The Nightly Show

Remain perfectly still, only I may dance.

The thing i really think was lacking from 'The Nightly Show' and to be honest is lacking from most of the U.S late night shows is a show that actually *feels* like it is being broadcast in late night. You could put most of these shows on in early prime time and with the exception of the odd swear word having to be removed, it wouldn't feel out of place at all.

Clearly these modern late night shows are designed purely for the potential of viral clips because it just makes no sense to me why, at 11:30pm or 12:30am they would create shows with such an energetic atmosphere, presenters that are excitable, bright lighting, broad humour and mainstream acts. Forgetting the viral clip watchers, you'd think the kind of audience who would actually appreciate that kind of show would be the kind who wouldn't be watching TV, they'd be out! Or asleep because school is the next day!

For me, a late night show would be a show that is almost the opposite of energetic. Quieter, Dark lighting, more avant garde musical tastes, a presenter like early David Letterman or Craig Ferguson. Someone who when you put a suit on them they look like any other presenter, but just has an edge that shows they don't actually care about the celebrity world in which they inhabit. More non-mainstream guests, upcoming comedians, controversial political figures etc. It would be a great way in this country to introduce new talent to TV without taking a massive risk.

When I see Jimmy Fallon and James Corden laughing like giddy school girls when they're talking to a celebrity, or playing some weird late night game, it just doesn't feel right that this should be on at 11:30pm.

We're no stranger to energetic shows during later hours, but then again I think most of the ones I can come up with are on Friday nights and over the weekend. The very first inception of The Late Late Show was two people sat facing each other and chatting, which is probably more like the type of show Mr-Stabby is talking about. When Billy Connolly appeared and told a flatulence-based story, it made quite the impact, as such toilet humour was very much frowned upon around that time. But secretly the host, Tom Snyder, and his floor manager secretly found such jokes funny. So when Billy goes into his story, it makes for some wonderful television.



Craig Ferguson later paid tribute to Snyder's style when he had Stephen Fry on as a guest. He shunned an audience and there was no sign of Geoff Peterson (not even sure if he was established by then) but almost the whole show was Craig and Stephen talking to each other in the same style as Tom and Billy did years earlier.

I do find myself watching old clips of Tom Snyder on YouTube late at night on occasion as that definitely has the feel i'm talking about. In his Tomorrow Show years, he to me was the perfect post midnight host. Clearly just wanted to have interesting chats with people. A lot of people talk about his Charles Manson or John Lennon interviews, but I love interviews he did with the likes of Harlan Ellison, which were far more candid than anything you'd get in the day time. Though in his Late Late Show years, i found you could see Tom's cogs turning a lot. He would often get names of guests wrong, get info about them wrong and he had this annoying habit of not really paying attention to what the guest was saying while he looked at something off-camera. I found it really distracting. Though that Billy Connolly clip is a real classic, and there are a few of his later shows that were as good as that