I find myself switching channels during these shows and hearing the same joke multiple times. Lazy writing? Partly to blame. Perhaps what it is more at fault is the network's insistence on getting the 'easy' laugh, not the most original or witty one. Ratings are 'the name of the game, boy' to paraphrase a line from a Pink Floyd song that a few have probably heard. I will focus on two of the most popular late night hosts and their differing approaches to their shows.
The most depressing example of the genre is "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert." It debuted in the Fall of 2015 to mediocre ratings as Colbert pretty much did everything but play the music and sweep up after the show. It was a cozy and modest affair and it got off to a promising start with a riveting interview with Joe Biden a few weeks into the program's run. With both host and guest talking about learning from personal loss it was about as far from a knee slapper as you could get. Colbert managed to weave comedy and real conversation together pretty seamlessly although his interviewing style left me a bit cold ("Nice to see you, 'ma'am or sir'.....we'll be right back.") Unfortunately, this aspect has not improved.
I was a huge fan of "The Colbert Report" and was so excited to see what he could bring to this time period. Little did I know that about a year in to his run, CBS made him replace several top staff members of his show (some of them had been with him for over a decade; making the jump with him from Comedy Central to CBS) with Reliable Network Professionals. The lunatics would not be taking over the asylum after all.
Then came the Presidential Election of 2016. It was pretty clear that Clinton would win.....until she didn't. His Showtime Election Special was one of the most bizarre events I have ever witnessed. When Trump was declared President, Colbert stood there dazed and confused. Then he started drinking and babbling rather incoherently about what this would mean for our country. The balloons meant for Hillary may still be stuck up in the Ed Sullivan Theater rafters for all I know. One thing I do know for sure is since then, the Trump joke machine was turned on and up to full speed and hasn't relented. Problem is, Mr. Trump usually comes up with his own dandy material on a little site called Twitter.
By now, making President Trump jokes are the proverbial 'low hanging fruit.' But Stephen's ratings are as strong as ever so the joke machine will keep running for now which is too bad. Colbert should have other things to discuss but now whenever a guest comes out, the first thing out of his mouth is something like: "So..... Trump....what do you think?" Plus, his online presence (where James Corden and Jimmy Fallon keep picking up viewers) is minimal at best.
Conan O'Brien (who will be shortening his program to 30 minutes in 2019) is still making obscure and silly non-Presidential jokes which makes his program much easier to digest. He's been at it since 1993 (the longest tenure in late night) so I guess he has a leg up on the competition. The show has regular segments like Clueless Gamer and visits from oddball characters in his audience. Mr. O'Brien has made several specials where he travels to different countries to make friends with many of the locals in his own goofy and self deprecating style. He also has his own website called teamcoco.com that includes some online exclusive content which is so important to fans today. It's like political antacid. And, oh, what a relief it is.
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