The most consistent entertainment in network television continues to be the weekly, late night talk show. While sitcoms and drama series pass by with greater ups and downs, after primetime comedy hours have remained popular and profitable. With its roots in radio shows such as “Amos and Andy,” and “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show,” and its emergence during the growth of TV with shows like “The Texaco Star Theatre featuring Milton Berle,” the format of the network comedy talk show has not changed as much as its age would suggest. While the sensibility and content allowed on TV has drastically changed over the past 50 years, the formula for national humor has not. Late night hosts continue to joke about politicians, current events, celebrities and the status quo just as their predecessors did decades before them. With three of the four networks broadcasting late night talk shows and cable channels such as Comedy Central and HBO stepping into competition, comedic talk shows are clearly a force in the TV industry. Taking a look at each network or cable channel and the shows they broadcast, you will probably find at least one of them that intrigues, as each show strives for their own audience by aiming to present their comedy with a unique sense of wit and style, some obviously achieving the mission better than others.
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Last Call with Carson Daly.
The self-promoting late night leader NBC continues to win the ratings race between themselves and CBS, in turn gaining substantial profits in advertising revenue. The late Johnny Carson set the mold during his years on “The Tonight Show” and, with the exception of Jay Leno’s rookie year after Carson’s retirement, has yet to look back. Leno continues to draw huge audiences, but has been criticized by critics for his stale and politically safe humor. At best capable of bringing audiences to a faint grin, a Jay Leno monologue could conceivably be labeled as a downer narcotic by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Conan O’Brien is slotted to take over in 2009 as the host of the Tonight Show after a decade and change of gaining a loyal following through original humor during the 12:30 eastern/11:30 central time slot. A master of self-humiliation and intelligent yet silly comedy, Conan and his all-star writing staff of prominent New York stand-ups and improv performers continue to blur the line between dark and innocent humor as “Late Night” basically owns the rights to the 18-24 year old male demographic. It will be interesting to see if Conan and his staff will be forced to scale down their humor once they arrive to the historically more conservative and politically correct 11:30/10:30 slot. For reasons unknown to anybody except NBC executives, “Last Call” continues to be on the air, despite four years of lifeless programming. Watch one show and it becomes very evident that Carson Daly has the charisma of a three-toed sloth in a brain-depleting coma.
CBS: The Late Show with David Letterman, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
The richest smart-ass in the world, David Letterman continues to enjoy critical and commercial success with his unique style of repeating jokes throughout the show and making humor from seemingly ordinary situations. Upon being fired as a regional weatherman for congratulating a tropical storm on being upgraded to a hurricane, Letterman began performing stand-up. Although he was Johnny Carson’s choice to take over “The Tonight Show,” NBC overruled Carson and Letterman ended up with CBS. Letterman has slowly been drifting away from his days of zany originality on NBC’s 11:30/12:30 slot, but still puts on a more lively and entertaining show than his counterpart. With Letterman rumored to retire in the near future, look for Jon Stewart to step in and dominate. While some know Craig Ferguson as Drew Carey’s annoying British boss on the since-cancelled “Drew Carey Show,” even fewer know him as the annoying British talk show host. While any show needs time to gain an audience, it becomes clearer by the show that CBS should have gave Craig Kilborn the money he wanted for a new contract, or at least give the slot to someone more well known or even an up-and-coming writer in the mold of O’Brien.
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live
With successful turns as the quick-witted every man on Comedy Central’s “Win Ben Stein’s Money,” and “The Man Show,” Kimmel was given the opportunity of a life time as he and his writing staff have nearly complete control of the show’s creative decisions and content. The only weekly comedy show to broadcast live, Kimmel continues to take chances with spontaneity and is often willing to share the bill with weekly co-hosts. Kimmel’s ratings suffer because he has yet to find a common time slot with ABC affiliates as his time slots range from the 11:30/12:30 slot to the 12:00/1:00 slot here in Madison. Kimmel also does little to attract the female audience, as his trusty dick and fart material from “The Man Show” decided to make the trip along with Kimmel to network TV. Although “Jimmy Kimmel Live” has some glaring weaknesses, the feel of live television and its underdog role has the potential to produce fresh and unfiltered comedy.
Cable: Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher
“The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” continues to reign on top of the political satire category thanks to Stewart and the writing staff’s unique fake news approach, which simultaneously ridicules network news bias and offers comedic perspective on current events. The show might as well be required to watch if you consider yourself a liberal or attend a university that is politically engaged. Stewart and University of Wisconsin-Madison alumni and former Onion editor Ben Karlin (Executive Producer) have found themselves in the rare but glorious position of being critically and commercially acclaimed as they continue to ridicule the critically and commercially acclaimed … and Republicans. Bill Maher is attempting a comeback with “Real Time” on HBO and so far is fairing well as the show is now in its third season. Maher deserved another chance after being fired for exercising his first amendment right one too many times on ABC’s since cancelled “Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher.” Basically Maher was fired for being politically incorrect … go figure.
If your wondering why Fox doesn’t step into the fray, watch re-runs of Arsenio Hall and “The Magic Show” with Magic Johnson.
Rick is a junior majoring in Journalism and Radio/TV/Film. Comedy hijacked his life approximately five years ago. He can be reached at [email protected]
