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NY Times: Seth Meyers to Host Late Night

nomadcowatbk said:
There will never be another Johnny Carson again
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Well, sure. Another Johnny Carson would be a knock-off. That doesn't mean there won't be somebody who can rise to that level on his own terms.

Johnny was smart enough to know there would never be another Jack Parr and he'd be foolish to try.

Part of the problem is the only source of new talent for shows these is comedy clubs (via SNL). Local broadcasting is dead and network broadcasting has no farm system. Carson did local morning drive radio in a medium market, local TV in LA, worked as a writer on a comedy-variety show, hosted a game show and through all those stages got to hone his craft. Comedy clubs and SNL just don't give the same opportunity.
 
nomadcowatbk said:
Would dropping Weekend Update from SNL and turning it into Latenight Update work? The news is old by the weekend, especially after weeks (or months) of reruns
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It's not about the news, it's about the joke that can be made from the news. That actually benefits from a story being a few days old (as long as the joke isn't). Most of the audience will be familiar with the story and thus get the joke. Same-day stuff (especially on a weekend) can be lost on an audience doing other stuff before show time.

Jon Stewart gets around that by actually telling the story. If it's your first time hearing it, no sweat. But he's got 30 minutes and a limited number of stories. Weekend Update is 30 jokes in under 10 minutes.
 
Of all of the late night talk show hosts I personally like Craig. He's off the wall and his show isn't trying to be a carbon-copy of the format that the late Johnny Carson developed.

Letterman is running out of gas and Conan isn't that funny. Leno I never enjoyed and his departure couldn't come soon enough for me.

As for Seth Meyers; I agree with others that his stint as a talk show host is questionable; especially if one basis his talent on the skits that appear on SNL (as head writer) and his weekend anchor routine.
 
I know there are a lot of Craig Ferguson fans posting here...but I have to agree with Big A. He can be funny, but he comes off as a bit too goofy and manic for me, and he is NOT a good interviewer. I don't see him making it in the 11:35 slot.

And I have to say that Seth Meyers has never been one of my SNL favorites, but it's hard to tell until we get a chance to sample him. Fallon's talk show skills did not appeal to me at first, and I rarely watched his show, but I've caught it a few times recently and was reasonably impressed. Either he's improved or my attitude has changed...not sure which.
 
Meyers' only on-camera job for SNL is to do Weekend Update, and that tends to be spotty jokes coupled with mostly unfunny recurring characters doing a short bit. Based on that, and his role as head writer for the entire show, I really can't see this as anything more than Lorne Michaels throwing his weight around.
 
nomadcowatbk said:
Almost Live in Seattle could have been used as part of a farm system
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I'm amazed that not a single Almost Live alum ever got a gig on SNL. The biggest any of them got afterwards was freaking Bill Nye the Science Guy.

Is it me, or has Craig gotten more conventional over time? I liked Geoffrey Peterson better when he gave a short list of pre-recorded responses. Now I feel like he's just another sidekick, only hidden offstage and speaking through a proxy - which might make sense, given that he now sounds vaguely like Stewie Griffin, which suggests he might be being voiced by Seth Macfarlane. (Before I thought his lines might have been recorded by Craig himself.)

Really, all the late night shows are poor men's versions of Carson except, well, the other Carson. That may be a big reason Stewart is so popular; he connects better with young people. When Grantland launched Bill Simmons wrote a piece talking about the outlaw environment JKL had when it launched (and he was a writer for it); it, too, has slowly become just another late night show. Perhaps it might have held up better on cable.
 
Nomadcowatbk asks: said:
Would dropping Weekend Update from SNL and turning it into Latenight Update work? The news is old by the weekend, especially after weeks (or months) of reruns.
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I doubt "Saturday Night Live" would ever drop "Weekend Update", but I could see a satirical news segment on Seth Meyers' version of "Late Night".

Besides, perhaps the only good thing of original "Weekend Update" segment host Chevy Chase's short-lived 1993 show (just a month on the air!) on Fox was his satirical newscast, which aired about halfway through the show (this was because Chase was broadcast in most cities from 11 P.M. to 12 Midnight Eastern/Pacific; and the spoof newscast was done around 11:30; the time when Jay Leno and David Letterman's shows began).

And in my opinion, Meyers is the best "Weekend Update" host since Chase.
 
Morgan Wick said:
nomadcowatbk said:
Almost Live in Seattle could have been used as part of a farm system
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I'm amazed that not a single Almost Live alum ever got a gig on SNL. The biggest any of them got afterwards was freaking Bill Nye the Science Guy.
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maybe none of the AL cast wanted to move away from Seattle?
 
BD Sullivan said:
Meyers' only on-camera job for SNL is to do Weekend Update, and that tends to be spotty jokes coupled with mostly unfunny recurring characters doing a short bit. Based on that, and his role as head writer for the entire show, I really can't see this as anything more than Lorne Michaels throwing his weight around.
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Conan didn't even have an on-camera role. He seemed to make a career out of it.
 
umfan said:
Meyers isn't very likable at all. Completely out of phase with Jimmy Fallon.

Likely to fail. Pretty typical of NBC decisions as of late.
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I agree that it will be failure more that I think about it. Somehow it reminds me of an Ann Curry type repeat all over again. She had long career doing a specific thing (newsreporter) on Today. Then gets promoted like Seth.

Seth is pretty limited in that his career is SNL. Unlike Fallon who can be more goofy and likeable, the same isn't with Meyers. Like with Curry, Give the person a host type role, and it blows up. There'll be this fiasco type event on NBC again.
 
ding12 said:
umfan said:
Meyers isn't very likable at all. Completely out of phase with Jimmy Fallon.

Likely to fail. Pretty typical of NBC decisions as of late.
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I agree that it will be failure more that I think about it. Somehow it reminds me of an Ann Curry type repeat all over again. She had long career doing a specific thing (newsreporter) on Today. Then gets promoted like Seth.

Seth is pretty limited in that his career is SNL. Unlike Fallon who can be more goofy and likeable, the same isn't with Meyers. Like with Curry, Give the person a host type role, and it blows up. There'll be this fiasco type event on NBC again.
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I think we don't know. Seth is 40 years old. He's been on SNL for 12. Could he have the chops and just not have shown them yet? Sure.
 
ding12 said:
But wouldn't success be still in large part dependent on the host?
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It could be...or the staff...or the circumstance. I've seen brilliant hosts fail because of bad circumstances. But my sense is that Lorne wouldn't move forward with something if he hadn't thought about it and did a few test runs to see if it could work.

That's normally how creators work. They do demos. Preferably before live audiences. Get responses, do research, see if it works. We first heard rumors about Seth a couple months ago. Now we have a press release. Between then and now they hopefully did demos, research, and feel they have a product.
 
OK, let's check the track record of Weekend Update alumni:

Chevy Chase; National Lampoon's Vacation, Community
Bill Murray: Ghostbusters, Caddyshack
Dan Akroyd: Ghostbusters, Blues Brothers, Driving Miss Daisy, Coneheads
Jane Curtin: Kate and Allie, Coneheads
Charles Rocket: Committed suicide
Norm MacDonald: Host of High Stakes Poker
Kevin Nealon: Weeds
Christoper Guest (5th Baron Haden-Guest): This is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, A Mighty Wind, Best In Show, married Jamie Leigh Curtis, became a British baron
Dennis Miller: HBO political talk show; syndicated radio talk show
Jimmy Fallon: Latenight host; Tonight Show host designate
Tina Fey: 30 Rock; Mean Girls, Date Night, Sarah Pailin
Amy Poehler: Parks and Recreation
Seth Meyers: Latenight host designate
 
FredLeonard said:
OK, let's check the track record of Weekend Update alumni:
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I've removed the names where you and I agree on the basic assessment of their career.


Bill Murray: Ghostbusters, Caddyshack----Nominated for an Oscar for Lost In Translation, a critically acclaimed and well-respected actor since The Royal Tenenbaums in 2001. And how did you leave out Stripes?

Jimmy Fallon: Late Night host; Tonight Show host designate----He's done well with Late Night. I didn't see anything in his SNL work that would have indicated he would.

Tina Fey: 30 Rock; Mean Girls, Date Night, Sarah Pailin----And let's look at Tina. As brightly as she shined on SNL, I didn't have any idea that she had a show like 30 Rock in her. Way beyond expectations.
 
I think back to when I was growing up and how much our family looked forward to seeing Johnny Carson and how much I looked forward to watching Letterman afterwards. I can't imagine being 17 years old again and feeling that same kind of excitement if Jimmy Fallon and Seth Myers were going to be on in a few hours. Late Night TV has really lost it's magic.
 
Skynet74 said:
Late Night TV has really lost it's magic.
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To put it in proper context, when Jack Parr left, how did you feel about Johnny replacing him? Johnny who? Let's face it: Johnny's track record before Tonight was not well known. Failed game show host and amateur magician takes over for Parr? Really?

No one knows the future until it happens.

Then again, keep in mind these people aren't attemping to entertain people your age now, but rather your age then.
 
Skynet74 said:
Late Night TV has really lost it's magic.
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I agree. Someone should bring back Carnac the Magnificent.
 
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