Trump-Biden debate time is bad news for late-night TV

Thursday night will see Joe Biden and Donald Trump face off in the first presidential debate of the 2024 election. However, the timing spells bad news for most of late-night TV.

The debate rematch has been hyped up like a UFC fight, with both sides trading barbs ahead of tonight's showdown. Team Biden is painting Trump as afraid of being exposed, while Team Trump has suggested the president will be on performance-enhancing drugs.

Whether or not the actual debate lives up to the hype (or turns into a sideshow) remains to be seen. But one thing we won't get is immediate reaction from late-night TV hosts like Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, or Seth Meyers.

That's because the first presidential debate falls during a week in which most of late-night TV is on a break. There haven't been new episodes of The Late Show, Late Night, or The Tonight Show this week. That won't change on Thursday or Friday.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Kimmel began his annual summer vacation this week. Comedy legend Martin Short has stepped in as the first guest host. But given the debate's 9:00 p.m. ET start time, Short and the Jimmy Kimmel Live! team won't have time to prepare a reaction. The show doesn't air on Fridays, meaning we won't even get a next-day response.

Both Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon will be off next week, too. So any hopes of a timely "Closer Look" or Tonight Show sketch about the debate are out the window for this round.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart will be live after the debate

But there is good news in the world of late-night TV on debate night. The Daily Show will be live after the Trump-Biden head-to-head.

Jon Stewart will be behind the desk. It's the first installment of "Indecision 2024: The First Presidential Debate: America Watches Through Its Fingers."

Stewart will go live on Comedy Central immediately following the end of the debate. Writer and psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb will be Stewart's guest.