The Story Of Late Night

[Annber03]

So prior to Leno's primetime show airing, Conan's ratings for his version of the Tonight Show had actually been doing all right overall. Maybe they weren't Leno-esque numbers, but his first show had lots of viewers, and beyond that, he was still doing okay. 

Then Leno's primetime show premieres, and it does so badly that it winds up negatively affecting the ratings of all that follow it, including Conan's Tonight Show.

And NBC looks at this and decides that the person they need to remove from this equation is....Conan. *Headdesk* Okay, then. 

All this nonsense makes it even harder to take them seriously when they talk about how they wanted to keep both hosts at NBC, the same way they claimed to want to keep both Leno and Letterman. If that was their goal, they sure sucked at making that happen. It was clear Leno was their preference all along, they would've been better off had they just admitted that up front and not strung Letterman or Conan along. 

I just love that they pulled the exact same gambit with Conan that they did with Letterman. "Oh, yeah, we'll let you have the Tonight Show after Leno's contract ends!"-for Letterman, after Leno's first year was up, for Conan, five years from now-only to totally renege on that promise in the end. Like I said before, this is why Letterman walked, and this is why Conan should've considered doing the same thing when he was first promised this, or at least, gotten more concrete assurance to keep them from going back on their word. Because a lot can change in that time, and a network that pulled this kind of shady crap before would surely do it again.

And then, to add insult to injury, the network, after going back on their promise to Conan to let him have the Tonight Show, and then trying to pull this "Oh, you'll still have the Tonight Show, just at a later time" nonsense, has the nerve to tell Conan what he's not allowed to do for the next eight months. 'Scuse me? To say nothing of the fact that Conan brought himself, his family, and his crew all the way from New York to California to do this show. That makes all this mess even more crappy.

I remember reading in the War for Late Night book about how, when Conan had gotten the Tonight Show gig, NBC made a big thing of telling him that he couldn't make any sort of big announcement about it, and that had always struck me as a moment that should've been a massive red flag for Conan that this was not going to end well. Think about it. You've finally got your dream job, the one you'd worked so hard towards for years...and you can't say a word about it to anyone. That doesn't sound just a wee bit suspicious? 

2 hours ago, catlover79 said:

I still felt bad for Conan, who stood to lose the most.

I also felt bad for Jimmy Fallon, 'cause he was at risk of getting screwed in this whole mess, too, with his show potentially not airing until one in the freaking morning. He would've had just as much valid reason, if not more, to raise a fuss over what NBC was doing, but credit to him for just keeping his head down and staying out of this whole mess, and making sure he and his crew kept their focus and concern on their own show instead. 

And of course, the most laughable part about all of this was how everyone-NBC, Leno, and Conan-were making such a big to do about the Tonight Show in an era where it didn't have quite the same significance to young people that it did to the generation that grew up on Carson, or even the Letterman/Leno generation. If Conan's fanbase followed him to the Tonight Show, it was less because of the show's prestige and more because they simply liked him, and would've followed him anywhere. But even then, as they showed, there was a lot more variety in late night programming at this point, and the internet made it easier to just check out specific segments from late night shows without having to watch the whole thing, so who took over this particular late night show eventually became kind of irrelevant. 

(Seriously, us Craig Ferguson fans were watching this drama from the sidelines and going, "Hey, there's this guy on CBS if anyone wants to check him out instead!" :p. I had to laugh at that clip with Conan on Letterman's show and the two of them just sitting there with these stiff smiles-I was like, "Oh, they're doing an awkward pause!" :D.)

Just so, so ridiculous. It still boggles my mind how one network made the exact same mistake twice. 

As for other topics...

-I remember that bit with Leno interviewing KImmel. Brutal, but well-deserved. They would've probably fared better had they stuck to their agreement they'd originally made with Kimmel regarding addressing this issue. 

-I also remember that whole thing with Letterman admitting to those affairs. That was very strange, indeed, but I think the big reason he was able to get past that without much impact was because he just came right out and admitted it, and acknowledged afterwards that he fucked up. He pretty much took the wind right out of the sails of anyone who was ready to pounce on him and make their own jokes or attack him over it or whatever. 

(That said, boy, does that clip sure hit different in this MeToo era.)

-The "Colbert Report" opening got me all nostalgic :). And that Correspondents' Dinner bit remains as awesome as ever :D. I loved seeing those "Daily Show" clips, too-I didn't start regularly watching that show until near the tail end of the Bush era, and looking at those clips, I'm regretting not following it much sooner. 

-I liked the mention of the attempts at more diversity in late night hosts, too. Yeah, as crazy as this Tonight Show drama was, I can definitely see people who weren't white straight men watching it all and going, "Gee, here's a wild idea: maybe let a whole new voice take over for a change?" Though I shudder to think what NBC could've done to them and their late night shows as well. 

[Sarah 103]

I wish they had a few more graphics showing the schedules, because it was a little difficult for me to keep track of it all. While I enjoyed the episode, it would have been helpful to see a chart of who was on which network when, and showing the movement of people on a chart. It didn't occur to me that cable late night starts at 11, but network starts at 11:30, because network has to air the network news at 11. 

I started watching The Daily Show in high-school. I couldn't stay up that late so I'd record it. I hadn't thought about Jon Stewart playing straight man to the correspondants antics/bits, but it's true. I wonder if next week they will talk about all of the late night careers that Daily Show launched. 

[catlover79]

On 5/31/2021 at 1:41 AM, ebk57 said:

I finally caught up.  Firstly (sorry @catlover79), I just don't like Jay Leno.  I find him untalented, unfunny (which is too bad, because he used to be funny, way back before he stole The Tonight Show) and really grating.  I also can't watch Fallon, so The Tonight Show has not been on my TV since Carson left.  I think NBC totally screwed Conan and I'd have no use for them if they hadn't given Late Night to Seth.  Love Seth. I hope he's featured more coming up, along with Craig Ferguson who I think was brilliant.  Or is brilliant - it's just that I don't know what he's been up to since he left his Sirius show. 

I think I heard them say that Bill Maher was on Comedy Central when he was first mentioned and I was frantically googling that to make sure I remembered it was ABC.  Later, when they talked about his being fired, they did say ABC, but I thought the first error was pretty bad.  I liked Bill back then, and for many years into Real Time, but had to stop watching a few years ago. He's just bad now. 

I remember Dave and 9/11.  And Dave and the heart attack.  And Dave and the blackmail scheme.  And Dave and Harry's birth.  Have I mentioned I love Dave? 😄

 

No offense taken. I've never really been a fan of Dave's brand of humor, but different strokes and all that. Were you as surprised as I was that he and Jay reunited for that Super Bowl commercial with Oprah back then? I never saw that coming.

Thankfully, Conan made it through (he is ending his TBS show later this month after over a decade there) and seems philosophical about it all. He was even able to laugh and joke about it a little, though I'm sure it still stings. Wounds like that never completely go away, but Conan has managed to carve out his own unique stamp in comedy and pop culture. 

Jay now has his car show on CNBC - which, to be honest, is the type of program he should have been doing since 2009. Not at 10 PM M-F on network TV, of course. I know next to nothing about cars, but it is still a fun show with fun guests.

I look forward to next week's finale, and how they will touch on "Late Night From Home". I am still amazed that today's late night hosts and their staffs were still able to do it, on the fly and with no precedent. My hat is still off to them.

[ebk57]

18 minutes ago, catlover79 said:

Were you as surprised as I was that he and Jay reunited for that Super Bowl commercial with Oprah back then? I never saw that coming.

I looooved that!  And still laugh when I think about it. I think Dave and Jay were friends before all the mismanagement by the network and it was good to see them together again. 

Isn't Conan going to do a show on HBO Max when he's finished at TBS?  I thought I'd heard that.  If so, could be interesting. 

[catlover79]

1 minute ago, ebk57 said:

Isn't Conan going to do a show on HBO Max when he's finished at TBS?  I thought I'd heard that.  If so, could be interesting. 

Yes! 😎

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/rosaescandon/2021/05/04/conan-to-end-on-tbs-as-obrien-moves-to-hbo-max/amp/

[anna0852]

30 minutes ago, catlover79 said:

I look forward to next week's finale, and how they will touch on "Late Night From Home". I am still amazed that today's late night hosts and their staffs were still able to do it, on the fly and with no precedent. My hat is still off to them.

I've posted this in other threads but I think it should go here as well.

The hosts and theirs staffs have done an incredible job in the last four years to try to call attention to, make sense of and push back against what was and still is happening in the US government.

And then covid. 

From attics and garages and living rooms and bathtubs and backyard tree stumps and featureless voids they kept going. They brought us humor, they called out corruption, they provided solomn comfort and when appropriate railed at the world. Families became fim crews and guest stars and audience members. They brought us into their homes and introduced us to their pets and slides and even Sea Captains. They brought us Zoom musical performances and formal hoodies. 

Seth, Stephen, Jimmy K, James, Jimmy F, Samantha, Amber, Larry, Bill, Conan, John and Trevor have risen to and met admirably this herculean task. I can't imagine having to get through 2020 without them. I hope CNN does them justice. 

[Annber03]

@anna0852 Very well said. Wholeheartedly agree with every word of your post. 

[catlover79]

Yes! At the beginning of 2020, who would have guessed that Seth Meyers would be broadcasting from an attic and talking to an old painting of a sea captain? Somehow, he and the others made stuff like that work.

[WatchrTina]

On 5/31/2021 at 1:03 AM, Annber03 said:

(Seriously, us Craig Ferguson fans were watching this drama from the sidelines and going, "Hey, there's this guy on CBS if anyone wants to check him out instead!" :p. I had to laugh at that clip with Conan on Letterman's show and the two of them just sitting there with these stiff smiles-I was like, "Oh, they're doing an awkward pause!" :D.)

I keep waiting for this show to mention Craig Ferguson.  Wasn't he ALSO an important part of the late night scene during this period?  I don't understand why he gets no mention whatsoever.  I'm guessing that it's because there was never any drama with him.  Unless I'm mistaken, David Letterman's company -- Worldwide Pants -- produced The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and Craig and David always had a good relationship.  So . . . no drama.  Still, you'd think that a documentary devoted to the late-night TV wars would at least mention Craig's contribution to that era of television.

Edited June 3, 2021 by WatchrTina

[Annber03]

I was surprised they didn't show any clips from his show, either. I think there was a brief mention of his name or at least a photo of him, but that was it.

9 minutes ago, WatchrTina said:

Unless I'm mistaken, David Letterman's company -- Worldwide Pants -- produced The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and Craig and David always had a good relationship. So . . . no drama. 

Correct :). And I remember, when Letterman left and there was talk of who was going to take over, a lot of people just assumed Craig would do so, and many seemed shocked when he didn't get the job, and people wondered if there was some drama there, too. 

And Craig had to keep insisting that he had no interest in taking the job in the first place. He liked his late night gig and wasn't interested in moving up to an earlier time slot. Probably, I'm guessing in part, because of all the insanity he'd observed with what happened when other late night hosts moved to an earlier time slot :p. 

[WatchrTina]

25 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

And Craig had to keep insisting that he had no interest in taking the job in the first place.

I have read both of the autobiographies that Craig wrote -- "American on Purpose" and "Riding the Elephant" -- but I can't remember what, if anything, Craig said on this topic.  Possibly he said nothing because -- as you say -- he had no interest in taking that job and may have been entirely satisfied with the "Late Late Show" gig.

Still, I may just have to flip through those two books again.  But if I do so it will be AFTER I finish reading "The Late Shift" -- which is a book by Bill Carter (one of the people interviewed in the CNN special), which chronicles the whole "who will replace Johnny?" saga and Dave's subsequent move to CBS.  It is a very strange coincidence that I picked up that book a couple of weeks ago and started reading it before discovering that there was going to be a CNN series focused on the history of late night television.

Edited June 3, 2021 by WatchrTina

[Annber03]

I can't speak to his more recent book, as I've not read that one, but American on Purpose came out well before Letterman's retirement, so he wouldn't have mentioned it there, no. I was just basically referring to various interviews I read and heard with him elsewhere in general around that time, especially once it was announced that Stephen Colbert was taking over.

I totally forgot that Craig had that more recent book out, so thanks for reminding me of it. I need to add that one to my list as well. 

[catlover79]

Isn't Craig Ferguson the first late night host to have been born outside of the USA? Of course, the current Late Late host, James Corden, was born in the UK. I never watched Craig Ferguson - I was always watching Conan's Late Night, but I had always liked him on the Drew Carey Show.

[catlover79]

16 hours ago, WatchrTina said:

But if I do so it will be AFTER I finish reading "The Late Shift" -- which is a book by Bill Carter (one of the people interviewed in the CNN special), which chronicles the whole "who will replace Johnny?" saga and Dave's subsequent move to CBS.  

After you read that, read the "sequel" - that focuses on Jay vs. Conan:

[Annber03]

Great wrap up to this series-and they had to extend it beyond an hour, because of all the stuff they had to talk about! 

I've read a few interviews from Stephen where he talked about some of the early struggles his show went through, and how he had to learn to step back and let someone else take control for a change. I get where that would've been a hard adjustment for him, given how much control he had at "The Colbert Report". I think some of the issue was trying to use what he knew from running that show and trying to tailor it to his late night show, and sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. Thank goodness that Chris stepped in to help him out and take some of the stress and burden off him a bit. I personally liked the show even before then, just 'cause I like Stephen in general, but I do think that was a wise decision all the same, and Stephen's show has definitely benefitted from that change in the long run. 

Course, as we've seen throughout this series, the fact that that the media and executives freak out every single time someone new takes over and the ratings aren't a blowout or the first few shows are rocky or whatever certainly doesn't help these hosts as they learn to settle in. Like, geez, people, calm the hell down and give these hosts some time to breathe and get used to their new gig. Nobody comes into a job and does it perfectly on day one, and comedy is a tough business in general. There's going to be rough patches. Patience is a virtue, and all that. 

25 minutes ago, catlover79 said:

I got visceral reactions with every mention and clip of T****. I totally remember Jimmy Fallon's ruffling his hair. I wonder how many times Jimmy has wanted to take that moment back.

My mom hadn't really been familiar with that whole controversy, so I was explaining it to her, and I mentioned the whole thing about how it helped humanize him to the audience. And she said, "Oh, like when Nixon appeared on Laugh-In!" and I thought, you know what, that's a perfect comparison. Yes. This was exactly like that. 

All the flashbacks to the 2016 election, and especially election night, were...yeeeeeeeeeah.  It was tough to watch those. Pretty much summed up my mood about everything. I hadn't seen Stephen's election special that night-I don't think we had Showtime at that point, so I wasn't able to watch it, but I'd heard about how the mood shifted very quickly and very strongly as that night went on, and judging from those clips, yeah, I can see that. 

But as stated elsewhere in this thread, a big thank you to every single late night host that helped us through the craziness of the last few years. I honestly don't know where we would've been without these people to vent and speak up on our behalf about everything going on, and, in other moments, make us laugh and distract us from some of the stuff going on as well. It's also great to see how diverse the late night field continues to get, both in terms of the kinds of hosts and the variety of voices we're getting now*, and in terms of the ways in which people do their shows and broadcast them now. Really does make the Letterman/Leno and Conan/Leno fights seem rather quaint in retrospect, doesn't it? 

*I hadn't really considered just how many non-Americans were taking over late night in recent years until they mentioned them here, wow, yeah. Oliver, Corden, Noah, Bee... Craig Ferguson helped pave the way :D!

Also, people talking about the reaction and the big to do when Letterman, and later Jon Stewart, both left their shows....I remember, the week after Jon had announced that he'd be ending his run on the show later that year, he was commenting on the media reaction to that news and said something to the effect of, "I just have one question: Did I die...?" :p. 

It is interesting to wonder what would've become of these shows had the 2016 election turned out differently, or had the pandemic not hit, or things of that sort. But yeah, it's very fascinating to see how this business continues to shift and change, and it'll be fun to see what comes next in terms of shows of this sort. 

Really good series, this. I enjoyed it. 

Edited June 7, 2021 by Annber03

[ebk57]

Finally, a clip of Craig Ferguson! 

I loved this series.  And a huge thanks to @catlover79and @Annber03for having the wonderful conversation you had so all I had to do was like all of your posts and not have to post anything myself! 

[catlover79]

I recorded the entire thing, so this week I will do a giant binge watch. @Annber03, tell your mom she hit the nail right on the head. I hadn't thought of Nixon and "sock it to me", but she is absolutely right.

It was kind of surprising to learn how much Colbert struggled his first year at CBS. I had no idea that the network was considering flip-flopping his timeslot with Corden's. I'm glad Chris was brought in - and we can still hear his laugh in the supply closet with Evie!! 

Yes, major props to the hosts, sidekicks and crews who have helped get us through - especially since March 2020. I DVR Fallon, Colbert and Meyers - Fallon for his lightheartedness and the other two for their rapid-fire political humor. 

[anna0852]

This was a good episode but I feel like late night in 2020 should have been a separate show of its own.

[Annber03]

1 hour ago, ebk57 said:

Finally, a clip of Craig Ferguson! 

I loved this series.  And a huge thanks to @catlover79and @Annber03for having the wonderful conversation you had so all I had to do was like all of your posts and not have to post anything myself! 

Aw, thanks :)! Would love to hear your thoughts, too, though, if you've got any other observations you want to share. 

1 hour ago, catlover79 said:

It was kind of surprising to learn how much Colbert struggled his first year at CBS. I had no idea that the network was considering flip-flopping his timeslot with Corden's.

I hadn't known that, either, until I read one of those aforementioned interviews with Stephen. He was bothered by the idea, simply because he just felt bad more for his staff and crew than anything else with all the talk about how the show was struggling, and was unsure of how this would impact them and the show in that regard. 

Thank goodness CBS pulled back from that idea, though, and gave him another avenue to improve instead. I wonder how well it would've gone over had they switched time slots. 

[ebk57]

6 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

I wonder how well it would've gone over had they switched time slots. 

It would not have gone over well with me at all.  Not a fan of Corden.  I remember Stephen struggling when he first took over, but I have no recollection of Corden being the new best thing in late night.  Blech. 

[Door County Cherry]

Please remember our personal politics rule.  You can discuss what was shown in the documentary about the 2016 election and how that election affected the late night shows from 2016 and beyond but discussing your personal feelings about the election would violate our personal politics rule. 

 

[cpcathy]

I’ve heard he’s rude to his fans and staffers (sigh) but I have just a tiny soft spot for a James Corden, I saw him sing Nothing Compares to You with Coldplay in person. We were backstage and he and his entourage walked right by us, so it wasn’t a total surprise when he showed up to sing. 

I like Jimmy F, but I wish he would go back to the relaxed atmosphere of his Late Night, it was so fun and pure. Him singing with the Muppets at Christmas time was a highlight.

[DanaK]

On 6/6/2021 at 11:14 PM, catlover79 said:

It was kind of surprising to learn how much Colbert struggled his first year at CBS. I had no idea that the network was considering flip-flopping his timeslot with Corden's. I'm glad Chris was brought in - and we can still hear his laugh in the supply closet with Evie!! 

I was aware there were issues at the time, but I pay attention to entertainment news. I believe CBS chairman Les Mooves was fairly involved in that first year or at least was involved in giving Stephen space, before he (Les) got thrown out of CBS of course for his bad behavior

Really good series. Score another win for CNN’s documentaries

Edited June 8, 2021 by DanaK

[catlover79]

22 hours ago, DanaK said:

I was aware there were issues at the time, but I pay attention to entertainment news. I believe CBS chairman Les Mooves was fairly involved in that first year or at least was involved in giving Stephen space, before he (Les) got thrown out of CBS of course for his bad behavior

Really good series. Score another win for CNN’s documentaries

Thanks for clarifying. I wasn't watching his show from its beginning, so I didn't know. 

[DanaK]

Jay Leno seems to have a lot of fans who think he's a great guy, but I've also heard stories where he's stabbed people in the back. The Tonight Show debacle should never have happened and Jay should have kiboshed going back to the show and pushing Conan out after his prime time show crashed and burned. Of course, I throw a lot of blame at the idiot NBC executives, including Jeff Zucker, who couldn't seem to make the right decisions (NBC was really struggling at the time). At least Jay left several years later without incident when it became Jimmy Fallon's turn to take over

[anna0852]

One thing that I was hoping this series would touch on is that at least amongst the network and prime time hosts, they seem to be pretty friendly with each other. They pop up on each other's shows and they do YouTube bits together. Definitely not something you would have seen in the Letterman and Leno era. There just seems to be much less of a competitive thing going on.

[catlover79]

9 hours ago, anna0852 said:

One thing that I was hoping this series would touch on is that at least amongst the network and prime time hosts, they seem to be pretty friendly with each other. They pop up on each other's shows and they do YouTube bits together. Definitely not something you would have seen in the Letterman and Leno era. There just seems to be much less of a competitive thing going on.

Yes!! There was a magazine spread a few years ago with all of the current late night hosts:

[chitowngirl]

Samantha Bee is missing from that picture!

Edited June 10, 2021 by chitowngirl

[MsTree]

8 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

Samantha Bee is missing from that picture!

So are all the other women of late night (i.e. Chelsea Handler, Joan Rivers, etc.)

[WatchrTina]

If anyone is curious here is Craig Ferguson and the late great Robin Williams touching oh-so-carefully on the departure of Conan from The Tonight Show and the return of Jay Leno (at the 24:56 mark of this VERY long compilation of Robin Williams visits.)  Craig, in particular, seems to want to avoid the topic.

 

Edited June 11, 2021 by WatchrTina

[Annber03]

33 minutes ago, WatchrTina said:

Craig, in particular, seems to want to avoid the topic.

Yeah, I remember during the whole Conan/Leno thing, Craig pretty much just stuck to occasionally mocking the NBC executives (notably Zucker). He didn't really get into mocking Conan or Leno themselves. Which I think was a wise move on his part-he had no dog in the fight, and I think he wanted his show to be a bit of a respite from the mud-slinging that all the other late night hosts were doing towards each other at that time. 

[catlover79]

It's nice that Craig reserved his jokes for the ones who really deserved it: the NBC executives. Oddly enough, years earlier, Jay had made a joke about the NBC network executives that came out "nitwit" executives instead. I'm thinking Freudian slip. 🤣

Dave's humor was a bit too mean for my tastes (again, YMMV). Still, I melted earlier this year when he surprised Drew Barrymore on her birthday show. He pretended to be on Zoom and then came out from behind a curtain. I laughed when he pretended to have technical difficulties and said, "I'm not a cat!!" 😂 It was a very sweet episode, and very emotional but in a good way.

They easily could have made another episode or two of this show. I would have liked to hear more on the process of booking guests remotely this past year, but I digress. 

[Annber03]

1 minute ago, catlover79 said:

It's nice that Craig reserved his jokes for the ones who really deserved it: the NBC executives.

LOL, yeah, no matter which side you were on, at least the one thing everyone could agree on was that the NBC execs were making totally boneheaded moves :p!

I always liked it when Craig would joke that all the late night hosts actually lived together in a house, like the Monkees XD. 

Quote

Dave's humor was a bit too mean for my tastes (again, YMMV).

He was definitely working out some residual anger and resentment from his own go-round in the late night wars, wasn't he :p? 

[anna0852]

In the court of public opinion Leno definitely lost. These days Letterman has become the wise old man for late night and Leno has faded.

[catlover79]

I think it's great that the "elders" are still active in various mediums - Jay has his car show on CNBC, Dave has his Netflix specials and Conan has his podcast (and upcoming HBO Max show). 

I wonder how Allen, Paar and Carson's shows would have been if they'd had today's technology. I got a real kick out of Steve Allen's son recall his dad's tenure. "The only person in America that hated those stunts was my mother!" 😂

[WatchrTina]

22 hours ago, anna0852 said:

In the court of public opinion Leno definitely lost.

I think you are right, which is why the binge-watch I just did was all the more eye-opening.  Today I watched (via YouTube) all the episodes from the final week of Craig Ferguson's late night show, and I was really surprised to see that the person he chose as sole guest for his final show was . . . Jay Leno.  I had forgotten that.  This was in 2014 and Leno had already left The Tonight Show and been replaced by Jimmy Fallon.  Now that I think about it, I can recall how surprised I was, back then, that THAT was who Craig chose as his last guest.  One might have expected Craig to be a Letterman loyalist.  After all, Dave's production company, Worldwide Pants, produced Craig's show.  But based on that final show I think Craig thought that Jay had been treated unfairly in the court of public opinion and he wanted to give Jay another chance to be seen as a nice guy.  Which, apparently, is how Craig thought of him.

 

On 6/11/2021 at 8:46 PM, catlover79 said:

It's nice that Craig reserved his jokes for the ones who really deserved it: the NBC executives.

Yeah, now that I've re-watched all those shows I am reminded again how much I like Craig Ferguson -- not just his humor (which I fInd highly entertaining) but also the vibe he gives off of being a basically decent guy who had nearly fucked up his life and career due to drugs and alcohol, but who pulled himself together and became a better person as a result (and who was still funny when he got sober).  As I've mentioned before, Craig got barely a minute of air-time in this "Story of Late Night" special and that seems to be due to his just having been a decent guy who worked hard and who never created any negative drama.

BTW, the other thing I looked up on the internet is the episode wherein Craig takes his USA citizenship test*.  It ends with Craig celebrating his new citizenship by banging on a drum with a Scottish drum-and-bagpipe-and-didgeridoo band.  I recall that moment as just about my favorite moment in all of "Late Nite" history.

*Edited to say that the episode I'm talking about above is the one where he takes his citizenship OATH.  I also recall an episode in which he takes the citizenship TEST but that is a separate, earlier episode.

Edited June 13, 2021 by WatchrTina

[catlover79]

4 minutes ago, WatchrTina said:

BTW, the other thing I looked up on the internet is the episode wherein Craig takes his USA citizenship test.  It ends with Craig celebrating his new citizenship by banging on a drum with a Scottish drum-and-bagpipe-and-didgeridoo band.  I recall that moment as just about my favorite moment in all of "Late Nite" history.

That sounds great - and fun! I will look that up. 😎

[catlover79]

Before 2020, this is the only instance I can think of when a late night host performed with no live audience and in casual wear:

 

[catlover79]

This article from 2010 rightfully called out the NBC suits. Yes, we did indeed get another book out of the fiasco!!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/18/AR2010011803528.html

[DanaK]

What I wanted to see more of was other non-talk show late night programming besides Saturday Night Live. There was MadTV, Fridays, and maybe some more things I can't recall, though I don't think there was that much more

[anna0852]

On 6/26/2021 at 1:08 PM, DanaK said:

What I wanted to see more of was other non-talk show late night programming besides Saturday Night Live. There was MadTV, Fridays, and maybe some more things I can't recall, though I don't think there was that much more

SNL and MadTV got plenty of coverage during the History of Comedy series. I think this series was intended to look at the talk show aspect of late night more than anything else. I'm pretty sure SNL only came up because it was the launch pad for both Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, along with Lorne Michaels getting Conan into Late Night.