Tag Archives: late night television

Drum roll, please

Posted on December 13, 2011 | Leave a comment

Last night on Conan, the house band had a new sound.

A really big sound.

Conan has added, on a trial basis, a timpani drum.  He used it to introduce both himself and his guests.

It was seriously cool.

Don’t remember what a timpani drum sounds like?  Take a listen.

Isn’t that awesome?  Wouldn’t everything — and everybody — sound more important and more exciting if they were introduced with a timpani drum?

Yes.  Yes, they would.

Which got me thinking — my blog posts should be even better if they were preceded by the sound of a timpani drum…right?

I’ll get to work on that.

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Posted in Blogging, Blogs, Commentary, Entertainment, Humor, Life, Music, Television, TV

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Johnny on the spot

Posted on May 22, 2011 | Leave a comment

For someone who doesn’t stay up all that late, I spend a lot of time watching late night television — about three or more hours each day, thanks to my DVR.

I should really be thanking Johnny Carson.

After all, he created the late night genre as we know it. All the current late night hosts have cited Carson as a major influence.

None of them are Carson, but they all have little pieces of him in their repertoire.

Jimmy Fallon has his joy.  David Letterman his creativity.  Conan his self-doubt.  Craig Ferguson his dirty mind.  And Jay Leno?

Well, Jay Leno just has his time slot.

It’s hard to believe that it was 19 years ago today that Carson signed off after hosting the Tonight Show for 30 years:

And so it has come to this: I, uh — am one of the lucky people in the world; I found something I always wanted to do, and I have enjoyed every single minute of it.

I want to thank the gentlemen who’ve shared this stage with me for thirty years, Mr. Ed McMahon — Mr. Doc Severinsen — and — you people watching, I can only tell you that it has been an honor and a privilege to come into your homes all these years and entertain you — and I hope when I find something that I want to do, and I think you would like, and come back, that you’ll be as gracious in inviting me into your home as you have been.

I bid you a very heartfelt good night.

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Posted in Celebrities, Comedy, Commentary, Entertainment, History, Humor, Life, Television, TV

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Xmas in a box

Posted on December 22, 2010 | 2 Comments

The late night shows debuted their holiday decor this week.

You can tell a lot about a host by his tinsel.

Dave, Jimmy and Jimmy have gone the more traditional route — the scatter of lights, poinsettias, a tree or two.  Their sets look festive in the way you might expect.  Heck, they may be using last year’s decorations.

Who would notice?

You  will definitely remember Conan’s. His approach to trimming the set this year is more akin to projectile vomiting.  His stage makes Clark Griswold’s house look dark and neglected.  Dinosaurs.  Giant sandwiches.  A robot rabbi.

It’s gawdy and fabulous, but people with pacemakers best beware.

In sharp contrast, Craig Ferguson’s stage still suffers from bad lighting and leaks from the rain.  He seems filled with the Christmas spirit, but his budget extends only to a small, lighted desktop tree — that he plugged in with a flourish — and a Santa cap for Geoff Peterson, his robot skeleton sidekick.

Funny.  After watching both shows, I realized I preferred the simplicity of Craig’s display.  It has that authentic Charlie Brown quality, whereas Conan’s feels like the need to show off…to splatter his ego and budget all over the place to prove that he is back in the game.

Rudolph syndrome, no doubt.

Chill, CoCo.

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Posted in Celebrities, Christmas, Entertainment, Holiday, Humor, Life, Television, TV

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Morning show

Posted on October 19, 2010 | 4 Comments

Yesterday a friend’s status on Facebook read, “Monday is a lame way to spend one-seventh of your life.”  I’m sure we all agree.

It’s the beginning of the work week for most.  Alarms going off again.  Rats racing.  Blood pressures rising.

Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

But what makes Monday mornings particularly difficult for me is…there’s no late-night TV on the DVR to watch with my breakfast.

I know most of the world starts their day with “Today” or “Good Morning America” — I used to as well.  But for the past year, “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” and “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” on DVR are my morning shows of choice.

And I have to say — that’s the kind of programming you need to face the work day.  Creative.  Silly.  Irreverent.  Outrageous.  Laugh-out-loud funny.  Craig’s robot skeleton army.  Jimmy’s Twitter hash tags and award-worthy TV show spoofs.

Not another boring interview on the effect of airborne viruses on skim milk.  (I mean, come on.)

I’ve had a friend accuse me of being a bit obsessive about late-night television.  Now, unless I’m wrong and…please correct me if I am, ‘obsession’ is practically a psychiatric term…concerning people who don’t have anything else but the object of their obsession — who can’t stop and do anything else. Well, here I am stopping to tell you this. Okay? So would you please try and be a little more precise instead of calling a person something like ‘obsessive?’ *

So, don’t take my word for it.  Give it a whirl; see what you think.  Set your DVR.  Go to bed and get some sleep.  Then have your Cheerios with Craig and Jimmy.

It will make Monday — and every work day — go down a bit easier.

Note: In a sad twist of fate, both “Late Night” and “The Late Late Show” are in reruns this week.  I feel the clouds a’gatherin’…

* “Broadcast News,” 1987

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Posted in Business, Celebrities, Comedy, Entertainment, Foods, Humor, Life, Television, TV

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Buckets o’ fun

Posted on September 29, 2010 | 2 Comments

Can you remember the last time you witnessed the birth of something truly amazing?

Maybe it was the actual birth of your child.  Or a huge idea at work that made a gazillion dollars for your company.   Or maybe you simply learned something new that made one of those cartoon light bulbs start flashing above your head.

Hey — it could happen.

Well, yesterday I witnessed the birth of a new game on late night television.  (Yes — something that important.)

Jimmy Fallon debuted a new audience participation game called “Models and Buckets” on his show Monday night.  I saw it Tuesday morning on DVR while I drank my breakfast.

I laughed aloud the entire segment.

I can’t decide if the game is brilliant in its simplicity — pouring stuff from buckets on people’s heads — or if my blood sugar was low and anything would have been funny.  But subsequent viewings on a full stomach still make make me laugh.

Here’s a link to the video clips.  Jimmy cut the segment in two so it would play faster on your computer.  (He’s such a nice boy.)

Let me know what you think!

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Posted in Celebrities, Comedy, Entertainment, Humor, Internet, Television, TV

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Eyes clinched shut

Posted on March 23, 2010 | 1 Comment

I hadn’t been to the movie in a couple of weeks, which is an eternity in Carla years.  So I was excited to be able to see not one, but two movies this weekend.  I followed the critics recommendation for my first choice, “Greenberg,” and went counter to their advice for my second, “The Bounty Hunter.”

Both made me cringe.

When did movie makers decide that creating characters that audiences hate is a good idea?

I know that every person I watch on the big screen doesn’t have to be like me, or make the same kind of choices.  But I do think, at some point in the story, the audience has to care about them and the choices they are making…or why would we want to sit there and spend two hours of our lives with them?

In “Greenberg,” Ben Stiller plays a New York City carpenter who goes to his brother’s Los Angeles home to recover following a mental breakdown.  We get to watch him mistreat and belittle every person (and animal) he comes in contact with for the balance of the film.

It kinda made me miss blood and gore.  At least that’s more honest.

“The Bounty Hunter” just proved that bad writing can sink good actors.  I hated everyone in that movie, especially the writer Sarah Thorp.  She should be whipped for what she did to poor Jason Sudeikis (of “Saturday Night Live”) who had a ridiculous supporting role.

I realized when the movie was over that the funniest part of the evening was the trailer for “MacGruber.”

Now, there’s a character I get behind.

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Posted in Humor, Movies, Television

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hope.com

Posted on March 9, 2010 | Leave a comment

After the recent late night debacle at NBC, you would expect television viewers to be jaded and cynical.

…to assume that quality programming, talented performers and good ideas would be summarily rejected by the muckety-mucks at the highest echelons of the networks.

But then…a glimmer of hope appears.

A grassroots effort on Facebook not only gains thousands of fans — 486,139 as of this writing –  but momentum and media and — awesome alliteration ahead — the motherlode!

Betty White is going to appear on “Saturday Night Live!”

Just when you thought that the powers-that-be in network TV had lost all sense of what was truly funny — versus what was mediocre and safe — the producers of SNL recognize the brilliance of the social media suggestion and get the grande dame of comedy herself to agree to the plan.

Only eating a Cheeto as I was typing this would make me happier (and my keyboard a mess).

Granted, the report didn’t confirm White would host the show, but I’m pretty sure we can push that through, too.

We are in charge now.  Resistance is futile.

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Posted in Humor, Internet, Television

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Late laughs

Posted on March 2, 2010 | Leave a comment

I could count on one hand the number of times I have watched “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.” (Actually, it may only take one finger.)

I’m not up that late that often, and when I am, I tend to watch the hilarious Craig Ferguson on CBS. Love the Craigy Ferg.

But the appearance of RPatz — yes, I’m predictable, shut up — made me set my DVR to record Jimmy’s program last night. And while drinking my breakfast, I intended to fast forward through the program and watch Robert’s no-doubt stilted interview…’cause I just like to look at him.

But right before Robert came out, Jimmy rolled a short film called “Late,” a parody of  “Lost” on ABC. Now, I’ve never watched “Lost,” but I subscribe to Entertainment Weekly, so it sure feels like it.

Last night’s film was the second ‘episode’ of the parody, and it was inspired….definitely worth a look.

“Late”  — Episode 1

“Late” — Episode 2 (scroll down)

Don’t want you to miss out because you value sleep…or Craigy Ferg, like me.

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Posted in Humor, Internet, Television

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The other Brian

Posted on February 25, 2010 | Leave a comment

You are no doubt are familiar with “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams.

And if you have ever seen him on TV programs outside of the news — on “Today” or his now legendary hosting appearance on “Saturday Night Live” — you know that Brian has a killer sense of humor.

I think he may be the first and only network news anchor who is really funny.

Brian doesn’t take himself too seriously, and that’s key.  His work at the Vancouver Winter Olympics confirms that.

He’s still doing the news from Vancouver, but he’s doing some fun stuff, too.  In fact, there is a Canadian news anchor who is also named Brian Williams…and our Brian Williams did a piece to introduce Canadian Brian Williams to the US audience.

It’s indicative of Brian Williams’ sense of humor — that’s our Brian Williams…as in the “NBC Nightly News” anchor version.

Anyhoo, take a look.  It’s worth your time.  (If you go to the link, scroll halfway down the page for the video.)

NBC may be a screw up network these days, but they got Brian Williams right.

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Posted in Humor, Sports, Television

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The hook

Posted on January 22, 2010 | 1 Comment

Comedy requires an innate sense of timing.

So you’d think — by now — Jay Leno — former comedian, current leper — would know that he has seriously missed his cue.  Needs to go.  Couldn’t be less welcome if he had let chili farts in one of the tiny, egg-shaped elevators at the St. Louis Arch.  (Sorry — a couple of personal scars crept into that last illusion.)

NBC asked you to leave, Jay.  And, I’ll admit, they pussied out at the end.  Took one look at that huge, tremblin’ jaw of yours, and just couldn’t do it.  So you stayed, and your new show failed so horrendously in primetime, it pretty much took down the whole network with it.  The affiliate stations, too.  I hear peacocks are endangered now. Live with that.

And tonight, Conan and his staff and his fans become your lastest victims.  To make room for you yet again.  Because apparently, at NBC, there is nothing they like better than a big, fat failure.

You’re a perfect match.

I can only hope that the same audience that found your tired, lame comedy lacking in primetime will reject your recycled “Tonight Show” when you return to late night.  And, more importantly, they will say no to your lack of integrity, your lack of fair play, and your serious lack of timing.

There’s nothing funny about what you did.  There’s nothing funny about what you do.

Go home, Jay.

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Posted in Humor, Television

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