{"id":1984958,"date":"2023-07-28T11:10:01","date_gmt":"2023-07-28T15:10:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/as-late-night-tv-goes-dark-fans-wonder-if-the-format-will-ever-come-back\/"},"modified":"2023-07-28T11:14:04","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T15:14:04","slug":"as-late-night-tv-goes-dark-fans-wonder-if-the-format-will-ever-come-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/as-late-night-tv-goes-dark-fans-wonder-if-the-format-will-ever-come-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Fans question if late-night TV will return as it goes dark."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fas-late-night-tv-goes-dark-fans-wonder-if-the-format-will-ever-come-back%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1984958&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>The Late-Night Silence: A Dark Landscape<\/h2>\n<p>The late-night silence is deafening.<\/p>\n<p>On May 2nd, the \u2064Writers Guild of America went on strike seeking better wages, higher\u2064 residual rates, and \u2064protections against the \u200blooming threat of Artificial Intelligence, among related demands.<\/p>\n<p>That meant \u2064screenwriters closed their laptops, taking the \u200cjokes out of\u2064 the corporate comedians\u2019 mouths. No more wisecracks Colbert, Kimmel, Oliver,\u200c or Maher. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/you-get-a-tougher-skin-and-weird-s-happens-im-looking-forward-to-that-greg-gutfeld-on-the-launch-of-his-late-night-fox-news-show-gutfeld\/\" title=\"\u2018You Get A Tougher Skin And Weird S*** Happens. I\u2019m Looking Forward To That.\u2019 Greg Gutfeld On The Launch Of His Late-Night Fox News Show, \u2018Gutfeld!\u2019\">late-night landscape<\/a> \u200dwent dark, and the lights won\u2019t be back on \u200canytime \u2064soon.<\/p>\n<h3>A Faltering Landscape<\/h3>\n<p>Will \u2064audiences greet their return like a favorite show\u2019s new\u2064 seasons?\u2063 Or, will we see a faltering landscape crumble, plagued by incessant partisanship, relentless clapter, and \u200ba business\u200c model in obvious decline?<\/p>\n<p>The latter may be more likely, even if the format continues in some capacity when the\u2063 strike finally ends.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>We\u2019re certainly\u2063 not seeing any desperate \u200dop-eds demanding the swift return of these <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/when-will-comedians-stop-protecting-kamala-harris\/\" title=\"When Will Comedians Stop Protecting Kamala Harris?\">late-night propagandists<\/a>. Even the Left-leaning <a href=\"https:\/\/movieweb.com\/when-will-late-night-tv-shows-come-back\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MovieWeb<\/a> perused the \u2063late-night-free environment and wondered if the public even missed it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Had \u2064the work stoppage lasted a few weeks or even months we\u2019d expect the show to go on, more or less as \u200dusual. The hosts might\u200c forgo any summer vacation plans to resume\u2064 their high-paying gigs and reconnect with their dwindling fan base.<\/p>\n<p>Except the WGA and the \u2063studio \u200brepresentatives remain far apart and you\u2019d be hard-pressed to find an industry observer who sees a resolution lurking around the \u200ccorner.<\/p>\n<p>The\u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/vivek-ramaswamy-shark-tank-host-mark-cuban-spar-over-woke-capitalism\/\" title=\"Vivek Ramaswamy and Mark Cuban clash on 'Woke' capitalism.\">news cycle moves<\/a> on without their pre-packaged monologues, leaving folks\u2062 like\u200c John \u2064Oliver wishing he could weigh in on the latest Trump indictment news and, conversely, ignore stories with the name \u201cHunter\u201d attached.<\/p>\n<p>No one expected a swift resolution to the writers\u2019 \u2062strike, and\u200b that was before the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) joined them on the picket lines earlier this\u200b month. That means even if the late-night shows were open for business, they\u2019d have no one to grace their colorful couches.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The loss of late-night comedy struck a body \u200dblow against the mainstream media. Journalists loved regurgitating whatever Stephen Colbert said on a given\u200d night,\u200b assuming it\u200c tarred and\/or feathered\u2063 GOP favorites like\u2062 Donald Trump or former Fox News superstar Tucker Carlson.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Reporters even assembled round-up stories on the latest late-night \u200dantics, purposely \u2062leaving \u2063out the one show that\u2019s still cranking out new episodes \u2014 that\u2019s \u201cGutfeld!,\u201d the Fox \u2063News hit that recently abandoned the late shift for an earlier, \u200b10 p.m. EST time slot.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Another \u2063sign of \u200bthe\u200c format\u2019s eventual doom?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Late-night TV was\u2064 in trouble before the dueling strikes. The Left-leaning Axios \u200csaid the format was \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2023\/04\/28\/late-night-tv-corden-ratings-decline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rapidly declining<\/a>\u201d back in April, noting the recent loss of several\u2062 key players.<\/p>\n<p>Low ratings likely sunk TBS mainstay \u201cFull Frontal \u200cwith Samantha\u200d Bee.\u201d \u2063Trevor Noah up and left the basement-rated \u201cDaily Show\u201d\u200b over at Comedy Central,\u2064 leaving the cable\u200d channel to uncork a rotating host schedule\u200b without finding the South African comic\u2019s\u2064 successor.<\/p>\n<p>That search,\u200d like the show itself, is presumably on hold.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLate Late Show\u201d \u200bstar James Corden also called it \u2063quits, abandoning a format that was setting <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2023\/05\/01\/cbs-was-reportedly-losing-millions-on-james-cordens-late-night-show\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CBS back millions<\/a>.\u2063 The network didn\u2019t bother to\u200d find \u2062his replacement,\u200b opting to air a\u200c game show reboot in his place.<\/p>\n<p>Late-night revenues were similarly down in recent months.<\/p>\n<p>Axios\u200d reported ad revenue for \u2064the top six shows shrank more than 50% since 2014, and more than 60% from its highest point in 2016 (a heated presidential campaign year).<\/p>\n<p>Does that sound like a healthy TV landscape?<\/p>\n<p>Audiences are fickle. They may have\u2062 watched their favorite late-night comedian for years,\u2063 but now they\u2019re left to find new bedtime rituals. That could mean social media surfing or \u200csampling the various YouTube creators cranking out provocative, timely \u2062satire.<\/p>\n<p>Comedians like liberal-leaning Jimmy\u200c Dore happily \u2062tear into President Joe Biden as well as Trump. Right-leaning comics, meanwhile, eviscerate the woke mind virus,\u2064 among other progressive targets.<\/p>\n<p>Any \u2064random sketch\u2064 by Ryan Long is as funny,\u2064 if not funnier, than whatever Jimmy Fallon uncorked from his \u201cTonight\u2064 Show\u201d perch.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s no lack of creative minds filling the gaps left\u200d behind by late-night taking an \u2063extended knee. And audiences can \u2063watch them at any time of the day if they\u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/as-late-night-tv-goes-dark-fans-wonder-if-the-format-will-ever-come-back\/\" title=\"Fans question if late-night TV will return as it goes dark.\">crave late-night-style yuks<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The host of HBO\u2019s \u201cReal Time with Bill Maher\u201d is still talking, but he\u2019s doing it via his weekly \u201cClub Random\u201d \u200cpodcast. The show eschews partisan banter for conversations across the ideological divide. Here\u2019s betting he\u2019s having more fun talking to\u2063 the\u2063 likes of Jordan Peterson than pretending \u201cReal Time\u201d guests \u2064like Rob Reiner make sense.<\/p>\n<p>Some Jimmy Kimmel scribes\u2064 have hit the road, packaging themselves together \u200cas\u200b a late-night stand-up tour to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/under-trump-americans-have-seen-their-best-wage-growth-in-40-years\/\" title=\"Under Trump, Americans Have Seen Their Best Wage Growth In 40 Years\">make ends meet<\/a> during\u200d the strike.<\/p>\n<p>Kimmel himself is keeping a low profile this summer, except when he\u2019s the target <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jimmykimmel\/status\/1673832917825626112\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">of Twitter\u2019s\u200c Community Notes fact-checking squad.<\/a> Colbert is mostly quiet on Twitter, too. It\u2019s \u200balmost like his comic shtick is a job and he doesn\u2019t feel compelled to weigh in on the latest \u200dheadlines if there\u2019s \u2062no paycheck attached.<\/p>\n<p>Seth Meyers\u2019 Twitter feed\u200c is similarly \u2063subdued.<\/p>\n<p>Even late-night \u200dstalwarts\u200b seemed resigned \u2064to the\u2063 new reality facing them when the strike\u2062 finally ends.<\/p>\n<p><em>Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hollywoodintoto.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HollywoodInToto.com<\/a>. He previously served as associate editor with\u2063 Breitbart News\u2019\u2063 Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HollywoodInToto?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@HollywoodInToto<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The \u200cviews expressed in this piece are\u200d those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On May 2nd, the Writers Guild of America strike began, demanding improved wages, higher residual rates, and safeguards against the impending Artificial Intelligence threat. As a result, screenwriters halted their work, leaving corporate comedians like Colbert, Kimmel, and Oliver without their usual supply of witty remarks. The late-night atmosphere now echoes with an eerie silence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":279,"featured_media":1984959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1984958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1984958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/279"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1984958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1984958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1984959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1984958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1984958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1984958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}