Late shows, the so-called “American-style talk shows”, are a successful format that, however, never caught on in Italy (see Cattelan’s epcc) and which is also showing signs of fatigue in the United States, also given the social media competition . And as the Late Night Story documentary series hits Sky, we have to ask ourselves: Will these programs have a future on TV?
With‘leader, sofa, table, cup of American coffee, this is late-night television. But what is the secret of a successful night program? Spoiler, skill is not enough Late Night Story is the title of a CNN series available on Sky that traces the history of America’s most watched television program since the debut of Steve Allen’s The Tonight Show in the 1950s, ten years after the undisputed godfather of the Tonight Show. Johnny Carson, before the epic rivalry between David Letterman and Jay Leno during the birth of Saturday Night Live. The origins of the most popular television show in the United States are radio, particularly the radio show “The Pepsodent Show” hosted by Bob Hope, which dealt with current issues with a strong political bias. With the advent of television, there were several attempts to offer the public a similar format, but this was only with Steve Allen’s Tonight Show and the first monologues Jack Par in “Tonight Starring” (to the latter we owe the idea of a family atmosphere recreated in television studios still in use) the evening shows began to gain a notoriety that would distinguish them for years to come. But being a good host is not enough for a successful late night, according to New York Times journalist Bill Carter.rule number one for the success of this television format is that the show is hosted by a comedian from the tradition of nightclub entertainers. It is no coincidence that such television programs are imitated in many parts of the world, but often with disastrous results, as happened in Italy with “And then Cattelan.” Despite the great skill of Alessandro Cattelan as a presenter in programs such as XFactor, to which he owes much of his success, EPCC it turned out to be a fiasco (Rai also tried to get him, but nothing can be done).
OURI mean, it’s like being the host of Late Night and being on TV every night. sympathy is really the most important characteristic. He knows something James Corden, who also managed to incur the hatred of his own film crew (during the game in one of the series of the show, he admitted that he did not even know the name of the operator), guests, restaurateurs (allegedly insulted the waiters) and even motorists (blocked the street in Los Angeles for music shows with international stars like Harry Styles and BTS). Things went differently, Jimmy Fallon positively received his debut on The Tonight Show back in 2014, quickly becoming the king of late night programming, heir to the great master David Letterman.
OURThis documentary series features archival footage and interviews with America’s most popular TV presenters such as Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers and Trevor Noah it turns out that in the future it could threaten the survival of this television format, which has always focused on celebrity culture and show business. Years ago, seeing your favorite famous character playing silly games live and having fun with an interviewer was an absolute novelty, but today in 2023, with the advent of new social platforms, simply enter your favorite artist’s first and last name to have thousands of exclusive content instantly available. beyond the classic face-to-face interviews like Instagram live streams or podcast channels. We will learn about the fate of Late Night in the coming years and in the next issues. In the meantime, all we have to do is watch this precious documentary series full of anecdotes and curiosities about the television format that has changed the face of television.