Late-night television continues to evolve as viewership habits change and the media landscape affords new opportunities to reach fans. With its newest project, Late Night with Seth Meyers will ensure it stays at the forefront of those changes.
Late-night talk shows have been a staple in American television for decades. It started in the 1940s with The Faye Emerson Show and continued with greats like Johnny Carson, David Letterman, and Jay Leno. Then, Conan O’Brien, Craig Ferguson, and Carson Daly changed the way people look at the hosting job by adding a more informal and goofier approach to the job. That brings us to the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning writer and producer, Seth Meyers, host of Late Night with Seth Meyers.
Seth Meyers has one of the most fun late-night talk shows on air. One of the reasons for this is the plethora of recurring segments like “Amber Says What”, “Jokes Seth Can’t Tell”, and “A Closer Look”. The latter of those is the most popular thanks to the combination of jokes and truths about what’s happening in the news. The segment is so beloved that it’s been missed while the show has been on a longer-than-normal summer hiatus. Thankfully, “A Closer Look” is available in video podcast form.
According to Deadline, Meyers and Sal Gentile (writer on Late Night with Seth Meyers) have created a video podcast called A Closer Look Out of Office to give people the news they may have missed. Seth joked, saying, “We’re about to take a very long hiatus, and when we take very long hiatuses, one of the things that people say is that we’re going to miss so much. Because of that, we, through back channels, reached out to the White House, and he agreed he’s not going to be weird. Until we get back.”
In the clip above, you can see that the show will have a much different format than the one on NBC. Rather than Seth delivering the news in monologue form, Seth and Sal will discuss topics they deem important or entertaining. For example, in the first episode, they talk about President Donald Trump using a different plane than Air Force One, Chuck Grassley “mourning” his decades-old tan Hoover vacuum cleaner, and more about the Reflecting Pool debacle.
Why Seth Meyers' new podcast is a brilliant idea
The idea that absence makes the heart grow fonder is true, but not with entertainment. Many celebrities (from actors to singers to internet celebs) understand that certain people don’t have the luxury to disappear. If you're gone too long, someone younger, hotter, or funnier will come in and take your place. While Seth Meyers has put in the work to be where he is, nothing lasts forever.
There will always be a battle for late-night supremacy. It's a friendly one between Seth, Jimmy Kimmel, and Jimmy Fallon, but still a fight, nonetheless. That’s why remaining in the public eye is important. A video podcast named after his most popular segment keeps the show in people's minds and allows Seth's fans to see that he's still around.
Lastly, it was smart not to assume that everyone knows where to get A Closer Look Out of Office on a podcast app. So rather than depending on people in the know, the show is available on Peacock. This eliminates anyone not being able to find the program. And, if you have access to the internet, you can watch it on YouTube for free. It will be a great listen for people on their hour-long commutes to work.
And if this show does well (and it likely will), look for Seth Meyers and Sal Gentile to do this more and maybe even take the show on the road. Stay tuned to Last Night On to find out if that happens.
A Closer Look Out of Office is available wherever you get your podcasts and on the Peacock streaming app. As this article is being written, the release schedule has not been revealed.
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