2017, explained by the late-night writers who had to make fun of it for television
2017, explained by the late-night writers who had to make fun of it for television
“Comedy is a pretty good BS detector”: 5 writers look back at getting through year one of President Trump.
By Caroline Framke@carolineframkecaroline.framke@vox.com
Dec 29, 2017, 11:30am EST
When Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election, many people found it impossible to understand what the coming age of Trump might actually entail. But within a few months, as the first year of Trump’s presidency began to unfold, it became clearer that at the very least, there would be chaos. News cycles started to break and conclude at an increasingly rapid clip, making the mere act of keeping up with headlines a competitive sport — and frequently, a deeply depressing one.
This presented something of a challenge to late-night comedy shows. As most people who work on such programs would be quick to remind you, late-night shows have a much different function than cable news: They’re comedic first responders, synthesizing the news of the day and presenting it in more palatable, punchline-filled segments that try to make some sense of what’s going on in the world — or, barring that, to highlight how the most ridiculous news stories can be hilarious too. But in 2017, more often than not, the late-night segments that seemed to resonate most with viewers tended to be more searingly mad or uncharacteristically somber than usual.
So it’s safe to say that late-night TV faced some unique challenges in 2017. That’s why, after watching and writing about their shows all year, I reached out via email to some of the people who make late-night shows happen with three questions about how they dealt with this unprecedented year and what they’ve learned to make things easier going forward. Here’s what they had to say.
The following interviews have been combined and condensed for length and clarity.
1) What are the biggest lessons you've learned from adjusting to 2017's breakneck news cycle?
Sal Gentile (writer/producer, Late Night With Seth Meyers): The first thing I've learned is to slow down, literally. During that frenzied week when Trump fired James Comey and it seemed like earth-shattering news was constantly breaking at 6 pm every night, I had a habit of sprinting up and down the halls of 30 Rock with stacks of paper flying out of my hands, running into people. It got to the point where the news cycle was literally becoming a physical hazard to our staff.
Zhubin Parang (head writer, The Daily Show With Trevor Noah): Much of it was just adapting to the faster pace of a workday, which has felt like going from college football to the NFL, both in speed and brain trauma. It's not a lesson so much as a resignation that your script can be thrown out two hours before showtime.
Melinda Taub (head writer, Full Frontal With Samantha Bee): I’ve learned not to try to write the show early. If you think you know what the big story of the week is on Monday morning, Trump is sure to tweet something bonkers on Tuesday. We’ve had to learn to be very nimble, but that’s good in a way — we do our best writing when we are freaking out.
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https://www.vox.com/2017-in-review/2017/12/29/16827116/2017-late-night-daily-show-full-frontal
