• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

The Future of Late Night

F

F.M.Hertz

We will soon be approaching the 20th anniversary of the night that Johnny Carson signed off as host of "The Tonight Show." Since that time we have seen two "wars" over who was going to takeover the desk and countless other talk shows pop up.

Some thoughts to ponder and opine on:

1. What will late night be like another 20 years from now? Will the landscape change or stay the same?

2. Who takes over for Jay Leno when he finally says that he hangs it up? (Would NBC give Conan another chance, or lure Jon Stewart from "The Daily Show," or could it be someone we haven't thought of yet?)
Note: The Letterman and CBS camps announced last month that Craig Ferguson will be host of the "Late Show" when Dave steps down.
 
F.M.Hertz said:
We will soon be approaching the 20th anniversary of the night that Johnny Carson signed off as host of "The Tonight Show." Since that time we have seen two "wars" over who was going to takeover the desk and countless other talk shows pop up.

Some thoughts to ponder and opine on:

1. What will late night be like another 20 years from now? Will the landscape change or stay the same?

2. Who takes over for Jay Leno when he finally says that he hangs it up? (Would NBC give Conan another chance, or lure Jon Stewart from "The Daily Show," or could it be someone we haven't thought of yet?)
Note: The Letterman and CBS camps announced last month that Craig Ferguson will be host of the "Late Show" when Dave steps down.
Click to expand...

I thought I heard a couple of years ago when Dave hangs it up,Craig will too.Is this something new?
 
F.M.Hertz said:
Note: The Letterman and CBS camps announced last month that Craig Ferguson will be host of the "Late Show" when Dave steps down.
Click to expand...

Really? Please post a link to an article or presser on this. Thanks!
 
kenwood101 said:
I thought I heard a couple of years ago when Dave hangs it up,Craig will too.Is this something new?
Click to expand...

Kenwood101 is correct, I've read the same though I am unsure as to where but he did say this quite a few years ago. Maybe the climate has changed since his contract renewal but Craig has said that he doesn't want to be any heir apparent. He really wants to write screenplays and books and not be saddled to a talk show for the rest of his life, but as of right now Craig is the the most unique host out there and The Late Late Show is the best kept secret on television and it's better for it.
 
F.M.Hertz said:
1. What will late night be like another 20 years from now? Will the landscape change or stay the same?
Click to expand...

Infomercials. By then, everyone will be watching online.

-crainbebo
 
KentBrockman said:
F.M.Hertz said:
Note: The Letterman and CBS camps announced last month that Craig Ferguson will be host of the "Late Show" when Dave steps down.
Click to expand...

Really? Please post a link to an article or presser on this. Thanks!
Click to expand...

From what I've read during the contract negotiations, The New York Times' Bill Carter has written that Ferguson has a guaranteed clause in his contract that will give him the 11:35 show when Letterman exits. Some of the articles that I've read cite his 2011 book, The War For Late Night.

I hope that this works out. As much of a Letterman fan that I am, I think that the "Late Show" is very tired. Craig Ferguson is doing an unconventional talk show, and he is becoming very successful at it.
 
Back at NBC, my guess is that Jay Leno will be the first to walk away, probably in the next three to five years, and then Jimmy Fallon (who's doing quite well on Late Night) will take over the Tonight Show. Wouldn't surprise me if Kathy Griffin, who's under contract to NBC through her Bravo show, takes Fallon's 12:30 time slot when he moves up.

Conan will stay on cable.

CBS will probably make a run for Jon Stewart if/when Letterman leaves, also within the next three to five years, and Ferguson will stay put.

ABC is the interesting question. Will it see an opportunity and join the 11:30 battle once more after the other networks shuffle? And if so, with who? Jimmy Kimmel? Or someone new who looks like the next hot comedy performer?

In the middle of all this, there's also an opportunity for a syndicated show that could run on the Fox and/or CW stations in the major markets, the way Arsenio Hall put together a good five year run in syndication in the late 80s and early 90s. I don't think Arsenio will come back, but someone who's new and fresh, maybe an emerging young personality, could do it. We might even see Fox, whose stations run their late news an hour earlier than the traditional big three, make a fresh stab at a late night show for its affiliates at 11 PM to give them a head start.
 
Fallon has stated he has no interest in the 11:30 slot. He says he just wouldn't be right for it.

My guess is that when Leno decides to step aside the network will completely revamp the show with someone new out of left field. Jack Paar's show was 180 degrees from "Tonight: America After Dark" and about 50% more low-key than Steve Allen's "Tonight." Johnny put all of the comedy that Paar had taken out back in for a completely different experience. That's what made the show a success at each juncture.
 
The question presupposes there will be such a thing as television twenty years from now.

More likely just a large assortment of streaming video URL's to choose from.
 
Bob1370 said:
CBS will probably make a run for Jon Stewart if/when Letterman leaves, also within the next three to five years, and Ferguson will stay put.
Click to expand...

CBS actually has Stewart in the family, as part of Viacom's Comedy Channel. Stewart of course failed at late night TV many years ago. I've read where he says he'd never do it again.

This idea of moving the 12:30 show to 11:30 show is not a good idea. Just because it worked for Letterman doesn't mean it's going to work for everyone else. It's like being a relief pitcher. The 7th and 8th innings are often different from the 9th. Ferguson's show is far more irreverent than Letterman ever was, and it would kill the appeal of the show to move it an hour earlier.

There's a never ending string of comedians who'd be great hosts. The problem today is that the shows don't try them out in the time periods the way Carson did. Today, shows are so identified with their hosts that they're not the same show with another person in that place.
 
TheBigA said:
The problem today is that the shows don't try them out in the time periods the way Carson did.  Today, shows are so identified with their hosts that they're not the same show with another person in that place.
Click to expand...

Isn't it the truth??   More than once I've thought back to all the comedians Johnny would showcase.   Most of us remember the not-so-subtle way Johnny would give his approval -- would s/he be invited to sit down with Johnny, or not?  

And it also calls to mind the jokes during the later years of Carson's reign -- "Oh, surprise - a guest host tonight."   "Johnny's here, but it's a repeat."   And the rare, "WOW!  It's Johnny, and it's a NEW SHOW!"    Looking back, the guest host idea made for a really good showcase at that hour.  

Except for a time when Letterman had his heart surgery (didn't Bill Cosby sub as one of the hosts?), neither of the 11:30 hosts post-Johnny have done a whole lot to advance other comic talent, either pinch-hitting as host, or even doing a stand-up bit.  

--Russell
 
I'm going to go off the board...

Daniel Tosh.

His Comedy Central Show isn't my cup of tea, but he seems like someone who is a rising star; he's very popular with the under 25 crowd, who will be growing up into the 25-49 crowd that a network would like to have at 11:30.
 
Wright County Guy said:
I'm going to go off the board...

Daniel Tosh.

His Comedy Central Show isn't my cup of tea, but he seems like someone who is a rising star; he's very popular with the under 25 crowd, who will be growing up into the 25-49 crowd that a network would like to have at 11:30.
Click to expand...

Good point. Tomorrow's stars sometimes are not included in the possibilities. But that is how it has always worked. Up and comers are usually the people we see as stars later.

That being said, I wouldn't discount Conan arriving at a better venue than TBS. Doubt it will be NBC. How about Conan replacing Letterman eventually? Afterall, he did it once before.

Leno has probably a good 3-5 years left. Letterman, the same. Also watch out for Kimmel and Carson Daly. Both are quite good, and will probably move up in the next decade.

TV in itself is not going away anytime soon. Yes, on-line viewing will grow, and technology will change, but I think our tv screens will still be active for the next decade, with more and more on-line content being piped through those same tv screens.
 
Russell W. said:
And it also calls to mind the jokes during the later years of Carson's reign -- "Oh, surprise - a guest host tonight." "Johnny's here, but it's a repeat."
Click to expand...

Doc is here...Doc is NOT here.
 
Russell W. said:
TheBigA said:
The problem today is that the shows don't try them out in the time periods the way Carson did. Today, shows are so identified with their hosts that they're not the same show with another person in that place.
[/quote


Except for a time when Letterman had his heart surgery (didn't Bill Cosby sub as one of the hosts?),

--Russell
Click to expand...

Bill Cosby, Kathie Lee Gifford, Regis Philbin, Paul Shaffer, and Bonnie Hunt have all guest-hosted in the rare times (post-heart surgery included) that Letterman used guest hosts.
Click to expand...
 
^Some folks can figure whether a program such as "The Late Show" or "Tonight" is new or not based on the host making references to news reports in his or her monologue.
 
Late Night will be better if only the 11:35pm shows remain and afterwards (12:37 - 4:30/5am sign off or replay their late news and informicals).
 
Trying to find a late night host twenty years from now would be nearly impossible. Today's current hosts will not be around twenty years from now. We're talking 2032? Don't think I'll be watching late night programming in 2032. Let alone still be among us. So I will not spend time speculating 20 years into the future. Are the current Late Night hosts wondering what I'll be doing in 2032? Didn't thimk so.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom