Seth Meyers has won me over with his Closer Look segments. I’m really glad he moved to the attic a few days ago because the audio is much better (less reverb and not as boomy).
I don’t care about most interviews, so I prefer watching these shows on YouTube.
Some of Trevor Noah’s interviews have been fantastic tho; he spends enough time to really talk about something (and he’s always very informed). His Bill Gates interview was A++.
Stephen Colbert has been terrible from home, IMO, but I do like that he’s wearing a suit. I’m not saying everyone needs to get dressed up, but it’d be kinda nice if they didn’t look like they just rolled out of bed.
Oh, and the short segments on The Daily Social Distancing Show have been great too. Roy Wood, Jr. was awesome in Sweatpants of Glory, for instance.
He did the show from his backyard (though not clear if he was actually outside or in front of a window) and the absence of an audience was compensated during the monolog by a Monty Python-esque laughtrack featuring black-and-white clips of an audience laughing and applauding that looked like they were from movies or TV shows from the 50s. Kind of a creative take on it. Some of these from-home shows are demanding every bit of creativity the hosts have to be able to pull it off, especially those like Maher and Stephen Colbert that depend so much on audience interaction (and bantering with Jon Batiste).
Looks like Bill Maher is partially dealing with it by postponing many shows I suppose in the hope that this social distancing and stay-at-home stuff goes away in the near future. His contract calls for a fixed number of shows per season (I think it’s something like 35) and the gaps are made up through a combination of skipping some weeks, taking part of the summer off, and then being off from before Thanksgiving until sometime in January. His last show from the studio was on March 13 and looks like the audience was just his own staff. March 20 was a scheduled hiatus, and March 27 was simply cancelled or postponed. Last night’s backyard show was the first in three weeks, and looks like next week’s show is now cancelled/postponed as well, with the next scheduled show not until April 17. I hope this means that, if feasible, his season will last longer into the summer than it otherwise would, but who knows. I’m sure he can stand the impact of having his contract shortened, but I’m not sure I can stand the deprivation of his dry wit!
Looks like John Oliver is on tomorrow (no doubt from home again) but who knows how long that will last. Ditto for Colbert, who I think is finding it especially hard, like the metaphorical fish out of water.
ETA: I stopped watching The Daily Show as soon as Jon Stewart left, but from what I’ve been reading here I’m willing to go back and give Trevor Noah a chance. I just can’t believe anyone can be as brilliantly funny as Stewart was.
I saw Bill Maher’s show. Yes, he was at home but there was clearly a cameraman shooting him, and perhaps a sound guy miking him. So, unlike the other shows where no outsiders were present, there had to be people on his property. (Practically speaking, though, the camera guy could have filmed him from six or more feet away, and could have been wearing a hazmat suit for all I know.)
the lighting for Maher was not good but I guess they did not have a lighting guy. Also it seemed like he did not wear any makeup since his skin was shiny. (even men wear basic makeup for TV and movies)
Trevor Noah is not as brilliantly funny as Jon Stewart, but he is intelligent, insightful, and has a very unique perspective. He is very funny, but it’s a bit more cerebral than Stewart’s brand of insight was IMO. YMMV.
I was skeptical wen he first took over but he truly has made The Daily Show his own and he is a very valuable voice in America right now.
Agreed. It is a very different show but Noah has made it his own. His unscripted, improvisational “Between the Scenes” segments where he interacts with the audience or just talks casually about things on his mind are often the best parts of the show. He speaks off-the-cuff better than most professional politicians can talk in prepared statements, and either he is incredibly well-informed or his staff gives him one hell of an in-depth daily briefing.
Aye; some of the BtS segments have been among the best TV I’ve seen in the past decade. I think he prolly gets a briefing but I’d be surprised if more than 20% of it was actually needed.
