Letterman gives late night TV another year or so
With late night institution The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ending on May 21, the next few weeks will see a lot of articles about the end of the show. But, unlike when David Letterman left the show back in 2015 ahead of Stephen Colbert relaunching the show, these articles won’t be focused on the history of the host and what the show delivered during its run under Stephen Colbert, the focus will be on the future. On the death of late night TV.
If the show going off the air was Gutfeld! on Fox News or Jimmy Kimmel Live!, I don’t think you would see as much of a focus on the death of the late night chat show. But The Late Show has had a broadcast run stretching back to 1993 and, more than that, has its legacy tied up with David Letterman who was not only hosting late night talk since 1982, but was seen by many as the natural heir to Johnny Carson who hosted The Tonight Show since 1962 (which, itself, had roots going back to 1954).
The end of The Late Show feels connected to all of that history.
It also feels like a premature ending, with the show cancelled under a cloud of political favouritism disguised as a financial decision. To my mind, the decision to cancel the show was because the finances weren’t making sense. The end of the show was absolutely nigh. But did it have to be this year, or should CBS have weathered a few rocky years of loss in an effort to preserve one of the defining shows of the network? Well, that’s the key question.
The New York Times reporter Jason Zinoman quite literally wrote the book on Letterman and today has published two articles worth your time today. First is an essay asking what viewers lose by The Late Show going away.
STEPHEN COLBERT IS a very different performer from Letterman, but when he got the job as Letterman’s successor at “The Late Show,” it represented a kind of continuity. He also inspired comedy-nerd passion and stood out as a performer with ambition. Letterman put on what was considered an anti-talk show, a stark contrast to “The Tonight Show,” even down to putting the desk on the opposite side of the stage. Colbert had done something similar at Comedy Central: he followed the righteous voice of “The Daily Show” with a coolly virtuosic spoof, “The Colbert Report.” Like Letterman, he reinvented a form by mastering the art of saying the opposite of what he meant.
Since it was built in opposition to its NBC rival, “The Late Show” was both an institution and anti-institutional. Colbert kept that dual spirit alive. Colbert put on a more traditional show than “The Colbert Report” but found eccentric ways for “The Late Show” to express his personality, whether that be his habit of reciting poems by heart to movie stars, his loving interview with Stephen Sondheim or a monologue delivered from his bathtub.
The most obvious way “Late Show” remained counterprogramming involved current events: while “The Tonight Show,” led by Jimmy Fallon since 2014, has aimed for light apolitical fare, Colbert has responded to our moment by becoming forceful in his comic attacks on President Trump. The cancellation of Colbert’s show right before a deal that needed government approval has given his exit an additional resonance. In recent months, Colbert has leaned into Democratic political guests like James Talarico, Elizabeth Warren and (on May 5) Barack Obama.
Zinoman spoke to a number of people for his article, which included David Letterman. That interview has also been published today.
He says two things that I found particularly interesting.
So much of Dave’s professional and personal life has been tied up with his work in late night television. Until the birth of his son Harry, it seems to have been the only thing that got him up in the morning. It also seemed to be the thing that kept him up at night, bothered.
With that in mind, it was interesting to read him talk about how in his mind he feels divorced from The Late Show:
…Wait a minute, this used to be my show. It’s like driving by your old neighborhood and realizing that where you used to live, they’re putting up an adult bookstore.
Are you far enough away from hosting “The Late Show” that you don’t feel a sense of ownership anymore?
Yes. Time has separated me from the genealogy of the show. On the other hand, if there’s outrage to be directed at management, either real or imagined, I’m all in. Let’s go.
Letterman also thinks that late night chat has a very short window of life left in it:
We still have Jimmy. We still have Seth [Meyers]. It’s not completely dead on arrival, but I would be surprised if it lasts more than a year or so. But it’s such an easy soothing format that it’s got to stay on.
I’d be more inclined to give it another five years at least, but the spider is certainly circling the drain. The death of late night TV will be like bankruptcy. It happens slowly at first, then all at once.
Surprise ‘The Bear’ episode
Log onto Hulu in the US or Disney+ everywhere else in the world and you will see an hour-long TV movie called Gary is front and centre on your screen. It isn’t branded as an episode of The Bear, but it is a prequel to the show.
The Bear star Ebon Moss-Bachrach stars as Richie opposite his late cousin Mikey, played by Jon Bernthal, who has been a presence in the series in flashbacks since season one. The two actors co-wrote the special, with series creator Christopher Storer directing.
No one knew Gary was coming, with Moss-Bachrach revealing its existence on Instagram:
The Bear will be back for season five, believed to be the final season (which hasn’t been officially confirmed yet), at a date TBA. But, you can probably expect to see it in June.
In this newsletter I have talked a bit in recent weeks about Emmy eligibility and the way TV networks are using these final weeks of the current eligibility period (it ends May 31) to release shows believed to be Emmy frontrunners. That’s absolutely what is happening here.
Too short to qualify for the Outstanding TV Movie category, Gary is being submitted as an episode of the fourth season of The Bear. But don’t go looking for Gary as part of season four on the streaming service – it is its own freestanding special. It isn’t clear to me that, when the show is later packaged and sold in the years to come, that Gary will be included with The Bear.
As per Gold Derby, the show will be submitted by FX and Hulu for the Emmys in three categories:
Best Comedy Guest Actor for Jon Bernthal
Best Comedy Guest Actress for Marin Ireland
Best Comedy Writing for Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Jon Bernthal
WKRP lives
Following news earlier this year that the WKRP call sign was up for sale, The Oasis, a three-station radio network serving Northern Kentucky, Dayton, Ohio, and, as you would hope, Cincinnati, has officially rebranded to “WKRP”.
I’m too young to have seen WKRP in Cincinnati in its original run (and I’m middle-aged, so it’s been a while now…) and it isn’t a series that has been repeated all that much here in Australia. I don’t know how much reverence younger generations have for the show, but it’s certainly a noteworthy series as one considers sitcoms of that late 70s era (it ran 1978-1982).
It’s enduring pop-cultural legacy really is tied to the name of the show and its connection to a city that isn’t reflected all that much in national/global pop culture. So, when one thinks Cincinnati, WKRP in Cincinnati is an adjacent thought.
The newly-branded WKRP-FM began transmission this week and serves to strengthen that connection between a dopey sitcom from nearly 50 years ago to the Cincinnati of today.
Jeff Ziesmann, the radio network owner, was interviewed by NPR station WVXU:
“We play essentially the same music that they played on WKRP. It made more sense for us to do this than any other station in town.”
But don’t expect it to be a slavish recreation of the fictional radio station. It’s a loving connection, but that’s as far as it goes.
“The presentation will be a tribute to the TV show — not a parody of a 40-year-old TV show that aired for only four years,” Ziesmann says. “For us, WKRP is more of an attitude.”
The Oasis radio format will remain on air. The station format plays songs from the 60s through to the 80s, with tracks from artists like the Beatles, Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Elvis Presley, Elton John, Credence Clearwater Revival, Queen, Styx, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, and Eric Clapton.
“This is just a rebranding. We don’t want to spook those people who might think we threw out their favorite radio station,” Ziesmann says.
You can listen to WKRP online.
News Desk
Rita Wilson has joined the cast of HBO’s family drama How to Survive Without Me. Read: Variety
Good news for XBOX users with CEO Asha Sharma revealing they have scrapped plans to bring Microsoft Co-Pilot to the console. There’s only so many platforms one should have to ignore that thing on. Read: Polygon
I have been wondering this past week or so when King of The Hill would be back. News today is season 15 is set to return July 20. Read: thefutoncritic
Amazon is asking The Summer I Turned Pretty fans to stop turning up to the shooting location and bothering the production. Read: Variety
Northern Lights is developing a TV series remake of Babette’s Feast. Read: ScreenDaily
HBO Max is launching a new podcast series starting May 19 that will cover the Harry Potter movie series. Read: Variety
Trailer Park
The Boroughs debuts on Netflix May 21.
In a seemingly perfect retirement community, a crew of unlikely heroes must stop an otherworldly threat from stealing the one thing they don't have: time.
Yellowstone sequel series Dutton Ranch debuts on Paramount+ May 15.
Sofia The First: Royal Magic debuts May 25 on Disney+.
The series follows Sofia as she attends the Charmswell School for Royal Magic, where she discovers she is the most magical princess in the realm and must learn how to master her powers while making new royal friends.
Brazil 70: The Third Star debuts on Netflix May 29.
In 1970, facing doubt and immense pressure, Brazil took the pitch to redefine soccer forever.
Three-part documentary series Kylie debuts May 20 on Netflix.
A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder returns for season 2 on Netflix May 27.
The Polygamist debuts on Netflix June 12.
A glamorous social media influencer and matriarch fights to reclaim her dignity and self-worth as her husband's web of secret wives, lies, and betrayals violently unravels her curated world.
Ground Up debuts on ABC TV and ABC iView on June 7.
After years of trying, Tasmania has finally been given the green light to field a team in the AFL - but there's a catch. The locals have to build a new stadium.
That’s the newsletter for the today.
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