Season 1 Discussion

[possibilities]

I think it's very telling that one of the contestants recently said the producers said it's okay if things go off the rails. Whether that's true or just something they said, It sure does seem like they prefer it that way. 

Basically, they seem to be cultivating a punch drunk aesthetic.

I like Taylor a lot, but I agree she often laughs more than I think the situation warrants.

 

[AnimeMania]

S01.E47: April 22, 2024  
Actress Caitlin Reilly; actress Gillian Jacobs; comic Pete Holmes
Premiere Date: April 23, 2024  CBS  12:37am

S01.E48: April 23, 2024  
Game show host Drew Carey; actor Thomas Lennon; musician Weird Al Yankovic
Premiere Date: April 24, 2024  CBS  12:37am

S01.E49: April 24, 2024  
Comic Lisa Ann Walter; comic Michaela Watkins
Premiere Date: April 25, 2024  CBS  12:37am

[iMonrey]

I really like Pete Holmes. I'm not the biggest fan of his stand-up but his last special was actually pretty good, and he's good on this show. I also liked the AI game. I'd like to see them settle on some games that really work and stick to those, as I posted earlier. 

[possibilities]

I like the kids drawings game. It's not really worth much as a competition, but it's hilarious anyway.

 

[AnimeMania]

I knew that drawing was of Taylor Tomlinson.

[Lois Sandborne]

The panel of Drew, Thomas Lennon, and Weird Al is going into my Top 3.

[iMonrey]

I dunno, I've always found there to be something vaguely creepy about Thomas Lennon. I get Kevin Spacey vibes from him.

I have no idea what Drew's long joke was about, but I wish the comics would refrain from doing stuff that's going to get entirely bleeped out. The occasional swear word is fine, we can figure it out from context, but a whole "bit" that is bleeped so much you have no idea what the joke is goes too far.

Edited April 26 by iMonrey

[possibilities]

I wonder if the unbleeped version appears online and it's just the broadcast-on-CBS version that's bleeped?

[Chyromaniac]

I watch the show on Paramount+, and the bleeps are still there.  Personally I don’t mind, but I also feel like bleeping can often be funnier than actual profanity, depending on the context.  I think it generally works well here.

[AnimeMania]

S01.E50: April 25, 2024  
Comic Moshe Kasher; actor Jason Ritter; comic Chloé Hilliard
Premiere Date: April 26, 2024  CBS  12:37am

[ottoDbusdriver]

Catching up on a few episodes from last week -- the April 25 episode was a lot of fun.  Jason, Chloé, and Moshe played off each other well.  I liked the Unimpressed game.

[possibilities]

They seem to have de-coupled the @midnight and Late Show schedules. Last week, Clbert was off while @midnight was on, and this week it's the reverse. 

[AnimeMania]

S01.E51: May 6, 2024  
Comics Chris Redd, Catherine Cohen and Pat Regan
Premiere Date: May 7, 2024  CBS  12:37am

S01.E52: May 7, 2024  
Comics Mike Birbiglia, Sydnee Washington and Atsuko Okatsuka
Premiere Date: May 8, 2024  CBS  12:37am

S01.E53: May 8, 2024  
TV personality Hannah Berner; actor Brandon Kyle Goodman; comic Heather McMahan
Premiere Date: May 9, 2024  CBS  12:37am

S01.E54: May 9, 2024  
Comic Jessica Kirson; actress Steph Tolev; actor Eddie Pepitone
Premiere Date: May 10, 2024  CBS  12:37am

[SoMuchTV]

37 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

S01.E52: May 7, 2024  
Comics Mike Birbiglia, Sydnee Washington and Atsuko Okatsuka
Premiere Date: May 8, 2024  CBS  12:37am

I’ve been a big fan of Mike Birbiglia but he strikes me as more of a storyteller than an improv-er. I’ll be interested to see how he does here. Remind me, was he ever on @? 

[Dewey Decimate]

On 4/25/2024 at 9:24 AM, Lois Sandborne said:

The panel of Drew, Thomas Lennon, and Weird Al is going into my Top 3.

 

On 4/26/2024 at 4:51 PM, iMonrey said:

I dunno, I've always found there to be something vaguely creepy about Thomas Lennon. I get Kevin Spacey vibes from him.

Lol, I came on here to confess that I have a crush on TL. (Straight female, for the record.) His book "How to Write Movies for Fun and Profit " with Robert Ben Garant is hilarious. 

That was my favorite episode so far.

[ottoDbusdriver]

On 5/5/2024 at 7:14 PM, SoMuchTV said:

I’ve been a big fan of Mike Birbiglia but he strikes me as more of a storyteller than an improv-er. I’ll be interested to see how he does here. Remind me, was he ever on @? 

Mike Birbiglia was on @Midnight just once -- on July 28, 2016 alongside Gillian Jacobs and Tami Sagher.

Mike was eliminated before FTW.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Maybe it was just my TV, but Taylor's jacket was so BRIGHT PINK in Tuesday night's episode.

ETA: It was my TV, colour was oversaturated and made the pink jacket crazy bright.

Edited May 9 by ottoDbusdriver

[iMonrey]

The untangling the cords game was pretty funny, one of the rare instances where the physical games worked. 

[possibilities]

Maybe I was just in the right mood, but I also thought it was funny when Chris was passing out the plastic bags to the audience, at the end of the show on Monday.

[ottoDbusdriver]

The untangling cords game was pretty good.

And Mike Birbiglia gets eliminated again before FTW.
 

[SoMuchTV]

On 5/7/2024 at 10:31 PM, ottoDbusdriver said:

Mike Birbiglia was on @Midnight just once -- on July 28, 2016 alongside Gillian Jacobs and Tami Sagher.

Mike was eliminated before FTW.

Well, he’s keeping up his streak. :(

 

Haha, I typed this yesterday and apparently forgot to hit “submit”. 

[iMonrey]

Thursday's show was so bad I turned it off after Hashtag Wars. It's the first time I've considered deleting the show from my DVR. When the "comics" are that bad, Taylor's over enthusiastic laughter at everything they say seems ten times more fake. 

[AnimeMania]

S01.E55: May 13, 2024  
Comic Laura Ramoso; comic Johnny Pemberton; actress Michaela Watkins
Premiere Date: May 14, 2024  CBS  12:37am

S01.E56: May 14, 2024  
Comic Bert Kreischer; comic Katherine Blanford; sportscaster Rich Eisen
Premiere Date: May 15, 2024  CBS  12:37am

S01.E57: May 15, 2024  
Comic Colton Dunn; comic Jess McKenna; actress Ana Gasteyer
Premiere Date: May 16, 2024  CBS  12:37am

S01.E58: May 16, 2024  
Comic Bassem Youssef; comic Jay Jurden; comic Todd Barry
Premiere Date: May 17, 2024  CBS  12:37am

[possibilities]

Wow-- Bassem Youssef! I didn't even know he's in the USA.

https://www.bassemyoussef.xyz/about/

[Red Bridey]

Why oh way do we have to see that guy's gross bare chest when I am enjoying Rich Eisen and don't want to stop watching? And he's not funny. NOT FUNNY no matter how much the blonde women laugh at him. Just...no.

[iMonrey]

The Wednesday show with Ana Gasteyer was the strongest. "Boring Reality Shows" was probably the funniest Hashtag Wars in awhile. I also got a kick out of the realtor bit with the weird houses.

Thursday's show was a bit of a letdown. I wish they'd stop doing that game where they show browser history or searches and betting on which panelist they belong to. It's neither interesting nor funny.

[possibilities]

The trinity joke, though, was epic. 

[AnimeMania]

S01.E59: May 20, 2024  
Drag queen BenDeLaCreme; comic Rory Scovel; actor Harvey Guillen
Premiere Date: May 21, 2024  CBS  12:37am

S01.E60: May 21, 2024  
Actor Jim Rash; actor Nat Faxon; actress Stephanie Courtney
Premiere Date: May 22, 2024  CBS  12:37am

S01.E61: May 22, 2024  
Comic Andy Richter; magician Penn Jillette; actor Aasif Mandvi
Premiere Date: May 23, 2024  CBS  12:37am

S01.E62: May 23, 2024  
Comic Marcella Arguello; actor Thomas Lennon; comic Sarah Tiana
Premiere Date: May 24, 2024  CBS  12:37am

Edited May 22 by AnimeMania

[ottoDbusdriver]

The May 22 show looks like it could be pretty good.

The May 23 show will be the 3rd appearance of both Thomas Lennon and Marcel Arguelllo.

[iMonrey]

Looks like they are tinkering with the formula, I wonder if Taylor will be doing an opening monologue every night. It was pretty good, but the show still lives or dies depending on the panel. Monday's panel was very good. 

This is the 2nd time they've moved Hashtag Wars to the end, and I don't care for that change. I'd prefer to keep it up front, because if Hashtag Wars isn't good, you can bet the rest of the show won't be either. I've turned it off after Hashtag Wars more than once. Maybe they know that. 

[ottoDbusdriver]

Seriously ?  Nearly 7 and a half minutes of standup to open the show.

I really don't like Hashtag wars as the elimination game.

And why did they have the comedians read their own answers in FTW ?  The whole point is that you don't know what wrote what answer.

I curious which exec provided the notes to get these changes made.  Because I don't care for these changes either.

ETA:  It seems like they are just killing time now.  Part of the appeal of the old show was that it was generally only a half hour long (though they did post extended versions of the show around once a week) so the show was fast-paced.

While the 'Is it Caked ?' game was pretty funny, it went on for 12 and half minutes.

Edited May 22 by ottoDbusdriver

[ottoDbusdriver]

At least the May 21 episode only had 1 minute of standup at the start.

[possibilities]

They seem to have stopped awarding an audience winner for hashtag wars, also. And last night they didn't eliminate anyone or do a "for the win" round.

From the start, the show's problem has been too little content and too much time, and they seem to be leaning into that very same chaos and stretching formula. Hire more writers or cut the show back to half an hour. I haven't seen the ratings, but if they were good, they wouldn't be desperately tinkering with the formula, is my guess.

[AnimeMania]

The players made it obvious that they were given the "questions/topics covered" before hand, this makes the show funnier and faster. I guess the "suits" notes were that Taylor should do more than be a "continuous" laugh track for the show, so she does a little crowd work beforehand.

[iMonrey]

On 5/22/2024 at 10:18 AM, possibilities said:

 I haven't seen the ratings, but if they were good, they wouldn't be desperately tinkering with the formula, is my guess.

The ratings seem to be OK from what I can gather, so it's a little strange they're tinkering with the formula so much. Eliminating "For the Win" seems like a really stupid and unnecessary move. It seems like they're trying to appease an audience who expected a talk show instead of a game show.

Frankly, the biggest improvement they could make is telling Taylor to dial down the over-enthusiastic forced laughter from 11 to around 4. That's still what bothers me the most, I can barely get past it. No matter what anyone says, no matter how mundane, it's always HA HA HA! HA HA HA! HA HA! OMG SO FUNNY! HA HA!

[possibilities]

I actually like the opening with Taylor and the audience. But the rest of the show is so uneven. Somewtimes I find it very funny and other times a total dud.

[ottoDbusdriver]

On 5/23/2024 at 12:01 PM, iMonrey said:

 Eliminating "For the Win" seems like a really stupid and unnecessary move. It seems like they're trying to appease an audience who expected a talk show instead of a game show.

I'm really disliking the removal of "For the Win".

Using HashTag Wars as the elimination game is still not doing it for me.

Having said that, Andy, Aasif, and Penn were really funny.  Like when Andy and Penn both went off on tangents and Aasif was stuck in the middle saying "I don't know what the hell is going on".

I liked the audiobook game.

Taylor seems to be swearing a LOT more during the show -- does she have an inside track that the show been cancelled and she doesn't give two f*cks anymore ?

I figured that they have Taylor doing standup to open the show because they fired the warm-up comedian.

Edited May 29 by ottoDbusdriver

[ottoDbusdriver]

For the Thursday episode, After Midnight got a sponsor -- Jose Cuervo tequila -- and I think they got their money's worth since they were name-dropped so many times throughout the episode and their name was on the cocktail glasses.  Though I started to suspect that the episode was actually sponsored by the movIe 'We're the Millers'.  :)

Marcella, Sarah, and Thomas were out of control, but it was damn funny.
Thomas banks his first win on After Midnight.

Marcella had the all-time callback by bringing with her the haunted doll that she won on her previous appearance.

[AnimeMania]

If a sponsor is going to be that heavily promoted, the sponsor should bring some swag for the audience to put them in a favorable mood whenever they hear the name.

[iMonrey]

Strong panels this week, which made for pretty good shows. I just wish they could settle on a consistent formula. And dropping "For the Win" so far has been a hugely unenforced error, the reason for which I cannot fathom. Both "Touch the Grass" and "Gorgeous Pours" were absurdly stupid. 

20 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

I liked the audiobook game.

I thought that was dumb. But I enjoyed "Milk or Water" simply because they were having so much fun with it. It was hilarious how Sarah kept screaming.

[Red Bridey]

I like the little stand-up openers because I had never heard of Taylor before she got this gig and I enjoy her comedy. I've been enjoying all the comedic actors more than some of the comics they've had on, so I'm willing to give the tweaks a shot.

[possibilities]

I loved the clip of the woman who was hula hooping. II love Taylor's joy in what she calls "older women".

[Chyromaniac]

I think why some of the activity games worked better this week is that we had more improv vets, rather than just stand ups and podcasters.  The Jenga game was perfect for that- they kept layering all the prompts together and building off each other’s jokes.  Also, Steph Courtney feels like she should have been huge on SNL (apparently she auditioned enough for it), but wound up getting the “job-for-life” gig with Progressive instead.  In a way, she’s kind of like Cassandra Peterson, another talented comedian who basically turned one character into an entire career.

I’m not entirely sold on the format changes- I think the last segment should be FTW, regardless of what the actual game is.  I miss the blind judging from the audience- I liked the surprise of seeing who had each response.  Definitely don’t award a winner based on Hashtag Wars, and then come back for one last bit.  The Taylor stand up bit at the start is fine - I assume this is another concession to audiences expecting a talk show in this time slot- but limit it to one topic.  

[ottoDbusdriver]

Watched a random episode from the previous show -- and it really highlighted some of the problems with the current show.

Pacing -- the current show frequently drags on and on for some games and bits.  The talk show portion and the standup section at the start of the show just come off as filler.

Live Challenge -- which has evolved into these longwinded interactive games which for the most part aren't very amusing.

Random cameos -- aside from the panelists, there haven't been many random cameos by famous people showing up to plug their latest project while showing up for a minute or 2 to participate/read something as part of a game.

I'd say the pacing is the biggest problem.

 

[SoMuchTV]

On 5/25/2024 at 9:03 AM, Chyromaniac said:

I’m not entirely sold on the format changes- I think the last segment should be FTW, regardless of what the actual game is.  I miss the blind judging from the audience- I liked the surprise of seeing who had each response.  Definitely don’t award a winner based on Hashtag Wars, and then come back for one last bit.  The Taylor stand up bit at the start is fine - I assume this is another concession to audiences expecting a talk show in this time slot- but limit it to one topic.

I'm tending to agree with this.  Who would think I'd be so defensive of the format of a (let's be honest, fairly dumb) show that has only been on for a few months.  And I guess I like that they're showing more viewer suggested hash tags for the prior show when they go to an ad, but I don't like that they first show a screen with about 4 or 5 but don't remind me what the prompt was.  My memory's not that good, show!  My pause and rewind buttons are getting worn out!

[AnimeMania]

S01.E63: June 3, 2024  
Comic Alex Edelman; actor Jack McBrayer; actress Jackie Tohn
Premiere Date: June 4, 2024  CBS  12:37am

S01.E64: June 4, 2024 
Actor Timothy Simons; comic Franchesca Ramsey; comic John Ross Bowie 
Premiere Date: June 5, 2024  CBS  12:37am

S01.E65: June 5, 2024 
Actress Sasheer Zamata; actor Joe Lo Truglio; actress Aparna Nancherla 
Premiere Date: June 6, 2024  CBS  12:37am

S01.E66: June 6, 2024  
Comic Brian Simpson; comic Kelsey Cook; comic Blair Socci
Premiere Date: June 7, 2024  CBS  12:37am

[iMonrey]

I hope guest celebrity appearances don't become a regular thing. I like Tatyana Ali just fine but if they're just going to host celebs so they can promote their latest projects or wares, they might as well just ditch the entire game concept and go full-on talk show.

[Phishbulb]

I hate to be negative, but the things I dislike about this show are starting to outweigh the ones I don't. All the format changes have been unnecessary and annoying, especially the saving the hashtag game for the elimination round and the overhaul of FTW which just isn't working. 

I don't mind Taylor doing some jokes and crowdwork at the beginning, but I miss the little jokes the comedians would do when introducing themselves at the podiums. In general, the emphasis seems to be going away from the comics just riffing to more structured (often dumb) games. 

[ottoDbusdriver]

I just watched the Monday night episode -- and it really dragged on.

Still dislike that they are keeping Hashtag wars as the elimination game.

FTW was just bad.

13 hours ago, Phishbulb said:

I hate to be negative, but the things I dislike about this show are starting to outweigh the ones I don't. All the format changes have been unnecessary and annoying, especially the saving the hashtag game for the elimination round and the overhaul of FTW which just isn't working. 

I don't mind Taylor doing some jokes and crowdwork at the beginning, but I miss the little jokes the comedians would do when introducing themselves at the podiums. In general, the emphasis seems to be going away from the comics just riffing to more structured (often dumb) games. 

Agreed.
 

[ottoDbusdriver]

Tuesday's episode with Franchesca, Timothy, and John was way better than the Monday episode.

The foot race as the deciding game for FTW was an odd choice -- did the writer's just give up ?