Late Night Under Quarantine

With New York and Los Angeles under quarantine, and live audiences strictly forbidden, American late night talk shows have either shuttered or made drastic format changes. A few shows have either gone on break or closed down completely, but there have been several holdouts. Steven Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, Conan O'Brien, and Trevor Noah are all doing segments or even entire shows filmed from home. The results have been illuminating, if not always entertaining.

What happens when you have these talented comedians, take away their live audiences, their crews, their sets, their lighting, their graphics, their music, their suits, and sometimes even their professional camera and sound operators? Well, you end up with output that is awfully reminiscent of videos made by Youtube content creators. Stephen Colbert went from delivering his nightly monologue to a roaring New York audience, to a mostly empty theater in the first days of the quarantine, to a lone camera from his empty back patio. The jokes didn't change, and Colbert is as charismatic a presence as ever, but the effectiveness of the material went south immediately. The monologues, structured to account for applause breaks, fall flat when there's no one to play off of. Jimmy Fallon tried to account for this in one of his home monologues by playing pre-recorded audience cheers and jeers from an iPad.

Other familiar segments work better - the lo-fi interviews conducted with celebrities over Skype or Facetime, Seth Meyers' "A Closer Look" investigative segments, and Trevor Noah's news rundowns have all come across just fine. I doubt John Oliver will run into much trouble when he starts delivering new episodes of "Last Week Tonight" from home next week. And being stuck in quarantine presents new opportunities for comedy, like watching Colbert change a bicycle tire or cosplay as Tony Stark. I have to admit that there's a voyeuristic part of me that's intrigued with the glimpses we're getting of these celebrities' home lives. Jimmy Fallon's kids have popped up in segments and intruded on interviews. We've gotten to see some very nice back yards, front porches, play rooms, garages, and offices. It's also very humanizing to see the late night hosts out of their suits and ties, often with little or no makeup.

We have to keep in mind that this situation is unprecedented, and the bare bones production values represent a very different situation than any we've seen afflict the entertainment industry before. In the past there have been blackouts, writers' strikes, and national emergencies that have resulted in wildly unorthodox late night installments. Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno memorably delivered episodes of their shows during the 2003 Northeast Blackout with only a couple of flashlights and candles for lighting. During the writers' strikes, host fell back on improv, stunts, and more emphasis on audience interaction and interviews. The quarantine, however, requires that everyone stay in social isolation, severely limiting the scope of what these shows can do. What we're currently seeing is mainstream entertainers trying to learn the ropes of online content creators, who have always worked out of bedrooms and basements on shoestring budgets, and it's often kinda bizarre.

On the other hand, the quarantine shows are yielding some good things. Interviews feel warmer and less stagey. Hosts are forced to be more inventive and roll with the unexpected. The performer I now have much more respect for is Stephen Colbert's band leader, Jon Batiste. He may not be much of a banter partner, but on several episodes he's provided musical accompaniment on an upright piano from home, playing the show's intro theme and other pieces via what appears to be camera phone footage. And he's fabulous at it. Jimmy Fallon is also suddenly much more watchable and relatable, his persona more suited to a domestic setting than some of his fellow hosts. I also appreciate the various shows' appeals to quarantine solidarity and willingness to promote various charities during the crisis.

And, frankly, in a bad situation it's very comforting to know that these guys are around, going through some of the same cabin fever and drastic lifestyle changes that everyone else is. I'll be very happy to see everyone back in their suits and ties eventually, but for now I'll take what I can get. Even if it's just watching Jimmy Fallon setting up a tent in his backyard, or scoping out Trevor Noah's living room setup.
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