# Seth Meyer's Pencil

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seth-meyers-pencil/1003029>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** talk-variety-show\
**Created:** [June 18, 2024, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seth-meyers-pencil/1003029 "2024-06-18T22:32:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seth-meyers-pencil/1003029/41 "2024-06-20T19:23:53Z")

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> [@ftg](#):
>
> Whoops. In checking I see that NBC is [firing](https://deadline.com/2024/06/late-night-with-seth-meyers-house-band-1235971165/) the whole band. It will be all pre-taped stuff starting next season. (Meyer has been reupped thru 2028.)
> 
> This is the state of late night talk shows. Declining audiences and streaming is really hurting them. Hence CBS not continuing with a talk show in the 12:35 slot.

I’m sorry to hear about the band. Of course you nailed the situation–the profits just don’t justify those salaries.

I loved being a regular viewer of at least the monologues–my cable system used to have a feature called Start Over that let me see both the NBC and CBS show starts. When they took that away (the jerks) I never got into the habit of looking for the one I’d missed elsewhere. Then I got into a medical situation that meant I had to be up quite early for appointments, and couldn’t switch back and forth between staying up late some nights and getting to sleep early other nights.

Such are the vicissitudes of age. And to look at the situation writ large, the aging of the US population might have something to do, along with Internet and Cutting the Cable trends, with the lowered profitability of late-night talk.

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**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seth-meyers-pencil/1003029/42 "2024-06-20T19:31:39Z")

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Fred was supposed to be the bandleader, the guy Seth bantered with, like Jon Baptiste. He was a pro drummer before SNL and Seth was big friends with him. But then he got his own deals and disappeared for months at a time, so they switched to rotating drummers.

I agree that his segments all bombed and was glad that he left.

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**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seth-meyers-pencil/1003029/43 "2024-06-20T19:38:17Z")

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Yes, I have seen far more “FredEx” segments than I’m comfortable recalling.

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**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seth-meyers-pencil/1003029/44 "2024-06-20T23:27:21Z")

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> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> the guy Seth bantered with, like Jon Baptiste

Baptiste rarely “bantered” with Colbert. He was something of a dud in that dept. unlike Paul Schaefer.

And your don’t really need a band to be funny. Example Craig Ferguson’s show. But a talking metal skeleton really helps.

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