A replacement for David Letterman has been chosen—and it’s Stephen Colbert.
This isn’t exactly surprising—Colbert’s name was mentioned as a probable front-runner for the job shortly after Letterman announced his pending retirement—but it is, for some, disappointing. The news of Letterman’s departure raised hopes that we might soon end the Straight White Male’s reign over the late-night TV talk show format.
We know now that that’s not going to happen. The Late Show timeslot is going to another straight white dude. So, should we be pissed?
It depends. I’ve been thinking about this news, and reading reactions from across the web, and I count at least three reasons why you should be pissed—or not:
Yeah, I’m pissed: The bench of funny ladies and people of color in comedy is extremely deep. BUST took a crack at naming 10 women who would have been great for the job, and didn’t even mention awesome female comics like Amy Schumer or Aisha Tyler. (My personal choice would have been Ellen DeGeneres; we know she can do a talk show, and when she hosted the Oscars she proved that her humor can be biting enough for the late-night slot.) Clearly, if CBS wanted to hire a woman for Dave’s job, they could have. And given the current dominance of white dudes in the time slot, they should have. But they didn’t. And that’s a good reason to be pissed.
Nah, it’s no big deal: The argument here comes from Slate’s Amanda Hess, who, in a blog post with the very Slate-y title of “Go Ahead, Give David Letterman’s Gig to Another White Guy,” argues that it’s totally NBD to give Dave’s job to another white guy, because “I don’t watch that stuff. Why would I, when a diverse group of comics are already doing much more exciting work in essentially every other medium?”
This isn’t a completely ridiculous argument. The late-night talk show is undeniably a dying format. Even before they handed over the reins, Letterman and Leno were losing viewers, and their shows aren’t likely to recover under the stewardship of Jimmy Fallon or, now, Colbert. At best, this new generation of hosts can hope to stem the bleeding and pick up some of the viewers who don’t tune in the next morning on YouTube. Not exactly a glorious future. Meanwhile, as Hess points out, funny ladies are pretty much killing it in every comedic format that is halfway vital and viable. And I, personally, would be sad to hear that Amy Schumer, for instance, was giving up her hilarious Comedy Central show in favor of doing one-liners and celebrity interviews on CBS; or that Tina Fey was no longer writing for the upcoming comedy series Tooken so that she could try to revive a format that’s probably going the way of the Lawrence Welk Show instead.
No, I’m still really pissed!: Of course, this argument has one major flaw, and it’s that Hess didn’t really ask any of the women or people of color who were passed over for Letterman’s job what they think. It’s all well and good for her to not watch late-night if she doesn’t want to. Heck, I don’t watch it either. But I’m sure that somewhere in that list of non-white non-dudes who would have been good for the job was someone who would have been grateful for the 9-to-5 at a network with the reach of CBS.
Not to mention the fact that, if you really think that the late-night talk show is becoming an irrelevant format, that’s a good reason to be sad for Colbert, too. The Colbert Report wasn’t always perfect—but Stephen Colbert’s comedic persona was something unlike anything else on TV, a running gag that was hilarious, and angry, and so satirically relevant it sometimes hurt to watch. Will the schtick he perfected on cable translate well to CBS? Doubtful. No doubt Colbert will bring his own personal brand of comedy to the Late Show, pushing the conventions of the format as Dave did before him—but at least some of the satire, the edginess, the playful experimentation, and yes, the character, will have to be left behind at Comedy Central.
So not only are we losing the opportunity to bring diversity to the late-night landscape—we’re also quite possibly losing a singular and daring comedic voice in exchange for something safer and more conventional.
Damn it. I’m pissed.
I agree with your conclusion whole-heartedly. What Colbert does on the Colbert Report is way more interesting and funny and valuable than being late-nighted into the necessary formula the time-slot requires.
I guess I’m happy CBS is looking to cable or something. But losing Colbert Report is much worse than getting another interesting talent in network late-night.
Honestly. Does anyone watch late-night?