The Death & Future of Late Night: How Chasing Trends Ruined Comedy 

I just want one person to figure out why I included the Neutral Milk Hotel in the edit Almost every other song in this video has been figured out in the comments

As an English person I humbly and sincerely apologise on behalf of my country for inflicting James Corden upon the world.

Late Night died with Conan's departure.

Another thing I love about Conan is that his humour appeals to all audiences. I’m 18 years old and absolutely love him, especially his travel segments, my dad, who recently turned 50 also loves Conan. I think no matter how old you are or what generation you are apart, most will find Conan funny

conan is it. he is the person who adapted through strikes and struggles, and he is still going. has everything: a successful yt channel and community, and an extremely amazing podcast AND a new hbo show to come out soon. he is the funniest, stupidest guy out there and so many people love him.

Conan is the only one adapting to the times in this age. He’s going to HBO Max soon, he has great RU-vid bits, a very great podcast. He has great humor that even me, a teenager, can crack up to, even tho he’s the oldest person in late night now. Conan is easily one of the best late night hosts of all time.

What's interesting about Conan is how hes spent so much time highlighting his staff, they've become characters of the show. Jordan, Sona, Aaron, Deon. I enjoy bits with them more than celebrities.

I miss Craig Ferguson, Man has so much personality that you want to incorporate bits and pieces into your own.

That’s why Conan has always been my favorite talk show host. His remotes are all gold. Hopefully he continues with his “Conan without borders” segment.

The biggest difference is Conan is a real human being. The clips of him traveling the world and goofing off with little kids are so endearing.

So basically Conan is just naturally funny and naturally cares for people

I think that Craig Ferguson has to be mentioned more. He was absolutely revolutionary and has the funniest improvised interviews I’ve ever watched. Criminally underrated

Conans an underrated conversationalist imo Seriously good at picking up on different cues and reacting

Just a note from an old person- when Conan started he was an extremely awkward interviewer. He grew into the host he became over 4-5 years on the air. Fortunately he got that chance, and fortunately he was able to learn.

Conan is hilarious, still watch his RU-vid all the time for a good laugh.

Big respect to Conan, but Craig Ferguson is the GOAT in my heart. He made it look so effortless and he struck me as completely sincere.

Conan O'Brien is my favorite. He's the greatest of all time. He's funny, very talented, charismatic while also being down to earth and genuinely a nice guy. His chemistry with his guests is excellent. He manages to be funny while also not interrupting and distrupting his guests. The best.

I mean there's a reason why Conan is extremely popular in countries such as Korea even though his show doesn't air there

I love how we skipped Jay Leno completely.

Thank you so much for including Craig Ferguson in this. I started as a Conan fan and found Craig late in his era, but I think his show was severely underrated. I legitimately think Craig was the best at making conversation with his guests and actually making them feel comfortable and enjoy their visit. I really wish in some way he could come back, but I know he’s done with that time. A man can wish though.

Conan doesn't have his degree from Harvard for nothing. Man is a pure genius.

I never really thought about the fact that Conan is the only on that could travel around the world and make people laugh that don’t even speak English or share our culture. Pretty impressive actually.

Conan still feels like a rebel somehow. He's pushing 60, but you can tell he's still the same nerdy young troublemaker who wrote Marge Vs. The Monorail all those years ago. All the other guys feel kind of... obsequious. Colbert always makes me feel like I'm being disciplined by the Principal. Kimmell has a lot of playground bully energy. Seth Myers and John Oliver are like the class snitches who remind the teacher that they haven't set any homework. Corden is the loud fat campy kid in every single theater class in the world. But Conan is like a fun older kid who introduces you to Monty Python and Tom Waits and skateboarding.

I watched Conan some in 2011-2014 when I was in college and my roommates would have it on. The late night format never spoke to me but I’ve recently started to listen to Conan’s podcast and he’s a comedic genius. The thing he often talks about is having bits and shows that are “evergreen.” The problem with topical comedy is that when the news cycle moves on the bits are stale. I’ve been listening to his podcasts from 4 years ago and I can’t get enough. Even if you were to listen to them ten years from now you’d get a laugh. Conan knows what’s funny and gives it to us. He’s a treasure.

Norm Macdonald was all of us on the final Letterman episode 😢

Graham Norton is not a traditional Late Night Host, but I enjoy him far more than the American hosts - besides Conan

One thing that needs to be mentioned is that Conan is also an incredibly intelligent man. He understands comedy, how to structure it and make it work. On top of that he has razor sharp wit that allows him to place the right comment at the right second and that's why his banter with guests like Timothy Oliphant or Bill Burr is so great.

Craig Ferguson was the king of forming the show around his personality

I have two words for you. Craig. Ferguson. His late night show pushed the Letterman/Conan style to another level. He’d rip up the pre-interview cards before every guest and just shoot the shit or flirt. In between you had a robot skeleton and 2 interns in a horse costume being ridiculous. Very entertaining and something we may never see again.

I honestly clicked on this video just to hear about how great Conan is

Conan has always been my favorite. He is legitimately funny, and all around a really nice guy.

Pete Holmes was tragically underrated. I still wish his show got a longer run.

Finally found someone who expressed my feelings about the Colbert late show. I was a big Colbert Report fan and still watch the Late Show regularly, but i miss his old comic acidity and silliness. I was excited to see him out of character, i've always tought of him as such an original and creative mind. However, the Late Show has been extremely formal from the beggining, and it gets more rigid as the years go by. It has its moments, but i feel like it's getting closer and closer to an interview show. I remember when the show first started, Colbert and Jon Batiste did a segment on New Orleans and it was very funny, reminiscent of the old days, but also fresh. I was excited, thinking the show would follow that path, but it didn't happen. Anyways, i really respect the guy and find him to be one of the funniest out there (listened to his Smartless episode some time ago and cried laughing), just wish the format of the show would allow him to experiment more. May Stephen own his silliness back! (Conan, by the way, is unrivaled. Probably not even human...).

No one can ever tell me that Conan isn't the best late night host. He's a brilliant comic mind

Craig was naturally funny, chill and charming. He felt real and when he laughed you knew it was funny. Conan is very much the same, intelligent and very aware of comedy trends. From a UK POV, I’d add Graham Norton to the list. Like the above the BIG difference is Graham brings everyone on at the same time and allows them to play off each other. Most of the best Graham Norton moments come from him sitting back and letting the guests speak. More importantly, he has guests on with personality and genuine talent.

Anytime you hear Conan laugh … it sounds genuine.

Craig Ferguson should have more featured time in this video, given that he's the definition of the opposite of what the problem is in Late Night today. He's a master at having great conversations. He can be witty, immature, even creepy but all for comedy's sake. His charm with the ladies was remarkable. But most of all, he's the most authentic. His monologue on Britney Spears touched a lot of hearts, and from the comment section, seems to have helped a lot of people. His eulogy with his mom was so heartbreaking. His monologue when with shootings, and when he said "I'm sorry", was very genuine. He even got a Peabody award for interviewing Archbishop Desmond Tutu, which was an amazing interview btw.

My personal favourite is graham norton. I love the chilled, friendly vibe of his show. Never overshadows his guests, but brings the best out of them and is an excellent listener, witty and seems like a genuine nice guy

Craig Furguson to James Corden might be the biggest downgrade a talk show ever got. It's mindblowing that the show went from the best to the worst. How Corden still has the job is beyond me. Must have one hell of a contract. Glad you mentioned Pete Holmes' show. I really loved it and it's a shame it didn't last longer.

Conan and Letterman were easily my 2 favorite talk show hosts as well. But I find myself missing Conan more as he had such an incredible way of creating natural comedy with everyone. And with Norm, he created such timeless segments.

Seth is the only bearable one right now. He also the only one that knows how to interview British comedians and seems to enjoy their humor. Conan though is the GOAT His podcast is a crazy good and he has chemistry with literally everyone!!

I swear to God, Conan knew that RU-vid was coming back in the early 90's when he started. His style and bits have been made for the internet since day one. He also made Team Coco way before the other late night shows started taking advantage of the internet. Another example of Conan always being a step ahead and with the times despite being the oldest host. I'm sad that his late night show is gone, but I'm excited for his HBO Max show and I can't wait to see what he does next. He will be on the cutting edge no matter what he does. Based on this quote from Conan "We have this world now, in this streaming universe, where people can make fewer of something, and I was thinking I’d really like to double down on the things I love, which involves getting out of the studio, which combines a lot of the elements that make me a little different." I'm thinking that the new show is going to be fantastic.

I haven’t seen much talk about Graham Norton. For an hour show he’s simply phenomenal, even in his newer social distanced format. He actually let his guests talk, like Conan.

I don't think I've ever heard something so dead on accurate about what I've felt regarding the late night shows than this video. I echo your sentiments about Colbert, Letterman, Conan, Falon, Myers, Ferguson, & Kimmel... not just "to the letter", but to the length and emphasis of each pause and inflection in your opinions. It's just amazing to hear what I've felt verbalized so well. Wow.

Great analysis! Been contemplating this in the back of my head yet never really found ways to articulate it or dig in to it. Needless to say you summarised all I felt but didn't have words for. Kudos!

Conan is the best ever because he is the only one who feels like just a normal person having fun. Hell, i feel like i could just have a coffee with him someday...

Jimmy Kimmel continues to use Trump in his monologue every night despite the fact that it's been 177 days (as of this writing) since Joe Biden became President. I'm like, "Can you talk about anything else?!"

I believe there have been two definitive reasons why Conan O'Brien is the best of American late night television. The first is he's absolutely authentic. He's never played a character, he's never been backstabbing or manipulative, he presents himself without pretense. I believe that's his biggest draw. Sure he's funny, but he's authentically funny. And after moving from one coast to the other and having NBC and Jay Leno do him dirty, he negotiated payments to his staff and I believe that showed he genuinely cares about people. The second reason is that the biggest part of his style of comedy is absurdist comedy, and that has carried through his entire career. One of the highest ranked, most loved Simpsons episodes is "Marge Vs. the Monorail", where a spoof of "The Music Man" also has Leonard Nimoy in it, and it works. On his initial show he had a lever that, when pushed, played random 'Walker: Texas Ranger' clips with absolutely no context. He had a rubber dog puppet that held a cigar doing "Man On The Street" interviews. Jennifer Garner called him out and he just happened to have a dictionary in his desk to prove her wrong. The great thing about absurd comedy is that it has one of, if not, the broadest appeal to the greatest number of people, but also it's humor that translates well across culture. Political jokes, at best, only land with half of your potential audience, and they're confined to a specific place and time. The biggest exception I can think of to this is the quip attributed to Will Rogers who said "I've never told a joke about the government, I've just reported the facts." I don't believe someone like Stephen Colbert though could tell a joke like that, as it isn't partisan. As for others like Jimmy Fallon, I think he is funny, and I think he is authentic, but the way he presents himself is not. By design it's made to go on social media. The same with Jimmy Kimmel. They're too busy to create something that will go potentially go viral that it loses potential for genuine humor or even real moments. Everything looks like it's been staged whether or not it has. To go back to Jennifer Garner calling out Conan, I believe that was unplanned, but Conan immediately recognized the absurdity of a guest calling out his intelligence on his show with his Harvard degree, called for a producer to bring him a dictionary that, in the edit, he'd pull from his desk, and look it up in the middle of his interview. In other words, it was an unplanned moment that, due to Conan loving absurd comedy, played to one of his strengths and became one of his most famous clips. Apologies for making such a long comment, but I liked what you had to say and I wanted to contribute my own thought to it.

I am in utter shock that I watched this on your channel about six months ago when I was watching Conan clips and looking for video essays about why the current late-night hosts don't stack up. It was just another video essay on a topic I enjoyed. It wasn't until now that I realized the person who made the incredible H3 video essay also made this. You have improved your style over the past few years and the crossover is insane.

Conan is brilliant but also Graham Norton, his multiple celebrities at one time forced reactions and conversations that are unrehearsed and authentic, definitely one of the best

How good was ferguson? He performed an ENTIRE show with a hand puppet, never showing his face. Not kidding. And it was one of the funniest things i have seen in late night

Craig Ferguson is criminally underrated. I watch clips of his show to this day, and he’s by far the GOAT in my opinion. My top 20 list of “almost died laughing to a talk show” are all Craig moments. Dude is a legend.

2000s Conan and even Letterman is still funnier than anything Corden, Fallon, Kimmel, and Colbert could put together if you locked them all together in a room and told them to create one good late night show.

Conan, the only talk show host who went to North Korea, and went to Greenland and troll their weather forecast, and also asked their Parliament if you wanted to be bought by the USA. He actually accomplished a lot more than other talk show hosts LOL

That's why I love Graham Norton. He just feels so much more natural than all these other shows. He doesn't need a weirdly forced comedic gimmick and he plays well to the personality of the celebrities. The fact that he can handle and lead a group of randomly put together celebrities always astounds me.

Ferguson is the most underrated host of all time

I like how you included Everlong at the end when it was a quasi handoff from Letterman to that new duo. That was the last song played on Letttermans show

The lack of authenticity was probably why many of us preferred the quarantine versions of the show. They were much lower in production value and the hosts had to rely on themselves to be interesting.

Conan is like a muscle car from the late 60's: He's built different. Better.

Bruh, when I saw Conan in the opening clip for a video titled "The Death & Future of Late Night: How Chasing Trends Ruined Comedy", my gut reaction was "You best not be trashing Conan". Thank goodness.

playing In the Aeroplane over the Sea over a montage of Colbert was a nice touch

I got sick to my stomach when I saw the clip of Fallon, in which him and John Oliver are playing some game involving asking questions to an Amazon Alexa, and John started actually doing something both smart and hilarious when he was making it explain Amazon’s dystopian treatment of workers, but then Fallon shut it down suuuuuper fast. Like, that’s what comedy is about, John was roasting the hell out of a powerful entity using their own product and making the executives uncomfortable, but then the “comedian” Jimmy Fallon had to cut off the bit because it wasn’t safe. At that moment I lost all respect for Fallon, like I don’t even see him as a thinking/feeling person anymore, especially seeing as I’m a low wage manual laborer and I know that he’s the kind of guy that would stick up for the suits.

Conan is the only one who has actual fans while the rest of them just have viewers

Conan was such a warm host. I can't remember who she was, but you could tell she was visibly uncomfortable, and instead of pressing her, Conan moved the conversation along without cracking too many jokes and involved her in the conversation and she gradually got more relaxed throughout the interview. Conan is the type of person I like to hang out with because I'm extremely introverted, too. And I hate when people ask why I don't talk much. Conan will probably be the last great late night talk show host for a while.

Conan was the best. There was a huge shift in Late Night for me when Jay Leno gave Conan The Tonight Show & then rudely took it back. 😭

Conan O'Brien and Craig Ferguson were always the best in my eyes. They were naturally funny and didn't necessarily "need" writers despite having them. Their guest interactions seemed more "genuine" than others and the jokes they used towed the line of absurdist humor that I always thought was funny.

Would've loved if you brought up Graham Norton. It's long form conversation where all the guests of the night are there right from the start. It's an amazing show and Graham Norton handles himself much like David Letterman or Conan.

Any chance to do an update on this video? I feel like there has so much more happened in late night and it'd be interesting to see how much some of those shows have (or haven't) evolved since this was made. Especially the part on how the hosts behave and their style in doing interviews or monologues compared to internet-based shows (like Hot Ones or maybe Lettermans Netflix show) would be great.

I watched this video when it first dropped two years ago. And it stayed echoing in my heart & mind. And the algo just decided I should watch it again, and I’m glad I did. All very well said.

Conan helped so many careers it's insane. How many interns have gone on to actual hollywood careers for instance. It's a crazy number. It's obvious how loyal he is and how much he cares about his crew. As a viewer that shit matters to me, a lot.

This is why Craig Ferguson left and reiterates he will never come back. I'm glad he made his money and bounced.

Conan and Letterman will die legends, not just in comedy but life. I hope we get many more years out of them both.

I personally only got into Late Night talk shows in quarantine, and during that time, I started religiously turning in to Stephen Colbert, Seth Myers and Jimmy Kimmel. I felt like that period of time, where everyone was at home just trying to navigate their new situation, was really fun and authentic - especially the bits of some hosts including their family in skits or intros. It felt really personal, casual and fun because of it.

John Oliver is not a talk show host. He's a satirical journalist. Edit : Apologies to the content creator. I was being a moron to critic you about something inconsequential. It's a good video keep it up.

Great video. Conan honestly deserves all the praise he's ever gotten.

Man, really appreciate the Pete Holmes shout out. That man is funny and wholesome as hell.

You know what? This is one of the best summaries of shows like this. Literally watching this for the fifth time, and will do more. Great job, dude.

Easiest comparison is when the late night host has animals on. Kimmel runs away, Fallon keeps trying to crack jokes and doesn't pay attention. Conan starts hugging them and shooting jokes from the hip while still listening to the speaker. Dude's in a league of his own

Craig fergusion was one of the best late night show hosts, he just made it fun and unique, before James cordon took over his show and before the more corporate orientated shows took over trying to follow trends and a strict script

I watched this video a couple of times and i gotta say dude, your editing is really quite nice. Like, i don't how you do some of the stuff here.

Really interesting. Would recommend a documentary on the history of late night shows that was on the Sky documentary channel in the UK.

Sean evans is a rising star. That dude carries an entire channel and almost got every guest off guard with his genuine inverviewing skills and utmost dedication to well researched questions, while most talk show hosts take up shitty anecdotes and treat their viewers as dumbfucks.

My favs were Conan, Ferguson and early Letterman. They could be political but it felt smart not regurgitated.

Conan is the greatest because he’s able to seamlessly react to the moment. If he has a more laidback or straight laced guest he’s always willing to play the fool and be hilariously kooky or over the top, one of the reasons why his remotes are GENIUS and pieces of comedy I will gladly rewatch multiple times, whereas if he has a really over the top guest or another comedian on his show he’s more than willing to play the straight man and let them do their thing. I love Conan in any and all contexts and mediums, which to me, is the mark of greatness.

I've always loved Conan, his wide range of good humor even just through the way he reacts to things and how he connects with his guests like friends pretending to be professional is a big reason why he's the only late night comedy/talk show host I watch.

To me the ones that stand out from the bunch are Craig Ferguson, Conan, and perhaps Graham Norton. They have different styles and do not follow popular trends, so as to not become predictable, like the other hosts. Also, I loved it back when you had no idea which party 'X' comedian supported, the line was blurred by humor, successfully.

I remember watching an episode of Conan Without Borders where Conan went to Haiti. He was on public when a mob of angry Haitians came saying that Americans were only showing the bad side of their country. I was genuinely scared in those moments for Conan when I was watching and if I were in that position, I'd be terrified. But Conan was able to handle the situation and was even able to turn the commotion around, made them calm and even hugged some of them. He's not just a comedy genius but also a great human being.

The video mentions that Jack Paar preceded Johnny Carson, which is true. But one co-creator of “The Tonight Show” was actually its first host, Steve Allen. I was very young at this time, (age in the single digits), but I can recall a skit he did where he wore a bird costume and sat in a cage suspended above the stage. Don’t recall much more except that the bird would say “schmock schmock”, which ended up being the title of one of the many books he wrote.

They're all ex-stand up comedians, and it's all about matey-matey jokes with their showbiz mates. Here in the UK we had Michael Parkinson, who was an ex-journalist, and there was a genuine quest for information. He could do "light-hearted" (a long-dead art) where necessary, but at the end of it you knew a lot about the person he was talking to, rather than a lot about Michael Parkinson. Sad to say our chat-shows are all hosted by stand-ups now. Oh, the banter! Oh, my aching sides!

Conan has nailed it. And quarantine Conan is the best lol

I'm glad conan is still experimenting and has moved on to a different type of medium. As an early gen z and a non english speaker, Conan has a way of tickling various type of people like me. His humor is universal and timeless. You can watch old clips of his frantics and still laugh. He's smart and acts stupid. Genius! Man, i love conan to bits. Team Coco all the way.

What a great mini documentary! You hit all the right notes! Everything you have brought to light in this video, is the exact reason why I have stopped watching late night TV talk shows since 2010. I know I'm probably showing my age here, but, I'm of the group that enjoys a more serious conversation with talk show hosts like Tom Snyder, Charlie Rose, Tavis Smiley and Roy Firestone. For comedy, I used to love to watch Johnny Carson, Conan and sadly, Jay Leno. ( I know). These days, all these shows are nothing more than to promote a product or political humor ( with the compass pointed in one direction). Great job on the video, and keep up the great work!

I love how in the Corden clip at 4:00 even the audience is struggling to release a pitty chuckle

"how corporatism ruined comedy": oh you mean like music, art, videogames, social media, movies, TV shows, politics and much more? No way, I did not see it coming.

i’m a teenager, and i love conan’s work. there’s something so endearing about comedy that’s just wacky and genuine. it’s not that young people don’t like late night, it’s just that no hosts understand young people don’t want shoehorned references to things suits think young people like. we just want a person who can make people laugh with him

This was really great, I loved it! It glows with all the love you have for the topic!

Only just now discovered your content, and enjoy what I've seen thus far. As you hinted on in this video, I think a prominent part of this problem is perpetuated by instantaneous gratification. The majority of media digested today, by the largest percentage of the population is done through very short bits. TicTok, Shorts, Stories, Insta, and the like, eliciting primal interaction and positive (or as catalytic, negative) feedback in that the populace consumes the point and the content in alarmingly short time. This was absolutely compounded through the pandemic, when people were starved for social interaction and satiated by virtual content myself included This, as you cleverly called 'Q-tine content' accelerated that sense of instant gratification, fulfillment. It was during this time that the normal, even the fast moving television content of our youth and early adulthood consisted of less content. Now, we are levied upon by hours of content containing orders of magnitude more. More shock value, more button pushing, more conspiracy, all packaged into this easily digestible, freely accessible package thanks to technology and internet. Not that that is inherently bad, but it may very well be inherently problematic, in the same way exposure without context and guidance can be. When it comes to these once iconic shows, who nurtured subtlety, valued honestly, those who didn't follow the pulse, but instead that which filled the heart of viewers? They aren't held to the same collective standards because of this instant turnaround, this instant commentary, this instant likes and gratification that we expect from every instance we interact with technology. Our attention spans have been effectively dwindled. Some would say not dwindled, but limited, regardless the result is the same. We do not have the cognitive attention span we did in the era when we once read newspapers for our information and waited for months (years) on end to get a response from from relatives, next of kin even, in times of war. Fundamentally, I think, collectively, we used to be a whole lot more patient than we used to be. Much less more dependent on finding out everything and anything at an instant's notice.

Conan wrote for SNL and Simpsons in its prime. I mean what more proof do you need that the man is a genius?

Great job highlighting Conan with Bill Burr. Probably the single best example of how the interaction between a host and guest should be on a talk show.

I like conan but i unno what the second co in team co co stands for. I could look it up but i have more fun wondering what it could be.