Late Night Television

[swo17]

didn't he say something around the time Palin got nominated that we really, really need to hope she doesn't get in the WH?

Plenty of conservatives have said the exact same thing.

And I didn't necessarily ever think that Colbert was a conservative per se, though I was willing to buy that he was more or less moderate or neutral for a few years there.

[Andre Jurieu]

He's said, can't remember where, that his Catholicism is 100% not skeptical, but he's willing to challenge authority in the church is it seems immoral.

Agreed, that's why I made the distinction of his skepticism being directed towards the church (institution & bureaucracy) rather than the faith. Plus, I still think he makes it clear that religion shouldn't be guiding political legislation within the government.

[mfunk9786]

Now they should hire someone new and fresh (read: not Chelsea Handler) for the 12:30 job, assuming that they've indeed just bought out Craig Ferguson. Or just go back to the person who was originally head-to-head with Ferguson, Michael Ian Black.

I must have missed this. Craig Ferguson is the only late show host I even care to tune in for. Hope this isn't true.

It's unlikely Ferguson will want to stick around. He had a clause in his contract essentially promising him Letterman's job or else the contract must be bought out. CBS can either buy out the contract and let Ferguson walk (or force him to walk), or buy out the contract and re-sign him (if he wants to re-sign) to continue the show. The former is more likely.

[dx23]

It feels like a real shame to lose the Colbert Report, which features a nightly dose of some of the best, spot-on political and cultural satire American TV has to offer, in favor of yet another boring, formula'ed-into-oblivion late night show. I don't really care how charming a host Colbert can be or how funny his monologues are, not if it's keeping him from more interesting work that caters to his specific talents.

This is exactly how I feel and now wonder what Comedy Central is going to do to replace him. The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are the best and most informative shows about politics, which is ironic, because they are meant to be satirical. I loved that what Jon Stewart wouldn't cover on his show, Colbert would pick it up and run with it. I can't see anyone else come in and do the same schtick Colbert did because it will most likely sound "weird". Also, it's sad that John Oliver went to HBO because he could have been a perfect fit to do something at the 11:30 slot.

[Moe Dickstein]

Ferguson simply had a penalty clause in his contract if he wasn't given the 11:30 show. It's not a buyout, it's just "sorry we fucked you over" money.

He'll be doing Late Late Show at least through the end of his contract, and then perhaps may stay on to follow Colbert, which I think would be the smart thing - Why try to launch two shows from scratch (at least Fallon's Tonight Show isn't really "new", though technically NBC has launched two new shows at once).

I think when you look at the types of hosts, Colbert will be good counter to Fallon and Kimmel and Ferguson is very different to Meyers. It's a pretty good ecosystem. If ABC is smart, they'll cancel that fraud show masquerading as Nightline and put a lady on at 12:30 to steal some thunder and be a bit progressive. Maybe Joan Rivers would be good at a late night show?

[Polybius]

Fashion Police suggests otherwise.

[mfunk9786]

She's also, you know, 80 years old

[domino harvey]

If a woman gets hired to host a late night show, it will be Chelsea Handler. She's insanely popular, especially with a demographic notoriously absent from this board

[Black Hat]

She is popular with (a certain kind of) women Domino. Have to say I watched a few shows with an ex gf a couple of years ago: although I found her dumb and incredibly annoying, the show was much better than I thought it would be.

On another note, one aspect of this I quite enjoyed, was laughing my ass off at her reps leaking all kinds of rumors about her replacing Letterman. There was a better chance of the entire board being sent to the moon to watch IAMMW, featuring a post film Q & A with Moe Dickstein than Chelsea Handler replacing Letterman. Not a smart play by her team which is to be expected if you are in any way familiar with her show.

[flyonthewall2983]

She would seem to be a perfect fit for ABC specifically, whose programming more and more caters to that demographic. Plus she and Kimmel are kind of symmetrical in their annoyance factors (to me anyway).

[Black Hat]

If Moonves really wants to get creative, do something noteworthy like hiring a woman, he'd get rid of Ferguson and hire Alison Brie. She would be the perfect female compliment to Colbert.

Moe: It's hard for ABC to cancel Nightline without rankling the news division. I also think for what it is, it makes money.

[domino harvey]

Hell, hire a black woman: Aisha Tyler was a great host for Talk Soup

EDIT: Google tells me she already has a View-style daytime talk show

[Black Hat]

For me what's really interesting is where Comedy Central goes to replace Colbert. If it was me making that choice, I'd go with Jessica Williams. She's young, energetic, smart, funny, nice to look at in addition to knocking out the female and minority gaps in one fell swoop. Would be a risky hire as she's only 24, but if you're right you'd be hitting a homerun that would be a game changer of television history.

[Black Hat]

EDIT: Google tells me she already has a View-style daytime talk show

Yeah. It's awful.

[Moe Dickstein]

So nobody got why I made the ironic suggestion of Rivers? She was the first permanent guest host of Carson's Tonight Show, and then was banned for life by him (and subsequently Leno, who replaced her as permanent guest host) when she launched the first show on the new FOX network in 1986, her own Late Night show. It was said in jest.

I'm sure zombie Nightline makes money but it really is a complete travesty. Nightline when I was growing up was my favorite late night show. Koppel made a really fantastic show that was interesting, entertaining and informative. Now it's just like scraps from 20/20 or something. I'd go back to watching it if they found a host to at least attempt what Koppel did, it's maybe not possible, but it would be better than what they have now, which should be taken behind the barn and shot.

[domino harvey]

So nobody got why I made the ironic suggestion of Rivers? She was the first permanent guest host of Carson's Tonight Show, and then was banned for life by him (and subsequently Leno, who replaced her as permanent guest host) when she launched the first show on the new FOX network in 1986, her own Late Night show. It was said in jest.

I didn't get that from your initial post, but once you said this

The Grant of the 20th has a cameo of sorts

It all fell into place

[Drucker]

For me what's really interesting is where Comedy Central goes to replace Colbert. If it was me making that choice, I'd go with Jessica Williams. She's young, energetic, smart, funny, nice to look at in addition to knocking out the female and minority gaps in one fell swoop. Would be a risky hire as she's only 24, but if you're right you'd be hitting a homerun that would be a game changer of television history.

While I find Daily Show mostly on auto-pilot and not really that funny anymore, she really is one of the brighest spots the show has ever had, and is certainly its high point right now. I am in stitches during most of her sketches.

I think it may be because she doesn't do a "schtick." She doesn't really do the playing dumb thing like the rest of the news-team does, I feel. She gets genuinely outraged and meets her guests' crazy with a bit of hysteria. It's a welcome change from the rest of the show at this point.

[Jeff]

If a woman gets hired to host a late night show, it will be Chelsea Handler.

Alternatively, they could just send someone over to kick me in the balls every night before I go to bed.

[Cold Bishop]

Most likely, they'll bump @Midnight or pick up The Chris Gethard Show and expand it to a daily.

I've haven't heard anyone float this idea, but why not simply expand The Daily Show to an hour? He already regularly goes over in interviews, I can't imagine making a new segment every night would be much more difficult, especially if it means a budget bump.

[Koukol]

If a woman gets hired to host a late night show, it will be Chelsea Handler.

Alternatively, they could just send someone over to kick me in the balls every night before I go to bed.

That's exactly how I feel.
I find her humorless...all she does is insult.

I sure hope CBS doesn't tame Colbert.

[mfunk9786]

If a woman gets hired to host a late night show, it will be Chelsea Handler. She's insanely popular, especially with a demographic notoriously absent from this board

Her average viewership on E! had declined to around a half million viewers a night and she was essentially doing a celebrity gossip panel show

In recent years, ratings for Handler’s show have dipped. In 2010, “Chelsea Lately” attracted an average audience of 839,000 overall; an average of 563,000 people between the ages of 18 and 49; and an average of 369,000 women between 18 and 49, according to Nielsen. In 2013, the show attracted an average of 572,000 overall; an average of 329,000 between the ages of 18 and 49; and an average of 219,000 women between 18 and 49.

Half of that demographic you're citing has abandoned her show in the last three or four years, that's not exactly the trajectory that CBS would be looking for.

They could always go the route that NBC went way back when with Conan and hire an up and coming writer: Megan Amram from Parks and Recreation comes to mind, or Kelly Oxford... or they could hire a featured network TV player like Retta or Chelsea Peretti or Yvette Nicole Brown, or hire a comedienne already doing some kind of news and/or sketch comedy show like Amy Schumer or Cecily Strong or perhaps even Sarah Silverman if she were interested... there are a lot of options that are less expensive and more interesting than the fading Handler if a female host is what CBS is looking for. Also, with Julie Chen already on the network roster, does CBS really want to hire yet another personality who [allegedly blah blah] slept their way to the top? Whether there's validity to that assertion or not in both cases, it's certainly something that'd be on network executive's minds.

[matrixschmatrix]

I never enjoyed Handler much, but she had a really interesting writing staff that hired a lot more women than most comedy shows, including some I personally really adore, like Jen Kirkman and April Richardson.

[flyonthewall2983]

ABC should create a network that airs nothing but Nightline and The 700 Club to make Pat Robertson and Ted Koppel happy.

[mfunk9786]

So it seems that Handler posted an Instagram of herself waiting for a business meeting with CBS (with her dog... no comment), but CBS has responded stating that it was a general meeting with their syndication group and that there are no discussions about 12:30.

[Andre Jurieu]

I have a feeling that this is how a lot of the Colbert Nation views Colbert's move to CBS.