Are Late Night Shows Dead? - Friday!

⏱ Estimated Read Time: 2 minutes

Yo, what is good? Let me see, am I in frame? Nice, I am in frame! It is Friday! I hope you guys have had a dope-ass week. I’ve been feeling a little nostalgic lately, so I’ve been going on YouTube and finding old stand-up clips. The other day, I was watching a lot of stand-up from late-night shows, ones that pre-dated my time. I was watching Norm Macdonald on David Letterman. That was my time, the one I got excited about when I watched Letterman and Leno. But I’ve also been watching stuff from Carson, like Pryor on Carson, and Carlin on Carson. Just recapturing some old history.

Then I got to thinking, is the late-night show dead? Growing up, we had Leno, Letterman, and then a little later on, Kimmel and Conan. I loved Conan, too. But I feel like all that’s done now. Now, it’s all about streaming. If you’re promoting something, if you’re an actor or a rapper, you’re going on live streams or podcasts. We saw that with the last political campaign, where everyone was trying to get on Rogan, not the late-night shows. It’s a different world right now.

The gatekeepers used to be these late-night shows. If you had something to promote, the publicist would work to get you on those shows. Now, the power isn’t in these mega channels. I know streaming contributed to it because everyone’s on streaming and not as many people are watching cable. Obviously, there are still late-night shows, and they post clips on YouTube, but it feels like it’s the podcast era. If you’re a rapper, you’re going on Kai’s stream or whatever.

It’s just something I got thinking about – one of those weird places where the world has switched. Comedians don’t need to go on late-night shows to do their thing. They’re promoting their stuff on TikTok. Think about it: all the comedians we see coming up, their best money maker is TikTok, right? That’s where guys like Schultz and Aash Singh made their fame. So, it’s different times, and I guess you just have to adjust.

I was just thinking, that era of, “Yo, man, I got on Carson,” or, “Yo, I got on Letterman,” or, “Yo, I did my thing on Leno,” is done. Now it’s about how big you are; let the people find you directly. Just got to thinking about that. Anyways, man, y’all enjoy your Friday! Hopefully, it warms up a little bit. I gotta go get ramen, go do some work, and then hit up the gym for a bit. Till the next one, peace!

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updated_at 31-07-2025
Ai Disclosure: The above posts were transcribed using AI tools. Some language may not have been accurately transcribed.
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