they'd be putting the news out soon anyway. So it takes until 1:40 for Deadline to send out their news alert:

1:40 p.m.: Also by then, the radio interview requests start coming in (I eventually spoke to KNX Los Angeles, WTOP Washington and KFBK Sacramento on Thursday):

1:45 p.m.: Deadline sends out a second news alert.

1:47 p.m.: Variety's news alert goes out.

1:50 p.m.: The Hollywood Reporter's news alert arrives.

1:50 p.m.: Letterman's press relations firm makes it official:

2:14 p.m.: CBS follows up with their own statement.

2:30 p.m.: Barely an hour after the news was confirmed, Letterman analysis pieces already start posting, including this smart one by Brian Lowry:

2:40 p.m.: The body's barely cold, but speculation -- including some outlandish choices -- about post-Letterman scenarios are already everywhere:

4:45 p.m.: Letterman releases the full nearly 10 minute video from that night's show where he announces his retirement. Every news site quickly reposts.

5:05 p.m.: By early evening, sites have already put together slide shows and other clicky clicks on the future of CBS' "Late Show":

Also by early evening, Letterman's YouTube channel posts this backstage interview with Mike Mills on how he broke the news:

7:25 p.m.: Even Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is getting into the act, asking CBS to move the new "Late Show" to Los Angeles. Keep in mind, this news is just six hours old.

9:30 p.m.: By now, it's already on to David Letterman career retrospectives. He's still doing the show for another year, but looks like this will be The Longest Goodbye.

10:12 p.m.: Mike Mills is strangely getting into Twitter fights with people who thought the musician ruined Letterman's announcement. (Mills points out that the audience of 300 would have spilled the beans awfully quick anyway.)

Postscript: Mills now has 2,890 followers (and counting) -- having added around 1500 in the past day.

One Last Night in Burbank: A Teary -- and Rainy -- Farewell for Jay Leno

The rain in Burbank seemed fitting Thursday night, as Jay Leno and "The Tonight Show" said farewell to the city. Leno hosted for 22 years on the (now former NBC) lot, while the show had been produced there since Johnny Carson moved to L.A. in 1972.

I was in a media screening room to watch the finale and summed it up for TVGuide.com:

Kicking off the monologue, Leno promised that this was his last show "for real. I don't need to get fired three times. I get the hint. I get the hint." Later, he added, "I got to tell you, the outpouring from people. It's really been touching. Today Anthony Weiner sent me a photo of his penis looking sad."

Final guest Billy Crystal serenaded Leno with a joke-filled tribute and then introduced a cavalcade of celebrities to sing their own verses, including Jack Black ("If Fallon tanks you'll be back here next year"), Kim Kardashian, Los Angeles Clippers player Chris Paul, singer Sheryl Crow, The Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons, Carol Burnett and Oprah Winfrey.

In a pre-taped piece, Kevin Bacon, Steve Carell, Bob Costas, Bill Maher, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Kevin Hart, Charlie Sheen ("Buy NBC and fire everybody") and Dana Carvey gave their advice on what Leno should do next. And President Obama, in the piece, joked that he had no hard feelings about Leno's swipes — and planned to name the host "the new ambassador to Antarctica."

With wife Mavis in the audience, Leno choked back tears as he gave his farewell. "This is the hard part," he said, halting several times to regain composure. "We wouldn't be on the air without you people. This has been the greatest 22 years of my life. I am the luckiest guy in the world."

Leno noted that his parents and brother died early in the show's run. After that, "the folks here became my family. People say, 'Why don't you go to ABC or Fox? But I didn't know anybody over there. These are the people I know... I'm excited for Jimmy Fallon. It's fun to be the old guy and see where the next generation takes this institution. It really is time to go."

Read the full story here, and my exit interview with the host here.

Leno, of course, drove a different car to the studio every day. Here was his parking spot last night:

New "Late Night" Host Seth Meyers As a Northwestern Freshman (UPDATED!)

I save almost everything, and sometimes that comes in handy -- like when I realized that the copy of the Class of 1997 1996 Northwestern freshman facebook must include a pic of Young Seth Meyers. And here it is: Seth Meyers, the freshman from Manchester West High School in Bedford, N.H., whose hobbies include "baseball" and "film."

Meyers will be here at the Television Critics Assn. press tour later today to promote the launch of "Late Night with Seth Meyers," which starts on Monday, Feb. 24.

UPDATE: Thanks to my sister Melanie for combing her Northwestern 1996 Yearbook to find Seth's senior photo. Talk about a change, as Seth was in his long-hair, hippie-ish phase. (Melanie regularly saw him perform as a part of Northwestern's Mee-Ow comedy show; I had already graduated a year earlier.) Here you go:

In a weird way, I think freshman Seth looks a lot more like the Seth we know now!

BANFF: Craig Ferguson on Deconstructing the Talk Show, the Late Night Wars and Whether He Wants a New Time Slot

"Do I have ambitions for another time slot? You can ask me," Craig Ferguson tells me. "I dont care."

"Craig, do you have ambitions for another time slot?"

"I don't care."

The highlight of this year's Banff Media Festival had to have been my on-stage interview with Ferguson, the late-night host who has become a pro at deconstructing the entire genre. "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" is known for its spontaneous interviews, robot sidekick, stream of consciousness monologues and more. We talked about all of that, and more, in front of a crowd of perhaps 200 conference attendees (including the mayor of Banff).

Here's an excerpt from how the local media covered it:

BANFF, Alta. - The popular host of "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" brought his unique brand of often ribald humour to the Banff World Media Festival where he was receiving the Sir Peter Ustinov Comedy Award.

"My people built this country. I don't know if you know that. Oh, I'm lying? It's not true?" Craig Ferguson said Tuesday to laughter and applause.

"This is what I said when I drove into Banff. It's lovely here. This is what Scotland must have looked like when they first built it," said Ferguson, with a much more pronounced Scottish accent than he has on his show.

Ferguson, 51, has been hosting the show for nine years. He's been nominated for an Emmy and won a Peabody Award for his interview with Bishop Desmond Tutu, has written books and appeared in TV shows and movies.

There's the air of a bad boy about Ferguson, who often refers to himself as just another "late-night douche" in reference to the typically formulaic state of late-night talk shows.

His show is unscripted and it's tradition that he tears up the carefully typed notes and tosses them as each guest sits down.

"That's just a kind of protest. It's saying I'm not going to do what your publicist told you I was going to do. That's how it started as and what it's become is some stupid OCD thing, I suppose, but I just do it," said Ferguson, wearing a casual grey Catalina Island T-shirt, jeans and running shoes.

"They're not props. They're really done and they still do them and I rip them up."

Even the addition of his gay robot skeleton Geoff Peterson was meant to be a shot at the cheerleading responses of most late-night sidekicks.

"Geoff Peterson is emblematic of my failure as a late-night talk-show host because what I wanted to do, as a protest, have a robot that would give the sidekick pat answers. This is how robotic it is. It's ridiculous," he said.

More coverage from the Calgary Herald.

And here are several clips from the interview that have already made it on to YouTube:

Get Over It, Burbank: You Were Going to Lose "The Tonight Show" No Matter What

Let's calm down, folks. The Los Angeles Times reports that Burbank mayor Dave Golonski jokingly will go on a hunger strike if "The Tonight Show" leaves Burbank:

[Golonski]said he is drafting a letter to NBC executives asking them to reconsider the plans to move “The Tonight Show” from Burbank to New York.

“We would be extremely disappointed if the plans to move ‘The Tonight Show’ go through,” Golonski said by phone. “We would like it to remain in Burbank and the region.”

That's fine and good. But others are turning this into a bigger story -- bugging L.A. mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, strangely, or touting New York production tax breaks allegedly being put into place solely to steal away "The Tonight Show."

But here's the thing: This is a case of Jimmy Fallon simply not moving. He's been doing a show in New York. He'll continue to do a show in New York. That show's title will change from "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" to "Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon." But other than the title switching coasts, nothing is actually physically moving. Jay Leno will still be in Los Angeles, and will very likely host another TV show -- but again, just under a different title (and perhaps for a different network).

There's good reason that Fallon isn't moving to L.A.: NBC tried that with Conan O'Brien -- made O'Brien and his entire team uproot their lives and move to Los Angeles. That didn't quite work out as planned.

I would like to remind Golonski that Burbank already lost "The Tonight Show" -- to Universal City, where Conan hosted the show. Where was Golonski and his wacky fake hunger strike then? If anything, Burbank lucked out: Thanks to the last late night debacle, when Leno (a creature of habit who never left the former NBC lot) took over "The Tonight Show" again, that meant the title returned to Burbank. But it's living on borrowed time: NBC doesn't own its old Burbank lot anymore, it simply leases the production space for Leno. And once Leno goes, even if "The Tonight Show" stayed in Southern California, I can pretty much guarantee it would move to Universal City, where the rest of NBC now resides.

That being said, I was joking today that Leno may never leave his stage -- it may just be a different network that starts paying the rent. But the more that I think about it, that may be a real possibility. So Burbank, you may be losing "The Tonight Show," but you'll always have Jay Leno -- for better or for worse.

Meanwhile, I'm just making an educated guess here, but should Fallon take over "The Tonight Show," I'm pretty sure NBC would move the "Late Night" franchise to Los Angeles (but again, to Universal City -- perhaps even at CityWalk. Sorry, Burbank). That bi-coastal model has worked for NBC since 1982, and it's something CBS now emulates.

Meanwhile, Hollywood.com asked me to comment on where Leno's displaced audience might go once he leaves "The Tonight Show." This is what I told them:

Michael Schneider of TV Guide Magazine, lends his expertise on the subject to Hollywood.com: "In this fragmented TV world, if Leno leaves The Tonight Show, his audience would likely be spread far and wide — it's unlikely one show would be the beneficiary."

"If Letterman outlasts Leno, he'd pick up some of those viewers. Some might stick around to check out Fallon or try Kimmel, but others will likely move on to news shows, syndicated repeats or even their DVR," Schneider adds. "If Arsenio [Hall]'s still on the air at that point (he launches this fall), he could very well pick up a chunk of Leno's audience. But in the end, once Leno's show goes away, his audience may choose another, powerfully seductive late-night competitor: Sleep."

Two Radio Guys Made Good: Jimmy Kimmel and Carson Daly on Their History Together (VIDEO)

You all know I'm a radio geek. (As a matter of fact, in writing about my Gene Simmons reality panel below, I kept typing "KIIS" instead of "KISS." See? Radio geek.) And I must admit, I have a begrudging respect for Carson Daly and Ryan Seacrest, my two archnemeses. Why? Because they pulled off the kind of successful radio careers that I dreamed of having when I was a kid.

In these clips from the Jimmy Kimmel Live show, Jimmy and Carson recount how they first met -- back when Jimmy was 17 and Carson was 12 -- as well as how Carson was once Jimmy's intern at a radio station in Palm Springs. The fact that both are now late-night network TV hosts is quite astounding.

Retro Friday: Conan O'Brien Edition

In 1993, NBC took a chance on an unknown TV writer named Conan O'Brien, who was tapped to replace David Letterman as the new host of its 12:30 "Late Night" franchise.

O'Brien, of course, started out shaky but eventually developed a loyal fan base. Click on the pic above to watch the opening of Conan's first show.



Above, the opening to David Letterman's final "Late Night" show in June 1993. Dave opens by joking that NBC had just named him "Employee of the Month." Conan just used the same joke on Thursday's "Tonight Show." Coincidence? Or a subtle nod by O'Brien to the fact that he's about to leave NBC under the same cloud that Letterman did?

(Check out the ending of that episode as well here. His description of the host set to replace him, Conan O'Brien, is particularly funny.)



From the first "Tonight Show with Jay Leno," Leno introduces original band leader Branford Marsalis. Wow -- back when it was a bona fide jazz ensemble.



What a cool find -- a rare black and white 1963 clip of "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson."



From the very first episode of "Tonight" in 1954. Host Steve Allen warns: "This show is going to go on forever!" How true he was. (Of course, he was actually talking about the length of the show -- 11:30 to 1.) Allen also downplays the show, warning that it would be "monotonous."

The Post In Which I Confess to Eating Hot Sauce That Expired Eight Years Ago

I've been slathering my food with this trusty bottle of Sriracha hot sauce for at least the last year, when I rediscovered it among our pantry items.

It's been fine, still offers a bit of a kick to whatever you spread it on. Now here's where it gets disturbing: While looking at the bottle Sunday night, I discovered something I hadn't noticed before on the label. An expiration date.

For October -- October 2000, that is!!!!!! Not feeling sick just yet.

Tonight's Letterman Attack on McCain

Wow -- David Letterman at his finest. Watch it now, before someone yanks it off YouTube.

Liveblogging the Returns of Leno and Conan

I spent the evening liveblogging the returns of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" over at Variety's strike blog; check it out.

A few highlights:

11:35 -- Nevermind Huckabee. Chingy? Really? Memo to Chingy: Crossing picket lines isn't "crunk." Wait, unless "crunk" is a bad thing. But I don't think it is.

11:36 -- "A Jew, a Christian and a Muslim walk into a bar..." And with that, Leno is pulled off the air for another two months.
Joking. Leno doesn't deliver the punch line, instead adding, "See, I have no idea what they say because there's no writers!"
But wait a minute, isn't that non-joke a joke? Didn't someone write the joke about there not being a joke?
OK, now I'm confusing myself. But somewhere across town, a WGA leader is probably wondering the same thing.

11:37 -- First NBC joke! "Do you know there are actually more people picketing NBC now than watching NBC right now?" (NBC execs are flying down to Boca today for the big annual GE confab. I'm sure the head of turbines just emailed this to Silverman and Graboff.)

11:38 -- Leno explains why he came back: "We have essentially 19 people putting 160 people out of work. We continue to support the Guild. But, I think it's easy to empathise with those people if you see the faces of the people who work here. Like Bob, out lighting guy." Cue obese slob with a flashlight. Oh, below-the-line folk, you're so below-the-line!

11:39 -- Wait, did Leno just out his wife as a scab? Yikes. "I'm doing what I did the say I started. I write jokes and wake my wife up in the middle of the night and say, 'Honey, is this funny?' So if this monologue doesn't work it's my wife's fault."
Yup, there goes Mavis' WGA card. (Mavis gets a big cheer from the crowd.)
...

12:40 -- "With all the late night shows off the air, Americans have been forced to read books and occasionally even speak to one another, which has been horrifying," Conan says. Ahh, if that were only true. Unless, by "reading books," he means, "Watching 'I Love New York 2,'" and by "speaking to one another," he means, "TiVoing 'The Hills' so that you can try to convince your wife that it's a fun show to watch together." (Still trying on that one, BTW.)

12:40 -- Conan gets much more forceful than Jay on the WGA issue: "I want to make this clear, I support their cause -- these are very talented, very creative people who work extremely hard and I believe what they're asking for is fair," he says to applause.

12:41 -- "Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to start by talking about my beard. That's right, I know this looks fake. It looks like it ties on in the back, but believe it or not I actually grew a beard. I never grew a beard in my entire life. I grew it out of solidarity for my writers, and to prove that I have some testosterone.

Truest statement of the night: "The biggest comment I'm getting the last couple of days is that I look like the character of Kris Kringle in 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town.'" (See above; he's right.)