Late last month, I asked whether anyone actually enjoyed the Democratic politician guests and softball questions from late-night television talk shows. Apparently not enough people were enjoying Samantha Bee’s late-night program to get it renewed by TBS.
Whether or not Bee’s political views played much of a role in the decision to not renew her program, it seems clear that network executives are concluding that late-night television is oversaturated with talk shows that aren’t bringing in enough advertising revenue to keep them going. Variety reports:
The end of [Bee’s show will come as TV continues to trim back its late-night antics. WarnerMedia decided to end its long-running “Conan” late-night program on TBS with Conan O’Brien in June of last year. NBC and the late-night host Lilly Singh, a digital entertainment influencer who had launched a new show on the network in the wee hours of the morning, decided to part ways last year. Comedy Central, which once boasted three different late-night shows, now only has one, “The Daily Show,” on regularly during weeknights. Showtime’s “Desus & Mero,” a weekly humor showcase, isn’t returning to Showtime thanks to a fallout between its hosts. And CBS is mulling cheaper alternatives to replace James Corden when he leaves “The Late Late Show” in early 2023.
Late-night viewers have a lot of options out there, and almost all of them besides Greg Gutfeld are offering slightly different versions of the same general tone and style: Did you hear what Trump said today? Hey, isn’t Mitch McConnell really old? Hey, are those Republicans crazy or what? (With that said, you are starting to see some “Biden is really old” and “Biden is unpopular” jokes starting to enter the mix.)
There is a finite number of Americans who relish lots of partisan talking points and Democratic politicians in their late-night entertainment — “group therapy for libs,” as Stephen L. Miller put it. Apparently there just aren’t enough liberals to go around and to keep this many “group therapy” shows on the air.