Full Transcript
Caloroga Shark Media. Hea. Here, I’m Johnny Max. Something a little different for you today. I made a friend on the internet.
He is for ad Mohammed. I don’t really know him. We were just running around in the same circles talking about the same kind of things, and I’m like, hey, why don’t you come on and we’ll talk about late night for an hour. And that’s what we did. Let’s just jump in.
The curtain that’s behind you is just beautiful and amazing. Can can you tell us about the curtain and what it looks like and what is the origin of this curtain. Certainly the curtain behind me is espacially a multicolored curtain. It’s actually just a bunch of like wedding like a small curtain. See, these are like separate pieces, but basically I put them all together in order to have this multicolor effect, in order for it to recreate the look and feel of the curtains that we’re on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson back I would say between the seventies to his final show and in the end night.
So yeah, I call I called them the Carson curtains. I’m if the people from the Cars Entertainment Group go after me and I’ll just call them the Living Color like that. But yeah, that’s that’s pretty much the h that’sretty much the whole deal there. Well, I did this s order about for my web series I’m still putting together, kind of not called the talk show Show. It’s just basically talked about talk show history.
If there will the latest things you’re having it like my talk shows and everything like that. As an expert in legally distinct content, they’re probably I’m almost assured that if I pulled up the Carson curtains, they’re probably totally different. But they’re giving off vibe, which is what’s the important thing. That’s the important you. Know, if we if we filmed something that took place in nineteen seventy eight or nineteen eighty two maybe and they had those curtains, it would look right, and that’s always the most important thing.
Precisely. Yeah, I’m going for the look. I’m not going for an exact replica. There are already exact replicas in micanzums. And you know, the official curtains all either stowed away either I think they’re either at the center or they’re inside of a person’s private collection either way.
But yeah, but I’ve seen I’ve seen the curtains being I’ve seen like a version of the curtains being used on late talk shows and they go for like an eighties night. I see it on Fallon as well as Kimmel.
And also when David Letterman got like some sort of comedic lifetime achievem…
So, if I’m recalling correctly this the past summer, Kimmel was doing an eighties week with the curtains and the look, and that is when the little Kurf fluffle broke out, right, and that week didn’t happen. Am I remembering that correctly? I thought the week I thought it didn’t happen because his band leader. Oh that’s right, Okay, I’m misremembering, Yes, yes, yes, But I don’t think they ever went back and did that week unfortunately. No, I’m hoping that they do that again.
But I completely understandable as to why it was cut short, either because I do believe it was because of Leado, but it was also because his show was taken off the year a couple of upper, a couple of days. Then yeah, I can understand why they wouldn’t go back to that just right now. They do have other shows plan and everything like that, so I’m sure it’ll do an eighties, you know, through back week at another point in time. All Right, I’m gonna come over to your place tonight around eleven thirty five. Let’s watch some TV.
I’m going to move for late night television, whichever show you pick. Who are we watching for the. Current ones or just in general current Okay? I usually start out with Kimmel manly, because he does a funny and distant, a decent distillation about what’s happening in the news of the day. I also at eleven thirty five, I would also turn into Fallon because I’m a huge fandit that’s nine show franchise, and I think that Fallon for what he is doing and what his goals are, I think he’s doing a pretty decent job.
I do understand that he is not a political satirist, and so he is not going to be as biting as Colbert or Kimmel, but I would away. I would also, but I would I always try to tune in to see what he’s doing and what’s the games he’s playing anything like that. He’s trying to be like a lighthearted compliment to the likes of Kim and Colbert, and of course Colbert where you would also tune in as well, because the mobologuees are absolutely fantastic end guests are really o provoking and everything. So, I mean, it’s tough to the side because of the fact that all the monologues are pretty much uploaded to YouTube like two hours before a day or live. Here on the West Coast, I usually see the mobologues like around like eight or nine PM, which is kind of which is kind of the purpose to get the late night or whenever I am up at that time, and I I try to tune into all three.
I want to pull on a few threads there, especially with the time zone thing. I keep wondering. I understand how the network television business works and the affiliates business, but I keep wondering if there’s some sort of value to putting these things out on a streamer at eight PM that I know for me, there’s a much better chance of me sampling one of those things if they were live or live on tape in the eight pm Eastern hour at eleven thirty, there’s pretty much zero chance of me watching and I’m going to watch clips. I understand that is the commerce in which we live. But maybe if these things were actually on, people might look.
At them, I would imagine. So I do think that the especially for a late night talk show, which which is based which is very very time sensitive, to put it on a to put on a streaming platform at like a day afterwards kind of defeats the purpose or even like the morning afterwards, because a lot of stuff might be happening in the news between the time that the show tapes and the time to just see it, and at the time the show tapes of like you know, anywhere between four to like six pm on the East Coast, and so by the time it reaches the time it reaches uh, by the time it reaches the streaming platform, there might be something happened in the morning or something like that may not be accurate anymore, so that that might make the monologue not active anymore. Yeah, I do think that happened because I was thinking of having, like I remember posting this on threads a while ago, that there might be a time where if one of the days of the week is not really performing very well for a network, they may consider showing a show like The Tonight Show or Late Night with step Myers on NBC at a day of some teeousy like they do with Saturady Night Lot Live Now, because I really been performing very well for NBC as far as I can tell, outside of like sports events or something like that. So what they do is that they show is that they show USNL as early as thirty over here, and over here in Los Angeles, it’s still over, it’s still at eleven thirty in New York City, but it’s shown simultaneously so everybody, so that everybody can see it instead of having us to wait until all until the show is on, until the show comes on, and at that point at like two thirty or three o’clock in the morning in New York when it would finally premiered a eleven thirty here on the West Coast. Yeah, I do think that that sort of that that sort of deal with very advantageous for SML for it to be shown simultaneously.
And I do think that if they were to do that with one of the late night shows like well in a week, not having it to do like for every single day because they end with the Jay Leno Show. But if you were to do that for one day where it is not as performing as well, which obviously wouldn’t be the day where the Chicago like PD and Fire and Catcher is on, or or on the days where Da Line is on or anything like that day, it would be pretty much safe. But if there’s like a day where some of their sitcoms are doing too well and they want to have like, you know, like a special time for this like semi cats version of The Tonight Show or for a Sera Caz version of Late Night, I think that would do pretty well. That might intercede with some of the with the local news and syndi aphilias other time zone, but they could be able to make a sort of arrangement that way. So yeah, I do think that that that sort of arrangement would be cool.
But if anything else, if they were to do that on the streaming platform for Peacock for NBC or for Now for PBS, or their comments on Lease but for Hulu on for ABC, I think that would really drive up the numbers. And if they’re really trying to include streaming numbers on the alf these platforms here, I think that would that would be a definite boon in that particular case here. So since they’re releasing the monologue on YouTube for free anyway during around that time after the monologue is over, So yeah, I do think that’s that would be a Yeah. There’s so many weird things, like right now we’re living in this weirdness with snl UK where I’m seeing a third of the show on YouTube on Saturday night by nine pm Eastern and then Peacock’s making me wait, and then by the time I watched the show, I’m like, oh, I’ve already seen this sketch and I’m skipping through half of it. Like I don’t understand the Peacock delay at all, you.
Know, matter do I know? I mean, even if they ran it at eleven thirty Eastern, I don’t think you’re competing with Saturday Night Live US or whatever we’re calling the mothership now, like just just put it. Up, yeah, yeah, or if anything else but on like because of the show and time, daneously put it on immediately after a Saturday Night Live as already in their broadcast that you know, if anybody wants to see sernay ve UK immediately afterwards, they can just do that. And for people on the West Coast that would be very advantageous because Saturday Live ends at around like ten pm over a year, so you know, we I just got the sn L UK and get another hour of SNL based programming I’m right afterwards. So yeah, I definitely do see that as a as a good way to do that.
What I am noticing though, is that Peacock is now starting to show It’s now starting to premiere sml UK earlier and earlier. Originally was supposed to be on at like nine pm on Sunday and now and then that it was on like three pm on Sunday, and I think recently it was on at like ten am on Sunday. So they’re getting close. So hopefully they’ll see if the numbers keep increasing as they move it earlier and earlier by having it right after the broadcast of bethnl US, then probably that’ll that’ll be the best, That’ll be the best course of action for them. But they are starting to notice that people are wanting to see sml UK shortly after the shortly after the episode has aired.
Over in the UK. Yeah, we’ll see how we’ll see a peacock. I like what we’re getting out of that show. I think it’s going throughun the middle of both being Saturday Night Live as one would know it, but also feeling British enough. I say that as a yank, but you know it, it feels right to me.
So far, I have found it to be funnier than this current American season. Uh. You know, I hope it sticks around. Yeah, I hope it’s it’s frown too. Given the fact that the that the types of humor is slightly different in the UK than it is in the US, I wouldn’t stay that it’s funnier, but I would say it is very funny.
And I do find the occurrency that’s very fun as well. Yeah, but I but I do see it as like it’s like in the Moves Booshell, different comedic tastes and everything like that. I mean, you wouldn’t have a sketch like the Bastard seagull from a couple of weeks ago. Uh, that’s no us, that’s a little bit it’s a little bit of that’s a little bit too tight. And as far as I’m concerned, and I don’t think the US writers would have that would have that sort of common sensibility, or at the very least would not think that they would make it to air.
So I’m glad that they’re that they’re being a little bit more experimental with that UK.
And then to be fair with that snel Us, the Colemon Domingo episode is exceedi…
So I’m glad they’re trying to you know, embrace the weird southern end, have the host and not have the host to match to sn L, but to have SNL the match to the host and has been coming with such a machine that you know, all you do is just get you know, any it’s getting any sort of like you know, cardboard cutout of an actor, place them in there and just have say the lines, and then you get an episode of the best Well, but in this case they were really writing to the host strings and the same and the same with the the or the more recent Ryank Gostling episode. Yeah he kiggles a lot and everything like that, but he’s able, but he also doesn’t race the weirdness a lot more, and so the writers were I believe the writers are a little bit more free in order to you know, go from the fences of. The Yeah, that most recent episode was fantastic.
And also you can tell they know that we know that Ashley Padilla is the next …
Yeah. I do wonder what they’re going to be doing for the intro sequence for next season. From I’ve I’ve had some people tell me they kind of update. There’s their intro sequences every two years. I’m hoping that they don’t have this one to stick around a little bit more one because it was for the fiftieth niverse and I’d like to see that sort of iconography still there.
I mean, obviously the fifty is gone, but a lot of the stuff regarding the look at the logo and stuff is still there.
And also that intro sequence was the first time as far as I can tell, without…
In like in like the intro to special or something like that anniversary special, they incorporated not only the interior of a h but also cat but also crew members who actually work on the show. And I thought that was a really cool way in order to celebrate the d show in its entirety, because a lot of the intro sequences involved the cat Romers being outside and then you stay outside and neither they run to the studio or they’re just hanging out or something like that. Maybe or maybe they might do like a bunch of still photo something like that, like for I think like the for a couple of years of the past fifth season, but ordering for anniversary season. But I do think that for this one they were able to incorporate both exterior shots as well as matching them to interior shots within a age, and it was really like this cool flow there. So I really hope that they still incorporate that in some way, shape or form for the next season.
And then if they and if they do keep the current intro, that they know something specifically for Ashley so she would be in between I believe Colin jostin Sarah Sherman in the cast, So that that’s really that should that should be a pretty uh that should be an already available way in order to incorporate and order incorporate an additional cast Hover because both Michael Longfellow and Abel and Wolden were also inside it also in the the intro sequence win it was for season fifty, but then when they let then when they either fired or the distant return beteen fifty one, that did leave a bit of a gap. So putting in Ashley would would be a relatively easy transition of red and a rather. Easy so you see the smile on my face. You are not messing around with that answer by Fred. That was somebny who knows about they’re talking about?
That was not a winged answer. I love that one. Do you have an opinion on mister Michaels should he stick around? I keep looking at Will Ferrell and musical guest Paul McCartney and a cast that’s not that strong, and your eighty something, and uh, Tina’s hanging out in the UK a little bit. Supposedly she’s been pseudo show running over there.
I saw a couple of articles. Maybe on late night or is that a good time. Let McCartney sing seventeen verses of let It Be and go home? Hey Jude, I’m sorry it would be hit Jude. Yeah, yeah, Hey Jude, absolute yeah.
I tried to hate Jude at karaoke. I had I did not realize how long the song is. I was up there for ten minutes just singing no no, no, no, no, no, over and over. But anyway, but here’s the l I think that Lorne should go when he feels like he when he feels like that it’s a fun anymore. I think that, you know, it’s his show.
He helped build it. I won’t say that he created because a lot of it has to do with that memo that Herb Schlosser wrote out about how we Deba Shawan and Terry Knight and he can be an eight AGAs in thirty Rockies New York blah bla blah blah, and then Lauren kind of like adjusted to those instructions and helped make that show but also take care for Saul with the huge part of you know, forming to get to the show and making sure it was under budget as much as it can be. And so there are a lot of there are a lot of people who created the show, but Lauren was definitely the visionary behind the show. And so I do think that if he wants to keep on, you know, show running, and if he’s managed to set up a system where he does not where it’s not like he doesn’t have to do as much work. But I do think that, you know, given that image worry is in his eighties, that there are a lot of there are a lot of ways to be able to delegate a lot of the you know, sort of more menial tasks that he would usually do when he was in his forties or fifties.
Then yeah, I mean he should definitely, you know, he definitely has a comedic guy. He definitely has a he definitely has a good sense of where talent is. That’s definitely a showcase with the h and as well as well as Jane Wicklin. Jane Wicklin is really starting to come into a run there as well. And I do think think that, Yeah, I do think that he should just host the show for as long as he wants to and then if the Dessia has to step down, especially with that catchesting that does, that does kind of make me wonder I see whether or not he feels that it’s ready for him to step down.
If he does feels if he feels that he’s ready to step down, he stepped down. If he doesn’t feel like he’s ready to step down, he should just keep on going. Probably not so long that you know, he starts, he starts to come forget for something like that. But he’s just but from what I’ve seen, he’s still pretty sharp. So I’m not kind, I’m not I’m not really worried about that.
So yeah, I do think that Lorne should be there for as long as he wants to, and when he’s ready, then I’ll then we’re we’re all kind of ready for some sort of you know, farewell or something like that. I just really hope that he doesn’t like die the middle of this show, because the show will still go on. I remember I think Seth was talking a Q and A. He was people would sometimes ask him questions about how about what would happened after Louren or something like that, that, yeah, the show will probably still contee. You just be like, you know, oh, hold on, Lorn died.
We gotta cut the sketch down by a couple of weeks. No, I do hope that. I do hope that Lauren exits when on his own terms, because his show has been pretty much on his own terms except for nineteen eighty five. But anyway, so. Yeah, almost an impossible person to follow.
I think you’ll have to have somebody with name recognition. Again, Tina’s name gets thrown around a lot. Seth a little bit. I think if it’s not somebody with star power, you immediately are wide open to the show’s not good anymore. So and so’s not up to the task.
But I also think there’s the value of having enough gravitas to be able to tell the network to hose off and to back off, whereas if there is a lesser known person, you’re probably more prone to budget cuts. Or do we need X people in the cast? Can we do this with eight people? Do we need sixteen episodes? What if we only need fourteen episodes?
Or do we need music? Or all these questions? Whereas do we. Do all of these? Do all of these have to be live?
And some of them be pre taped? And so on? Yeah, let’s let’s take too long here. You ever saw that? Right?
Yeah? All right, let me be a good host and actually build a break into our little discussion here. And I want to come back and talk Jay Leno. Early on this conversation, you name checked Jay Leno’s ten PM show. I have a I don’t know if it’s controversial.
It’s not like people are debating us on the streets. But it’s an opinion that I think that was the right show that came along a little too early. I think the model made sense. And my straw argument is, given current network television, if you told me you could get Stephen Colbert to do some sort of Charlie Rose type thing sitting at a desk with a black curtain behind you, and it’s inexpensive to produce, that might not be the worst idea for network television heading into twenty twenty. Seven, that might not be, but I do think that, yeah, one of the major problems with that twenty ten was still a very very good year for linear television, and so to not only shorten the prime time schedule by a third third in the in the for a prime time at NBC at a point where NBC was still kind of the shaky in terms of in terms of their brought in terms of their broadcasting power at that point because this post Mussy TV Friends is already off the air, er just went off the air, so there they were kind of on shaking ground.
But because of that, as well as the fact that they brought in the show that brings in great numbers, if it were the Tonight Show, this is the Jay Lenvel Show brought in like standard Tonight Show numbers. That is not what they were looking for ten pm though, I mean they were following like a whole bunch of other programs that were on at that hour, you know, going all the way back to like next you got mean, this is this is the time slot that Quantum Leap and Hill Street Blues and Law and Order and definitely Dateline around the Air. And so to completely remove that particular hour that’s that was still pretty strong for NBC at that time was not the best of ideas. I do think that if they went to a weekly show, which Jay would not have agreed to it all, but they did go to a weekly show and have Jay to build up an audience with that as I’m like a like a you know, have to be like the continuation of the Thursday night comedies are happening on that time. That probably would have worked, and then they probably could have fixed it to you know, two days or they kind of the same way that they did with Who Wants to Be the Leonarroc When it first started out, it was a major head and so they just burned on this minute and as many times plot as they possibly could, because it was because it was guaranteed greeting at that time unfortunately did suffer from a lot of overexposure and a lot of burnout for people, and so that’s why I didn’t do it.
That’s why I kind of puzzled out afterwards. But we that said, I do think that hobbling the prime time schedule for NBC at a point where they really needed to work to go as well as they needed it to. I don’t think that would have been the I don’t think that was the rect course of action. As you said before, I do think that in twenty twenty seven, especially now at timeslots are a little bit less of a factor, unless you unless you’re talking about you know, gut faeld or something like that. Then yeah, that probably would have been a that probably would have been a better that probably would have been a better choice to have on the air if they if it was something that would be relatively cheap to produce, but again, we probably would want to start that out at like one day a week and then just build up from there instead of having it just be completely every single night.
And I do think that was that was like that was the Achilles, smel and a JA that show. That One of the what IFFs I think about is clearly somebody’s having some sort of conversation. Hey, these numbers aren’t so good. Somebody says what about Jay? Or who?
Maybe Jay starts the conversation, but at some point it’s on the table. What if we replace Conan with j? Now what happens if J says no, I would never do that. Are we looking at? Is Conan still on at eleven thirty?
Or does Conan get hooked and Jimmy Fallon gets the show a little earlier and maybe he’s not ready yet. This is one of those what ifs that I play with. Yeah, actually that’s a darn good I don’t really think about what would have happened if Jay just decided not to do it, because it was always pursued that that question was moved anyway. But no, I do think that if Jay did not go back, I do think that he would have tried to go on to ABC and probably you know, get like they. I don’t think he would go on to I don’t think he would go onto the to the twelve thirty slot.
And I’m going to try to do this as with Eastern and Pacific times can even though my brain automatically thinks late you know, Late Night with David Leergman was on at eleven thirty because that’s when it was on the Chicago I grew up anyway, So yeah, I don’t think that Jay would have gone to twelve thirty on ABC. I do think that he probably would have done what Conan eventually did with the George Lopez Show and just have his show to be on at eleven thirty or possibly or maybe a half hour version of that show, and it maybe would have expanded and then and then because Kimmel, I believe that point was already on at midnight because the Night Lane was on beforehand. He didn’t switch over to the eleven thirty five slot until a little afterwards about the sake, And so I do think that Ja probably would have gone on into aec or or done some other sort of deal or something like that. I really don’t know. I don’t know if he would have tried to get if he would have tried to try to get a date job, ors like that don’ts but anyway, but I do, but I do think he would have gone to someplace else and I.
And while I don’t well, I do think that Conan would have stayed on. I don’t know how long he would have been on the show. I’m not entirely sure if he would still be on right now, especially given the fact that he did a show that you know, that was completely his, that was that was completely under his creative control over a TVs and he left five years ago. So I don’t think that he would have been on as long as Jay or Johnny or anything like that. I think he would have been on there for probably about ten years, maybe you know, maybe up to fifteen, which would have been up last year.
But I do think that he would have you know, probably switched on over to that. He probably would have done the similar rept these doing right now you will be on the podcast, he would be you knowing people. And I do think that Fallon probably would have stayed over the Late night for as long as he for as long as he felt that he could keep that show. And he also had Lorne Michael’s behind him, so he definitely had some definite heft to it, and he and if anything else, he probably would have brought the show back to New York, as he did back in twenty fourteen, and so I do think that Fallon would have eventually become the host of the to Night Show, and he probably would be the host of that to Night Show right now, but but I don’t know if he was, but it would have been a little bit different compared to how it was when Jay was over there for another five years. I think that I think that Fellow would have been over would have been on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon for about ten years and then much like what’s Conen and Dave actually, and then they would have moved on to the Tonight Show at that point in time.
I did feel I for some reason, I did feel that when he switched, when he went over to the night show after Jay stepped down, actually stepped down, that he that I wouldn’t just sure if he was ready for it, because he was only hosting Late Night for only five years, but he has demonstrated that he was able to hold onto that show and you know, and maintain people’s interests for or over ten years now, So most of why I know in some cases, but yeah, I do think that I do think that Fellow would be the home that to Night Show right now because he was the host of Late Night, and they want to do that kind of transition that they’ve always wanted to do between Late Night and the night show that NBC has bundled up a couple of times. But but yeah, I do think that I do think that Conan would probably be in the same situation he is right now. I don’t know if he would have to have the same deal with serious extent that he does right now, but he would have been doing something more. He would have been doing something creative. He has the documentary says he Can’t Stop You, and he probably doing a show.
You’re probably doing a travel log show for Peacock. I think you and I are aligned about Jimmy Fallon. Most people just I roll, Oh, Jimmy Fallon. He’s lame, he sucks, it’s vanilla. It’s not a good version of the Tonight Show.
But if I’m understanding, you’re right, we are aligned in that Jimmy understands what the Tonight Show mission is and is executing them mission. Well, yes, yes, I do think that, Uh yeah, I mean I think that he is really holding on to the notion that of what Johnny Carson said in that sixty Minutes interview. He does not use it Tonight show to talk about serious issues. He uses it as a way to escape, as a way for people to escape the troubles of the world. He’ll he’ll make fun of it, and Johnny does as well as well as Jimmy does.
But it won’t be it won’t be fighting sat time. There won’t be like a significant you know, point of view or anything like that. It would rather or not be analysis.
And then the truth is that that’s already happening on two other shows eleven…
He wants everybody to be happy. He wants everybody to feel great, the guests, the audience, the audience at home and everything like that. The crew, well maybe not maybe not the crew in some cases, but anyway, he isn’t given that they’ve given a previous story about what was going on behind the scenes, but from what I understand, that atmosphere has changed from what I’m understanding about what’s what’s happening over at the over the show. So so yeah, I do think that Jimmy, it definitely takes into account that he is the temporary steward of a seventy year long franchise. Now, granted, Jack paul In the show was very He definitely had his hard in his sleeve.
He quit the show because he couldn’t tell a joke. He had. He did a show that wasn’t that was from Cuba. He had John Acandy on as like a guest host of What I’m Mistaken, if not like just a part of the panel, and so he definitely had He was did me a lot more focusing on, you know, talking about the serious issues on the show. But that wasn’t when it was a franchise.
He was just the guy after Steve Allen and after the Tonight after Dark to bottle that took place back but anyway, but so it was it wasn’t considered like an established franchise just yet because because Alan had Oi been also the show for I think less than ten years at that point. So yeah, I do think that I do think that now that has been establaged, especially with the longevity of Parson, the longevity of Leno, that there’s already an established way that a Tonight show should be set up and the types of jokes that are going to be in there, and so they are working within those parameters because say, no, that is what has that is what is given the Tonight shows longevity. So yeah, that that’s I mean, that’s why you never hear like any sort of censored curse words out of out of Jimmy or out of I mean there might be from the guests or something like that, but that the guests can’t be predicted there, but you will let prehere in sort of and sort of curse words out of Jimmy because he knows that’s not how the tinancial operations. That that that’s that that can be done with the Late Night that can be done with Colbert, you don’t Kim if necessary, but with the Science show, that’s just yeah. I just think that he does see him he does see himself as like the the person who was carrying on each positions of what has been happening over that.
Let’s talk a little Jay Leno. One of the jokes on my show is I always referred to him as the worst person who ever lived, because any any interview about Jay Leno is he’s just the worst person who ever lived. He’s eyeing in a closet, He’s going to steal your show. He’s gonna stab Conan in the in the back, got it? Got it?
And then I listened to interviews with this guy, and he seems thoughtful, he seems nice, he seems like he’s a good caretaker of his ill wife. He seems like a good husband. He seems like a good guy. But he’s the worst person who ever lived. So where are you on on Jay Leno?
I think I really like Jay Leno, but he’s never tried to steal this show, and I actually wish he would. If Jay Leto tried to hijack Daily Comedy News, I think that would be good for my career. So Jay, I dare you? Yeah? I think so?
Yeah. But my thoughts on j are a little bit complicated. But I was paying attention to the Leno Letterman buffle that’s place back in xteen eighty two. As John Malady would put it, I was twelve years old, but I was still paying attention to, like, you know, all the goings on with the networks and everything like that, and it just intensely fascinated me. But yeah, I mean, here’s the deal.
I do think that Letterman should have gotten tonight show after Johnny stepped down. That was what Johnny wanted, and that was what a lot of people in New York wanted. But a lot of people in LA thought that, you know, Jay had better. Jay was better with the affiliates. You know, Dave was very a cervic with the affiliates.
He would always talk about Gees being this horrible company and everything like that. And whe or not NBC made the right decision is definitely reflected in the numbers because Leon Letterman beat Jay for the first two years of the show, and then all of a sudden people caught on to what Jay was doing after the the the Hugh Grant interview, and they never looked back. And so and you know it was there was a point where there was a billboard up on like up a Times Square near the CBS headquarters or at least night some CDs opposite point. Then it was like picture a huge picture of JSA number one and late Night. And so Dave got a larger billboard that was right off to the side of it, s like number three in Late Night, you know.
So so it’s I mean, I I have tuned into j mainly for mainly for a bit of the modelogue and for the headlines because it’s still the Tonight Show, and so I was so I was still paying attention, but I was always more of a Lement fan, and so I would always tune in for Element for the interviews Demi Moore for the opening remark slash monologue. In his monologue got longer and longer. So I do think that that Leno was definitely a good steward of the Tonight Show. I do think that would have been a better host. But Leno definitely did put in the work in order to give nbc’son numbers they were looking for.
With the Conan situation, I was at. I was absolutely angry, oh, for all these sorts of mechanations, having the show that was basically I was basically a rating suck and everything like that, and so and I do think that Leno should have just said, no, I’m not going back to eleven thirty five, that’s Conan stuff. You you put Conan in there, You’re gonna have to deal with Conan here, you know, and then you know, just going and do some other sort of show afterwards, probably an ADC. But anyway, because he was definitely a communication with Jimmy Kimmel all the way up until there was that interamous in a ten segment on The j Leno Show where Jimmy just basically said, believe our shows all you know, but anyway, but overall, I do think that Leno is a consummate stand up comedian. I will grant him that he’s basically he’s basically it’s just you know, he he puts in the effort, he puts in the work to put together a thet that is like, you know, good, there’s good feelings, stick to the ribs comedy.
I’ve seeing him over at Flappers. He does like an hour of comedy and the apparently he goes over there like once every other week or something like that, especially during the I believe it really started during the pandemic because he won a Flappers to to You Loss Good to You as a as a comedy showcase, and so he decided to lend his name and his notoriety and everything like that to say, hey, the tonight shows, jay Leto is performing over flatforms at this so I do appreciate it he that he was in support and also just and I do think that he is a pretty decent guy when you meet him, and he was very great to his staff. He wanted to make sure that this staff is well compensated out after the I think after the after his show was taken off there twenty nine, and definitely after when he got taken when he left in twenty thirteen.
And also just also if you take I remember that Don Giller who’s like this Let…
He did like a eight hour long series of videos of every single Letto appearance on Late Night with David Letterman, going all the way from its first appearance to right before he was I think right after he was the host of The Tonight Show and he came to play, and he brought like a lot of original material. He would never really repeat the joke un lessons like a really really good one or something like that. He’d always read his newspapers and everything, talking about different articles and stories, and he became a very huge fan favorite. So I get his appeal and I definitely get his entertainment value. And I do think that if he went on the CPS, he probably would probably would have been a very different sort of situation.
Comparing the Tonight Show with David The Tonight Show with David Letterman and the whatever show that Jay Lennon was gonna be putting on a TVs. We was first, you know, quartered by CDs after the Pats Ajax show just kind of fled. But anyway, Yeah, I do think that Jay in person and as a as a as a human being is very good. I mean, I see, I know a lot of comedians that just the same thing was the praise about him. I remember I went on the Dennis Middlelayer’s radio show and he would always he was always on teen J.
In that case, they’re much less on teen Conan than the especially during that sort of situation. But no, I do think that I do think that Jay is much like everybody is. It’s a complicated person and uh, you know that there are friends who know who know about you know J and everything like that, as Letterman mentioned as a drink is uh monologues or like his death feasts during the twenty tent to Night Show scheduling compete. But yeah, I do I do think that he’s entertaining. I do think that he hosted the Tonight’s show to the extent that he felt that it needed to that it needed to go in terms of like you know what sort of envelopes to push, And he’s definitely and he was definitely a company man.
He definitely was in support of, you know, doing everything he can for NBC. He was on CNBC for the longest time with jay Leonsoage, so he’s so he’s definitely he’s definitely a very loyal person as well. So yeah, it’s complicated, but I do think that that that there could have been better host to Night show, I guess. But who would you have given it to? Dave was define to give its state.
Yeah, I would give it to date and in twenty oh nine, twenty ten, I would have had Conan to find his Tonight’s Show voice because he mentioned at the end of his at the end of his last Late Night that he was not that he that he would hero up a lot of people saying that he needed to change his comedy and he, I think said the camera that is not going to happen. And it did happen because there were a lot of joke There were a lot of like sketches and stuff that they wanted, you want to show, but they had to kind of not do it because it was quotes two twelve thirty five, According to the Bill Carter book The War for Late Night, And so I do think that they wanted to start out with like something really like like base level comedy and then lean into the smart and stupid lead into the kind of the weirder stuff after a while. But they just never got that while yet. Yeah, that’s the whole thing. Yeah, you would think network executives would know better.
Uh, you know, I do this now my career short version radio program director program to the comedy channels at ERRS XM. So I’ve been on both sides of this now, and you’ve got to give your talent time to find the voice. You know now that I’m a guy with a microphone in the basement, I’m better now than when I first start did it’s just reps and you figure out what works or what your voice is. And I did the idea that you’ve been on Conan. You know what you’ve got here.
Okay, maybe the show is not totally working right now, but you got to give these things time to find their legs. You had an example, Jay Leno lost for two years and then one for eighteen. Yeah, exactly, and the same and the same with Conan at the very beginning I mean people did not think he would hold a candle to the sort of the sort of where the Letterman put together for Late Night back eleven oh sorry, twelve three. Her brain it is, Yeah, it’s like it’s like it’s like burned in there. But anyway, Yeah, I do think that I do think that Conan was given a lot of had a lot of things going up against him, you know, being a complete unknown not really are known more as economedy writer than anything else.
But he did have Lord Michael’s behind them at like at the way in order to kind of shield them from a lot of the from a lot of the network machinations, as well as the fact that the cancelation of the Chevy Chase show gave him a little bit of cover. The appearance from Letterman on on on Conan Show, you know, basically saying this show is great and everything like that, I really gave everybody a bit of a morale boost and everything. So there were there were a lot of chances, and and NBC was always you know, kind of like looking off of the size, see who else was available. Maybe Gary Shannon could and I doesn’t want to do it, and maybe Grig Kneer well no, we’ll put them on later, literally on later. And uh, you know, they were, they were doing it, they were, you know, they were trying different sort of things out.
But then once Conan was able to lock in what the sort of comedy they could be able to do on the show and what the audience was receptive to, it just took off like a rocket. And so yeah, and then so NBC was started, and so NBC’s you know, and was no longer giving them thirteen week contracts and getting a multi year contracts and everything like that. So yeah, you definitely need to let the audience find the host, and you need to let the host find what the audience likes as well as finding ways in order to kind of give the audience, what give the audience things that they did not know they wanted to have. Yeah, I mean it’s it’s a bit there’s a bit of a given take, and that cannot be established in seven months. Even if you’ve hosted the Late even if you hosted the Late Night Show at twelve thirty five for sixteen years, that Tonight show’s a completely different beast, its complete different audience at a completely different sort of comedic sensibilities.
You can’t establish that sort of voice in seven months, and so I think NBC was really was exceedingly trigger happy in terms of making these sorts of changes there, And I really do think they should have waited a bit now. Granted, Letterman was starting to catch up with him, but a lot and a lot of it just has to do with, you know, Jave, you were switching over to Dave because they were they were so used to Jaden they thought that Corner was not going to do very well or something like that. But also there were a couple of like scandals took place during those beginning months. Agone It’s the Night Show that would not have repeated itself as Leutterman went on to doing his show regularly. There was the Sarah Palin joke where he said that a rod knocked up his daughter, but they didn’t describe which daughter was at the game, because it’s automatically assumed that Bristol was with her, But Bristol was not with her and her fourteen year old daughter was there, and so that caused a whole bunch of that caused a whole bunch of controversy.
They did that really did not need to happen if somebody needed to just research that particular joke anyway, So people start tuning in for that as well as the the extortion scandal that took place where where like his former assistant was going to be extraying for money and all that sort of things. So yeah, so that brought in a lot of viewers that I would have tuned in for Conan and if they you know, they they were still watching them, you see at the time, and then it brought them over to Letterman and then there and then, and unfortunately that they were kind of like cut off the knees once the Jay Lenvel Show came in and just brought down the ratings every single night for every single affiliate, and so they and so they and so the affiliate started dropping the Jay level show, but they could be able to maintain their racing so they could be able to watch their late local news. And unfortunately the tonight show became a casualty of. That you’re reminding me of going back to you know, ninety three, was it ninety two? Uh?
What a weird hire ConA O’Brian was even was you know, you’re following David Letterman, who’s this guy Conan? And and he’s not you know, he’s not a stand up, he’s a writer, Like, what are you doing? The first week is a little awkward. He’s tall and lanky, he doesn’t look like a late night host yet you know, now we all have just accept that. Of course, yeah it’s Conan O’Brien.
It was just, uh what a cutsy hire. Yeah. Yeah, And again I do give credit to Lord Michaels for that because basically, uh NBC was kind of was kind of running out of options to host the show, or at least to the executive produce this show because letter been brought all this people over in the CDs, and so you know, they needed to find somebody and obviously, you know Carson, and I believe that Late Night was also co produced by Carson Productions, but you know, all the Carson people have gone as well, so they needed to find somebody and thankfully, Lord Michaels is on an uptick after after getting Take Lives and thank me ive and so they brought him in and he says, well, you know, I think we should bring so you know that’s because because they auditioned like a lot of comedians. I think John Stewart was one of them and not mistaken. But but you know, there was like a lot of meetings that were being auditioned for the show.
But Lorne really had an eye to see. You know, this opponent guy who does like all these like wild antics in the writer’s room, he could probably do pretty well as a show. Yeah. I also want to sing the praises if we ever make the Late Night Hall of Fame. Maybe there is one Robert Smigel for Boak his work on that show in SNL, I mean first ballot, as.
Well as well as the Data Carvey Show. I’m gonna I’m always gonna hold it candle for the Data Carvey Show. But yeah, yeah, absolutely, all. Right, let me get another break in here. We’ll come back.
We’ll talk Colbert Stephen. Colbert’s show ending just a couple weeks from now. Are you sad? Now I’ve gone three sixty on Colbert, And I’ll tell you why. When they first when they first ended the show and there was some some craziness going on in the country, I I really had this take of boy, if we had a thoughtful man who looks nice on camera and could give a heartfelt speech and not seem crazy, maybe that’s what the world could use right now, and maybe he would be a good candidate for higher office, and it was all about that.
And then I’m a big treky and he was the voice of the computer on Starfleet Academy, and and my my star Trek is winning over my politics. So I’ve now started referring to him as Star trek Ruiner Stephen Colbert, along with Star trek Ruiner Patton Oswaltz. So I now find myself aligned with the President of the United States, glad that the show is ending just because I’m petty about Star Trek. Oh I canceled my my Paramount Plus subscription after, especially after Colbert was initially canceled, and so I was kind of I have not seen Starfleet Academy, and so I don’t haven’t you right now now. But I do think that my thoughts on Colbert ending is that it was it’s definitely I mean, granted, it is a financial decision in the sense that late night in general is starting to not making as much money back in the nineteen nine linear television is not making as much money as he did.
But I do think that there was external that there were external forces at play. Absolutely when it came to the cancelation of Colbert, and I am aggravated by that. I do think that when you take a look at the amount of money that the Paramount and sky Dance paid Netflix to to have that, because Netflix was wanting to get Warner Bugs, and they had had in their contra and they had in the contract of the initial deal that they did not get Warner Brothers, they would have to be paid as a soun out of money like two billion dollars or something like that. Two point they and so Paramount said, oh no, we’ll pay that. So they paid Netflix to two point eight billion dollars.
And they keep saying that that the Late Show is losing forty million dollars a year, that two point eight billion dollars could have covered the losses for the Late Show for seventy years. So I don’t know what their priorities are in terms of the money that they’re spending. I do think that having a late night franchise, even today, even with the even with time slots being a little bit less you know, concrete and as and less less of than a less of a factory than they wore back in the back in the day, having a city sure, late night franchise. It’s still as still very very important for a network television, for a television network.
And then for the longest time it was always NBC.
It was always you know, it was always the night show it was and then eventually it was always the Tonight Show on late night, and CBS put out the first salvo to have serious competition in the late night in the late night date park, and so to have to have Colbert to be taken off the air and then replaced with pretty much an infomercial for Byron Allen’s company. That that that that that that really grants my years to borrow phrase from Family Guy, And so I really I’m perplexed that this sort of thing has happened. What becomes under the current local climate, and it’s kind of the thing that we’re supposed to keep a watch keep a watch out for. That that that that the idea that satire could be canceled or that can be affected by the machinations of the federal government is one of the things that you should not be doing in this country year. So, you know, so it was with that, but with that said, I do think that I do think Stephen is going to close out the show in a very very brilliant fashion, and I hope that that that the show will get all the ratings in the world, so that when the first ratings come out for Comics at least at eleven thirty, they’ll say, well, this is horrible.
But at the same time, CBS doesn’t care because CBS still gets the money. That’s all at the oldest now on fire and nollen for him to you know, provide the advice and stuff. So yeah, but I do think that this will the cancelation of Colbert in the relation another with comics least will bring out a bit of a domino effect. And I’m really starting to get scared as to how the late night day part will fare, at least within the next fifteen years. I do think that much like with Saturday morning television, I do think that a lot of that the networks will start going towards syndicated programs for that particular day part.
And I’m afraid that, you know, and I think NBCD be the last holdout because you know, they’ve they’ve had the night just in the years and almost seventy five, and you know, they’ve had late night for over forty so I do think they will still hold on stead a muchs they possibly can, but then newer executives will come in. Executives will come in starting to say, you know, why do think we neep this? You know this antiquated format here and nobody’s watching it. Let’s bring it something up. So that’s what I’m afraid of.
I do because I know that Felon and Myers have their contracts up in twenty twenty eight. They might extended one more year if they really if they really really want to, but will whenever they leave, I’m afraid that they might be the last hosts of their of the of their respective franchises, and that will be exceedingly sad. And I also think that the same will happen with with Kimmel. I think that when Kimble steps down, he didn’t run a franchise. It was his show for over twenty years and so and so I think he did extend it for one more year U until twenty twenty steven, but after he got taken off the air because the affiliates were wanted they were disconstruing what he was saying in a monologue.
I don’t think he’ll I don’t think he’ll want to stay as long as he as as long as as long as you think he wants to stay. And so once he steps down, I think the ABC will probably I bring Nightline back to the eleven thirty five slot and against City Fallon and Byron aut one and then and then eventually if Nightline isn’t doing as well or they move Nightline to like, you know, the date line slot over like eight pm of Friday, something like that, then then we’ll send or sorry not nine pm on Fridays.
And then we’ll start to see then we’ll start to see, you know, sence some sor…
It’s kind of scary. I mean, I’ve been a fan of Late Nights as any four since I was at least since I was twelve. I mean, my mom would play like clips of the Tonight Show on a tape that she recorded when I was one year old, and so I would and so I would listen to this in one clip of the Tonight Show over and over again. She wanted to record it and play it for me so that I would learn how to spell. I not a spell, but it wasn’t because of that clip when I became the result of that clip was every game of fan Sonny Carson.
So it’s gonna say I was gonna psychoanalyze the man sitting in front of the rainbow curtain. I mean, I don’t have a degree, but there’s not much to figure out there. I think Jimmy Kimmel stays he’s in his fifties. That Colbert audience, let’s just half ass math. Oh yeah, A third of them goes away.
So there’s two thirds of people who liked watching something at eleven thirty. I think they go to Kimmel over fallon. So I think Kimmel becomes the new king of late night. And if he is fifty eight to fifty nine, sixty years old, if he’s not doing that, what are you doing? I think you do like we talked about Lauren Michaels, you need a reason.
What is your existence? He already has the summers off, he already has a long vacation over the winter break. I’m sure if he said, you know what, follow the Carson model, the Howard Stern moel, you know what, I’m only gonna do three days and I want a guest host on Mondays. Sure, Jimmy no problem take over his show. So yeah, yeah, that makes yeah, I mean that that is actually alid point a bunch of valid points.
So yeah, I mean I do think that after what went on with with the FBC and everything like that, and thankfully ADYC have his back after all that place. Yeah, I mean I was a little bit more. I was a little bit more pessimistic on that, but I think the optimism, the more optimistic view is that, yeah, he would probably become at the US fourth the new king of late night and just become the ratings leader and everything like that. Sorry, the Gutfell people are going to get very mad at me. Gutfeld is the king of ten PM Eastern, seven West.
They’re going to get very mad. Yes, yeah, no, no, no, no, no, no, I’m sorry. Gudfeld is a primetime show. It has always been. I mean, I’m sure it’s been a late night show when it was on at eleven o’clock or something like that, but they moved it up to ten pm, and ever since then it’s ten pm Eastern, nine PM Central, eight pm Mountain, seven pm Pacific.
I don’t even know. It might be on the middle of the afternoon in Hawaii, I really don’t know. I don’t know if they go back to the time over the No, it’s a primetime show. It’s a late night format, and not even like a great one. It’s basically a panel show.
It’s kind of like The Five, but with the studio audience. But I mean it’s pretty much his show Red Eye, but with the studio audience, and not at three o’clock in the morning or something like that. So but no, it’s a primetime show and it reflects the the the audience that are that are up at that hour. I mean that the fact that it’s on at seven pm in the West Coast means that any that a whole bunch of people that are watching Fox News will be able to just we’ll just be able to see it. And that’s how they’re able to very cynically teut their out, their out their ratings.
Even though they’re saying, oh, we be Colbert, You’re not on the set times Cold Beert. That doesn’t work. Let’s saying an Oprah is better than like the Rick d Show or something like that. You can’t do that here, you know, no, that that just doesn’t work. So yeah, I’m really aggravated by Fox’s Way in order to say that that’s the late night show because it is now.
Granted, I do remember John Mlady show Everybody’s in La had the same format. I mean it was definitely there was a lot more cloudy, or a lot more like pre taped segments and everything like that. It was a lot more like a late night talk show, except it was more like Worth Griffin than Johnny Carson. And while I would call that a primetime show, was definitely had more late night sensibilities than cut Field, and so I mean, I wouldn’t include it as like a late night show in like late night Ers group of shows that they’re paying attention to late night, mainly because Netflix’s ratings are completely beat altogether. But but do see that more as a late night style show.
Sure than Than Than got feilt. And Malaney didn’t work. And you’re reminding me now with the Netflix as the Joe Comedy Festival coming up at the start of May, they haven’t announced that they’re taping any episodes of that show, So I assume it’s over now. As a lot of time as a long time programmer, producer, and I said this at the time, the show wasn’t working and I get that. Mullaney was like, we like to be all over the place.
And believe me, I’ve had that conversation with hosts a million times, but when in doubt, put a format on something. I grew up in New York City radio and I worked with John R. Gambling, who had taken over the show for John A. Gambling. Rambling with Gambling was the longest running radio show in history.
And I remember John R. Saying to me one day, doing this in a long time, there’s a format, it works, just do that, and he was right. It was one of the great lessons in my early radio career. I think mulaney needed to have a little bit of more of a format on it. And because it was you know, you’ve got Jerry Seinfeld sitting here, don’t water it down with you know, a volcano expert or whatever you were doing, like just throw the ball, Hey, Jerry, what’s up?
And then stop talking exactly. Yeah, yeah, And that’s that’s among the reasons why I like the Carson Letterman O’Brien model of having one particular guest talking for a particular for a segment, having it to be like a full range conversation. I mean, that. Graham Norton is a great example of that. He does an excellent show over over in England, and I know that I know that I’ll do that swift to that well.
But at least for American viewers, we’re kind of used to having like, you know, one set guest to be talking with the host and interacting with the host. Now, granted, the Norm McDonald not to be everythist and there was an actress from Meloe’s Place was on and Norm Groop just having to be sitting that just happen to be sitting off the side and he started getting like all sorts of ribbing about you know, that’s using the movie German words or to one classic late night moment, And that would not have happened if Norm was just not in the room obviously. But I do think that in a lot of cases, especially if you have like a essentially, if you want to establish a format, you do want to have like one set guest and then maybe even start out with like the volcano expert to talk about volcanos or something like that, because unless you unless you’re dealing with somebody who has a great improvisational mind, like Tina Fey when she was being asked about dinosaurs. I don’t know who would absolutely work and even then the conversation went back to Lauren Michael. So yeah, it was like one of the It was like one of the great quotes rubber reading in the or another biography there where he wor going on the play and said, it doesn’t matter who you’re talking, it doesn’t matter what you’re talking about him and talking with somebody who has worked with Warren, the conversation will eventually go back to war Earlier.
He used the phrase domino effect. And let me throw this one past you. I’m hoping if Bill Carter has a trilogy in him, this will be in the third in the Late Night Saga trilogy. At one point, Taylor Tomlinson was renewed at twelve thirty. Okay, it was renewed.
The plan is we’re going to keep doing this And then she said, no, were they still going to get rid of Colbert? And were you gonna run Byron Allen at eleven thirty and Taylor at twelve thirty or or or And I can’t say this loudly enough. I am not blaming Taylor Tomlin said, I can’t scream that loudly enough. However, was there a butterfly effect where she says no, which starts a conversation in the programming rooms going do we need a twelve thirty show?
And then, once they got comfortable with that, do we need an eleven thirty sh…
What if we didn’t have an eleven thirty show? Now that’s great, no, but what if we didn’t have an eleven thirty show? I will say that, And granted, I think that if there was anybody to provide like a definitive history of that, Beagal Carter for like a third book or something like that. You know, it’s like the late shift, the war for late not gonna be like the death of late nighters, now know. But I do think that given the fact that CDs did not did not even consider bringing in another host, record Midnight does speak volumes not to say that, And unfortunately it was not the same.
Nobody can talk to Taylor Tomlinson. People were talking about how different guest hosts that or that were on the show. We’re doing exceedingly well. I do think that it was definitely a butterfly effect to say that they’ve made them more open to to to removing to removing the laid show when they were getting all these sorts of when they were getting all the different a flag from the from the FCC and everything like that, and especially from like tweetsing the president and after they paid like the dollars but forgot about But yeah, yeah, I Steven didn’t. But anyway, No, I do think that it is.
I think that it was Taylor definitely wanted it was. Definitely it was only a Canarian the coal mine in regards to how much do people value you hosting a network television program, and again not blading Taylor on this one, Taylor did not feel that hosting after midnight would be as neither be not as fulfilling or not as profitable as sticking with her stand up comedy career. And that is that That definitely says a lot in regards to how people are approaching late night talk shows now, because because you may have said multiple times over appearing on a Carson, appearing on Carson as a stand up comedian and then being called to the chair, your career was pretty much set practically for a lot yeap, unless you did something really awful or you just went like a whole bunch of bad or just a whole bunch of bad shows, and like that. You could dine off of that financially as well as in your career for decades. People are still doing that now right now, and is doing that now.
So yeah, I do think that it was that that the fact that somebody wanted to leave the late night talk show in order to focus on stand up instead of the other way around. It was definitely CBS’s way. It was definitely a notification to CBS saying this is not as valuable for even the host anymore, and and and there. I’m sure there could be a lot of people that would say otherwise, but the fact that it happened this once, especially to someone who was as hyper as high Profiles Taylor, definitely definitely what would definitely have been a sort of source of a conversation. Again, not believing Taylor at all, she is an excellent stand up comedian and I think that she made the right decision for her career as well as her fans and everything like that.
But you are correct, do you think it was a It was definitely away in order for It was definitely cds’s It was the catalyst for CBS in order to say what we need to rethink of this particular part of. You’ve been very generous with your time, so I’ll start heading for home. Here I do want to talk about I think you’re right about Colbert. It’s more than just the money. And sure it is the money, but I also keep gying back to that.
They went straight to the show’s over. There were a conversation that could be had. You start to get ugly, you go, do we need a band? No? So what if we tape two on Wednesday and it’s a three day week and we cut everybody’s salary twenty percent.
I don’t want to do that to my people. Well it’s that or nothing. Okay, we’ll do three shows. Jimmy Kimmel’s not on the summer, so you’re not gonna be on in the summer. Well I don’t like that.
Will too bad? And we’re gonna take an eight week break at Christmas time and you’re gonna cut your salary by a quarter, and some stand up comedian’s gonna host Mondays. Too bad. There were all kinds of the Ed Sullivant Theater. We’re gonna sell this big building and we’re gonna lock you in a black Box theater on the in the West Village, and you’re gonna do the show to forty people.
Too bad. There were conversations to be had that they didn’t even try. It was just like, you know what, we don’t need this. Those shorts conversations did happen with Seth and with Jimmy Fallon for God’s sake, so we Jimmy is not only taping four days a week. He was taping five days a week until last year, up until like twenty twenty four, he and Seth Meyers he lost his band.
He only records three days a week. He records one show on Monday at two shows on Monday, the Tuesday episode, And that’s the reason why he doesn’t have any It doesn’t have a closer look at it, because you could change completely in by the end of the day, as we mentioned at the beginning. But yeah, they take two shows on Monday, one show on Wednesday, and one show on Thursday to do corrections and that’s it. Yeah, And there are also different sorts of like you know, the things that are happening behind the scenes, you don’t see them go out on the road as many times. I think the only reason that Fallon was able to do a show for WAS.
I was able to do a show, one show, not even the week of shows, but one episode in Detroit was because it was WAS. It was basically sponsored by Ford. I mean, originally the network would just say, hey, just take everybody, just go over to this over to the to like, you know, Chicago for a week or something like that. You know, Letterman did that, Coden did that, Jay did that multiple times over I’m sure, but yeah, I mean there are a lot of there are a lot of ways in order to cut the cut, the fat, cut the cut, you know, further expenses from the show. But instead they said, okay, we have this thirty three year old, you know, franchise that has established are that has established some sort of dominance in late It may not be ultimate dominance, but we are at least number we are at least number three in the time in the time slot here.
We’re just gonna let it go entirely. We’re going, you know, there’s the franchise that was started by Letterman, I get tee you by Colbert. It ends it is over the end. No that that that’s not how you do it. There as soon as you fore Kimmel, you know, has the summers off, and they’re a bunch and they’re a bunch of guess hos those guests as are being paid Steve as me, So yeah, I definitely do see that as uh as like different sorts of alternatives that could have been done in order to offset the cost of the Late Show, and they didn’t do that.
They just they just cut it off with the knee. And I think that is exceedingly specious and then very and exceedingly and that. Yeah, you just you give me ideas that I’m sitting here with my producer brain on if we’re willing to accept Byron Allen numbers.
All right, let’s lock Colbert.
Hey, can you work an extra fifteen minutes on Tuesday and do some wraps for Hey, it’s Stephen Colbert. It’s the best of the interviews. And tonight I’m gonna have the three times I had Marty short on and just hand that in and run that. You know, it’s not gonna be worse than Byron Allen it and I shouldn’t. I mean, I know it’s cool to dump on Byron Allen.
The guy’s a billionaire. He knows the business. He knows what he’s handing in here. But Byron Allen’s not stupid. Byron Allen’s not going, oh, this is going to do a fifteen share.
He’s saying, I know how to make money doing this. That’s why the show is evergreen. I don’t think Byron Allen’s tell you this is cool, cutting edge comedy. I think he’s telling you this is evergreen stuff which we can monetize and CBS will make some money on it. I Byron Allen, the guy can make some money on it, and that’s what we’re doing here, and it’s going to get a zero point six and whatever.
Yeah, exactly, Yeah, No. I try not to cast any expurgeons on Byron Allen as a person. I do think that the fact that that that conmoncept’s downright abysmal, but I do. But I gotta give Creed get you know, I gotta get some props to Byron for the longevity that he’s had. I mean part of the Tonight Show.
At the age of seventeen, he was on Real People, He did shows like The Entertainers for like for a bull Overard dec Katie Adams on The Night Talk Show for a bit. So yeah, he does. He knows the entertainment industry, and he’s able to find ways in order to make money in that industry. And he’s not a billionaire, and he’s to water Channel for godsake. I do think that he is a very shrewd businessman and knows how to put together a television program.
I just think of the television program that’s being replaced, that’s replacing the Late Show. It should not be that, but but what do I know? But there’s something about the texture of it. Whereas if they just said, you know what, we’re just gonna run We’ve got twenty five years of CSIS, We’re just gonna run CSI Miami every night at eleven thirty like they used to do in the eighties. You know, they’d run old Hawaii five.
Oh’s was a thing. I meant in between Colbert and enlightnenmen. They were showing the mental illness on that in that time slot. So yeah, absolutely, I somehow that would feel less offensive. I don’t know if I don’t know why, just that that would just be like, all right, they’re not even trying.
Whereas there’s something I don’t know, I guess because it is paid programming or I don’t know what it is. It was three runs of CBS shows. I would say, oh, at least theirs CBS shows, you know, they’re the family. Yeah, all right, let me let you get out of here. You’ve been super awesome with your time.
What are you up to? Where we find you? What’s your deal? You know, what are you plugging? Well?
I I post a lot on threads. I don’t know if that’s much of a plug at all. But yeah, you’re great on threads. That’s why you’re here, That’s why. That’s where I found you.
I’d never talked to you till seventy minutes ago, and you’re gratefully fine. Thank you, thank you so much. But yeah, so I’m Obiro on threads. My user name, my name is spelled weird, so it’s f A R D m U h A M M A D. And you can also find me there.
You can also find me on the name on on Instagram, not on Facebook. It’s under mister f It’s m R F A r D blah blah blah. And uh, you know, I I do have a YouTube channel and I’m trying to put together episodes of the talk show show. I have two shorts and I also filmed something regardless about Letterman and Linto appearing in that appearing in that Late show commercial. That’s something you thought it was as commercial or something like that.
I still need to edit TI me. I need to be shooting and I don’t know, but but yeah, you just find me on YouTube is under w TFG seventy eight. I’m trying to make it look like a YE station or something like that. And yeah, I mean you might see me in like comedy clubs and then Los Angeles as an audience member. You know, you just listen for my laugh or something like that.
Also, you could probably find the video of me lashing on Conan the audience there on my YouTube channel as well. I thought that was a really cool experience. We could talk about that another time. And that was always my thing. If I went to see a taping of Late Night with Letterman, I would make sure I was the last person clapping.
The last clap was always meds. All right, I’ll let you go. I’m sure I will invite you back since we can clearly talk for hours. Thank you, free time, great chatting, Willia, all right, by bye,