Late-night talkshows don’t matter, at least not how they did in the past. Television viewing culture in 2014 is radically different than it was even five years ago. Late-night shows skew to older audiences. Young people are not only less likely to watch late-night shows, they are less likely to watch regular TV in general. A recent assessment of the current late-night wars detailed the declining numbers, with Adult Swim (Cartoon Network’s late-night alter-ego) now TV’s top late-night network among adults under 50. In order to survive and thrive, network late-night shows must make progressive, albeit subtle changes to attract the younger audiences who have left them.
Jimmy Fallon started the trend. His version of Late Night was a new hybrid form of television, combining the old structure of stand-up and interviews with digestible, viral-ready content. Part of this latter approach applies to the music he booked (rising electro-pop stars, indie rock bands, weird outré rappers) and the in-house band – The Roots, a jazzy, innovative hip-hop band – itself. Music became a staple of his new show. The Roots not only played intro and outro music for guests, they also inserted themselves into the show’s music-based sketches. “Slow Jam the News” with Brian Williams turned news stories into early-’90s, R&B boy-band jams and became an instant hit. Major musical players such as Lorde and Kendrick Lamar made their television debuts on Late Night, and – it should be noted – bookings are made in tandem with Fallon, staff music booker Jonathan Cohen and Questlove, the bandleader of The Roots.
Choosing The Roots not only established Fallon as decidedly younger and hipper than his predecessors, it also proved that he was innovative and different. When Conan O’Brien failed during his brief stint as host of The Tonight Show, was it entirely due to Jay Leno’s ego, or did it also demonstrate that, despite his original weirdness, Conan was truly nothing new? When Fallon moved to The Tonight Show, he kept The Roots with him. He would not change for late night; late night would change for him.
It’s not just that The Roots are inherently cool – they also represent a changing cultural landscape, one in which a hip-hop group can act as the new in-house band. Fallon’s decision was not looking to the future. It is the future.
And this choice has translated to and fueled the performances of the musical guests on the show. Tyler, the Creator and Odd Future broke out not just because of their outrageous, uncomfortable, occasionally misogynistic music. For many early fans, their performance on Fallon’s Late Night was transformative.
As Tyler and Odd Future member Hodgy Beats stormed the set for their television debut, they mugged for the cameras, jumped around the interview seating and caused delightful visual mayhem, with The Roots performing as their live backing band. They performed Sandwiches, a song usually composed on searing synths. But with The Roots’ accompaniment, the song truly came alive, from penetrating horns to Questlove’s rolling drum beat. Inserting your band and your show into an iconic performance by a new performer is smart and can only truly be done with artists who understand and appreciate the rare opportunity as it presents itself.
When Seth Meyer took over Late Night, he asked Fred Armisen, best known for Saturday Night Live, Portlandia and as a member of punk rockers Trenchmouth, to serve as his show’s bandleader. In addition to Armisen, the other members of the 8G Band include Syd Butler, lead bassist of post-punk band Les Savy Fav, and Eli Janney, a keyboardist, bass player and vocalist of post-harcore band Girls Against Boys. When Armisen was on vacation Meyers recruited St Vincent to step in.
James Corden’s The Late Late Show debuts 23 March, and on Friday, CBS announced Reggie Watts – the weird, brilliant hybrid musician, comedian and performer serve as the show’s bandleader. Watts joins the show after three seasons on Scott Aukerman’s Comedy Bang! Bang! on IFC, a mock talkshow featuring surreal and deadpan humor, and as a guest vocalist for LCD Soundsystem. Watts’s move might seem strange to some – or it might show a major network willing to take smart, interesting risks.
This is how you separate yourself from the herd of middle-aged straight white male late-night hosts. This is not meant as insult, but as recognition of something important. It might be a method of gaining clout, or it might be something more symbiotic and interesting: late-night television that you actually care about again.
