Seth Meyers needed to find his place in late night; then Trump ran for president

[TexasTowelie]

As Jon Stewart discovered during "Indecision 2000," late-night television can be a powerful tool when the political world threatens to cave in on itself. Just as the "Daily Show's" coverage of the chaotic Florida recount cemented Stewart's reputation as an influential entertainer-slash-pundit, the surreal 2016 presidential election might just be Seth Meyers's moment.

Meyers, the host of NBC's "Late Night" for the past two and a half years, has increasingly seen critical praise (and racked up millions of YouTube views) for the show's incisive political takes, breaking through the cluttered late-night landscape. The segments mirror the tone of "Saturday Night Live" news parody "Weekend Update," which Meyers anchored for eight seasons (five of them solo) during his 13-year run on the show. Whether he's skewering the debates or Donald Trump's birther conspiracies, "Late Night" is becoming the place to go for stinging political commentary combined with "Is this real life?" jokes.

"The one thing that I was always jealous of when I was working at SNL is that nightly shows can always talk about [events] right after they happen," said Meyers, 42, during a recent interview in Washington, D.C. While he admits it feels weird to not be at SNL during an election, those writers had to wait six days to parody the first presidential debate. "They did a great job, but I'm sure the people who wrote that piece were chomping at the bit to actually have it produced."

Now, Meyers's staff is used to turning around material in less than a day, which is especially critical this week. For the first time, "Late Night With Seth Meyers" is on the road, taping four nights of shows in Washington at the Warner Theatre starting Monday.

Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/tv/ct-seth-meyers-trump-20161010-story.html

[Mary Mac]

1. i wish he came on earlier

Nt.

[4Tone]

5. His episodes are usually available the morning after on Hulu or NBC.com.

Just a suggestion. He's on too late for me to watch live, but I still always try to catch him the next day.

[world wide wally]

2. I've made it a point to stay up for his opening 15 minutes… He is great

[Little Star]

3. I love his opening monologue.

[mainstreetonce]

4. I record him

And watch on the weekends or early evening.

[4Tone]

6. His was one of the best Weekend Update runs in SNL history, IMO

First there was WU with Seth and Amy, which is probably my all-time favorite WU hosting outfit. Then, after Amy Poehler left, he ran WU on his own, and it was still very, very good; comparable to any other single host they ever had.

I actually gave up watching The Tonight Show because of Fallon's normalizing of Trump, and now Late Night with Seth Meyers is the only late night show I'm still following.

[patricia92243]

7. Do you know if it has been cancelled? No new shows this week and at Mon. and TUE of next

week - that is as far as my schedule on Dish shows. Colbert is new programming but not Seth. I hope this is not a sign of something bad. I love the show and hope it is doing well enough in the ratings to stay on the air.