Night Jitters: TV’s Late Crowd Grapples With Weakness in The Wee Hours
variety.comhas no regular host. Visitors to these programs come from as far away as Italy or Holland to see how they get made. Some live closer and just see the shows as a fun place to take a date or spend a few hours off from work.
But there’s no getting around their task: Fans must sit through a whole hour, from opening monologue to last-minute “good night.” Some people may watch Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel or Stephen Colbert at home in the same way, but their number is diminishing.
Those late night hosts like to make people laugh. But the wee hours often serve as home to something else: horror stories. Maddie Luke, a 26-year-old who works at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, is very interested in hosts like Meyers, Fallon and Colbert.
Like a growing number of TV consumers, however, she doesn’t have a cable or satellite-TV subscription. Instead, she says, “I just follow the socials, and I’ll find the interview if I’m interested in the guest.” She’s not sure she’s missing out on anything. “When I’m home, I will watch an hour-long drama or I’ll watch a couple of comedy episodes,” but for interviews with celebrities, “I kind of like where I don’t have to watch one guest after another.
Read more on variety.com