This should be a short one but it probably won't be. "Class Warrior" — that's how he, she or it asked me to identify him, her or it — wants to know…
What late night talk shows do you watch? Do you watch The Daily Show when Jon Stewart isn't there?"
My DVR — or whatever you call it on YouTubeTV — is set to record every episode of The Daily Show, Stephen Colbert, John Oliver and Seth Meyers. I watch clips of the other guys on YouTube if someone calls something to my attention and I think it's been over a year since that led me to something with Jimmy Fallon in it.
Maybe once a week on the average, it's Jimmy Kimmel. I admire the guy for his guts and courage and willingness to take a stance but there's just something very fratboy about him that rubs me the wrong way. I had one unpleasant encounter with Kimmel a long time ago and you try to turn loose of those things and say, "He's changed since then" and I'm sure he has. But sometimes, it still gets in the way for me.
I watch my recordings of every minute of John Oliver, whose show is (I think) one of the best things ever on television. I always watch the opening, including "A Closer Look" of Seth Meyers and I may watch interview segments depending on my interest in the guest. I think both of those men are terrific at what they do…
…and I'd include Stephen Colbert in that description but I don't always enjoy his show. His Trump jokes seem forced and obvious to me, especially compared to what some of the others offer. If you're bashing Donald Trump and I'm thinking, "Get on with it," there's something wrong. I know people who despise Trump but don't want to watch as much of that as late night TV offers…especially since it is late night and some people need to get a peaceful night's sleep and not lie awake with Trump's Latest Outrage in their heads.
Colbert's a brilliantly clever, talented man but the strongest weapon in his arsenal is not his stand-up and, like Letterman in the same building in his later years, there's a very real difference in his interviews when he has an offstage relationship or great respect for a guest. He's wonderful when he loves who's in the chair next to him and you can kinda tell when they're just there because they have something to plug and the show thinks their fans will tune in…and that's all there is to the segment.
I think the thing that bothers me the most about Mr. Colbert's show is how edited it feels. He honed his skills in the word of Improv where there was no editing, no prep, no starting over when you get lost…and now he's doing a show where the moments which should be spontaneous feel edited and sometimes scripted.
Perfect Example: He has this bit called The Colbert Questionnaire which is often a lot of fun but — here's the "but" — he does these long, dull introductions to get into it. Then he used to say it was fifteen questions but he doesn't say that anymore because they obviously edit out many of the ones that don't evoke funny answers. Sometimes, it's eight or nine. It feels like they do that with most interviews, too. On an Improv Stage, no one gets to say, "That didn't get a big laugh…edit it out in post!"
I love The Daily Show when Mr. Stewart is present and I love a lot of it when he isn't…especially when Jordan Klepper, Desi Lydic or Michael Kosta have the com. All three of those folks are good at switching between roles. One minute, they're the anchor playing Straight Man (or Straight Woman) to the correspondent in the Green Screen Field saying nutty, often clueless things; next week, they're the correspondent in the Green Screen Field saying nutty, often clueless things.
Some of the other members of the cast are only good in one of those positions. But the writing is almost always sharp and I have vast admiration for what they come up with about something that occurred in the news only a few hours before they had to record that night's show.
In many ways, we really are in a Golden Age of Late Night TV. It used to be you just had Carson and maybe one other guy or Letterman and just one other guy. Now, you have more of a selection and most of 'em are pretty good. And I was right: This wasn't a short one.
