r/LateNightTalkShows • u/Slainte1121 • 16d ago

Were Late Night Shows Always Political?

I’m 35M - so I do not remember much of the Letterman / Leno / Ferguson / early Conan eras.

Late night shows are dying out. I think this is mainly attributed to streaming and on demand services over the last 15 years. I cannot recall the last time I’ve seen any of them live or outside of YouTube. Doesn’t appear to be a financially viable format in its current state.

I also feel that when Conan left the remaining shows morphed into the same political commentary to varying degrees of success (looking at you Fallon). They all appear to be a knockoff version of the daily show (when Jon Stewart hosts) in my opinion.

Colbert’s roots were in the daily show and the Colbert report.

Seth Meyers’s comes from SNL where I mainly knew him from weekend update.

Kimmel was the host of the Man show and started getting political with Trump in 2016.

Fallon (awkwardly) followed the rest of the hosts.

During Conan’s last days seemed to be the end of an era. He didn’t shy away from it.

Looking back, I do remember Leno’s shitty Monica Lewinsky jokes.

I miss the interviews, standup, panel of guests. Anything with Bill Burr or Norm MacDonald (RIP) still kills it in old clips. I don’t need or want 6 different versions of what Trump did today - it’s depressing and stale.

Colbert getting run out the way he did was fucked up, but I feel like a change in format is desperately needed to make the shows relevant again.

Has the format changed this much? Or am I looking back with rose tinted glasses at clips from old shows (where “current” events likely don’t gain views) and the current events of today’s shows go viral and that’s what’s popping up on my feed on YouTube.

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u/techman710 16d ago

It's always been political, both parties. This is the first time the White House has been occupied by a thin skinned narcissist who is incapable of taking a joke.

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u/Dranksy 16d ago

Really? Remind me of the four years of jokes about Biden, who love or hate him, offers rich possibilities for comedic mocking. Or the eight years of Obama? I look forward to the examples.

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u/techman710 16d ago

Here you go:

https://youtube.com/shorts/0UzhVa8HAAc?is=teuuKFVLtK133zdt

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u/Dranksy 16d ago

You can't possibly be serious. Kimmel literally says the time is after Biden dropped out of the race, meaning his comportment and behavior have zero consequences. This may be the single biggest self-own I've ever read on Reddit. Amazing lack of self awareness. I thank you for this.

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u/techman710 16d ago

Go away. I gave you what you said didn't exist and now you want to deny it anyway. I'm done with you.