The WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes—thanks to the AMPTP refusing to sign fair contracts for writers and actors—have put much of this year’s live television slate up in the air. Will I actually get to see Scheana Shay of Vanderpump Rules walk the Emmys red carpet in September, presumably wearing the color gold? Who knows!
Specifically, late-night talk and variety shows (with the exception of Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live) have taken the biggest hit. Network staples like Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and The Late Show With Stephen Colbert ceased production immediately after the Writers Guild of America announced their walkout in May. And prior to the SAG strike, film critic Bilge Olbiri pointed out on Twitter that the lack of late-night television was impeding movie stars’ ability to promote their summer films, leaving a gaping hole in the landscape.
Admittedly, I haven’t kept up with late-night TV since I was in high school, when Fallon’s star-studded games of beer pong seemed novel and amusing. However, over the past month, I’ve found myself incorporating late-night shows of the British variety into my nightly routine, particularly The Graham Norton Show. Before I go to bed, I’ll cue up an episode or a clip on YouTube and watch a cluster of A-list actors, musicians, and usually some British comedians I’m unfamiliar with squeeze onto a red suede couch and try to one-up each other with funny stories. I’ll laugh until my eyes eventually shut and wake up the next morning feeling great.
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In light of the current television dilemma, I urge all Americans to make this pivot.
I would argue that most chat shows in the U.K., including The Jonathan Ross Show, The Late Late Show (The Irish version), and the now-canceled Alan Carr: Chatty Man, are more entertaining than anything playing on NBC past 11:30 p.m. But Norton’s BBC One show, in particular, represents light-hearted talk programs at their peak, and shows us the kind of late-night laughs we could be having if we would just loosen up the format a bit (and probably employ more gay men). And while Hollywood stars won’t be making appearances on talk shows in the States or across the pond anytime soon, thankfully, YouTube has an extensive archive of Graham Norton videos to sustain late-night appetites for however long the strikes go on.
Since it first aired in 2007, the show has maintained genuine childlike sensibility, from the naughty humor to the orange, red, and purple set that looks like Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, to a segment called “The Big Red Chair” where members of the public have to appease the night’s guests with a funny story or else be sent flying backwards by a giant lever. Most notably, viewers are spared from long-winded opening monologues that tepidly recap the week’s pop culture and politics headlines.
The vibe of The Graham Norton Show is pure, unapologetic fun. And everyone who steps onto Norton’s turf, from Barack Obama to Oprah Winfrey to Tom Cruise, has to fall in line with the host’s exuberance and cheekiness. Whatever embarrassing photo he displays on the monitor or cringy anecdote he forces a celebrity to share, they simply have to go with it or else appear like a wet blanket. Norton even pointed out on Late Night with Seth Meyers back in April that his show’s group-interview format incentivizes celebrities to be their most charismatic and amusing selves.
Indeed, in addition to Norton’s own charisma as a host, I consider the show’s weekly format to be its magic sauce, since it allows viewers to see all the guests you would typically watch throughout the week on an American show interact with one another. The guest lineups are thus always delightfully random, resulting in some of the funniest, unexpected conversations. Take this 2012 episode where Nicki Minaj explains how the balloon boy hoax is a significant part of Barb mythology, while Mark Ruffalo stares at her in delight. Or this clip of Olivia Colman cracking up Ice Cube and Kevin Hart while explaining her awkward stance in the poster for HBO’s The Night Manager. My favorite celeb interaction I didn’t know I needed is maybe John Cleese telling Taylor Swift that her cat is weird-looking.
This isn’t to insult any of the striking writers who work tirelessly on American late-night shows for poor pay. (I follow many of them on Twitter, where they remain extremely funny and witty.) However, it’s not exactly a unique opinion that our current lineup of shows could be better, particularly if they all didn’t feel like slight variations of each other deferring to the same tired mold.
Most of the internet seems to agree. Women daytime hosts, like Drew Barrymore and Kelly Clarkson (and before them, Wendy Williams) are enjoying more virality on social media these days than their primetime male counterparts. Additionally, internet shows like Hot Ones and videos of celebrities telling us what they eat for breakfast have become successful promotional avenues.
All in all, I’m not sure if our current late-night hosts—even the more likable ones like Meyers and Colbert—will ever be able to match Norton’s buoyancy or create the sort of delightful chaos he does on his show. But they would do well to try.
