Late night television
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Late night television is the block of television programming usually airing sometime between 11:30 pm to 3:00 am. A regular feature of this programming is a particular genre of talk show more colloquially known as "Late Night". Shows aired in this time-slot are generally more adult-oriented.
Contents |
[edit] Late night programming in United States
Popular shows of the late night talk show genre include The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the Late Show with David Letterman, and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Famous former hosts include Johnny Carson of The Tonight Show, Arsenio Hall of The Arsenio Hall Show, Tom Snyder of Tomorrow and The Late Late Show, Steve Allen, the father of the late night talk show and founder of Tonight (now known as "The Tonight Show"), Merv Griffin and Dick Cavett, early competitors with Carson, and Jack Paar, the man who followed Steve Allen as host of the Tonight Show and who is responsible for setting the standards for the genre.
In the United States late-night shows per network usually have one being taped from New York, and one from Los Angeles. Most "late night" shows are taped late in the afternoon (with the exception of Jimmy Kimmel Live). The fact that this limits accurate coverage of the latest news cycle is sometimes the source of ironic humor.
Two prominent late night only cable/satellite channels currently air in the United States: Nick at Nite, a collection of mostly sitcom reruns that airs in Nickelodeon's channel slot between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. each night, and Adult Swim, a block of animated programming targeted toward young adults that shares time with the Cartoon Network channel slot each night.
[edit] Typical format
These shows often follow the same canonical format:
- a stand-up comedy segment, called the monologue in which the host makes jokes about current events,
- several skits, sketches, or other comedy bits,
- interviews with one or two celebrity guests,
- a musical guest or comedy act.
[edit] House bands
Most shows in this genre have an in-house band that plays musical interludes. Popular late night band leaders in the U.S. include Paul Shaffer, leader of The CBS Orchestra on The Late Show with David Letterman; Max Weinberg, leader of The Max Weinberg 7 on Late Night with Conan O'Brien; and Kevin Eubanks, leader of the Tonight Show Band; . Usually the band leader is a major part of the show, and the band leader and host often exchange playful banter during the monologue and comedy segments; the band leader has thus taken over the part of being the host's sidekick, which in the past was played by Ed McMahon and Andy Richter, among others. Of the current late night talk show band leaders who play this role, Paul Shaffer is well-known for being a straight man to David Letterman. However, on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Max Weinberg rarely speaks during the show, and his interactions with O'Brien are often short and awkward -- a recurring gag on the show, and Kevin Eubanks is often the butt of Leno's jokes, particularly regarding drug-related stories.
[edit] Announcers
Often, the show's announcer is also a major part of the show. Famous announcers include Gene Rayburn and Hugh Downs (both from the early years of The Tonight Show), Ed McMahon from The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Edd Hall and John Melendez from The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Bill Wendell and Alan Kalter from Late Show with David Letterman, and Don Pardo from Saturday Night Live. These announcers often have significant career accomplishments outside of their particular shows.
[edit] Non-late night talk shows
Not all late night talk shows air late at night; for example, The Ellen DeGeneres Show follows the format of a late night talk show, but airs in the daytime. Similar shows included The Mike Douglas Show, Live with Regis and Kelly, The View, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, The Tyra Banks Show and The Wayne Brady Show.
There are also some daytime talk shows that air in late night, such as The Jerry Springer Show (because of the program's adult content). Most of the time however, daytime talk shows air in late night involuntarily because of low ratings in their original daytime slots, no room on their station's schedule in an appropriate timeslot, or to fill time otherwise taken up by infomercials or sitcom reruns.
Still other late night programs break the standard format; most notably, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is a parody of an evening news program, while The Colbert Report parodies political talk shows. Then there is the Fox News channel show Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld which uses a round table discussion format on issues of the day. That format is similar to what was used on Politically Incorrect, with the key difference being that on Red Eye some guests aren't in the same room, while on Politically Inccrrect they were all in the same set.
[edit] See also
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
