Laughter is apparently built into our DNA, because I recently saw an ultrasound of a pre-born baby in full smile mode.
I don’t know what the little guy thought was so funny, but it’s a pretty sure bet he wasn’t listening to one of TV’s late-night comedy shows. They stopped delivering laughs a long time ago.
It all started when late-night hosts began moving further and further to the political left. Then so many of the jokes went woke. And finally Big Censorship came in with a knockout punch.
It’s no wonder that over the past several years late-night revenues have plummeted. Shows on CBS, NBC and ABC are down significantly from five years prior, and network executives have even cut back on programming.
The following info may shed some light on what appears to be a major contributing factor in the demise of late-night humor.
While participating in a panel discussion, former host of the “The Daily Show” Trevor Noah stated that he and his team of writers look to the underlying news for their joke inspiration.
“I’ll say, ‘What is the news, what are the facts, what’s the truth?’ and then we will put the jokes on top. It’s the icing on the cake,” Noah said.
The problem is the icing on the cake tastes rotten to a huge segment of viewing audiences.
Some eye-opening research underscores the extreme partisanship that is embedded within late-night television programming.
The Media Research Center (MRC) released some compelling data, which were obtained during the time period between Labor Day and the Monday night that preceded Election Day of 2022.
Results of the study indicated that there had been 47 left-leaning guests who had appeared on late-night shows.
During this same time period, not a single conservative-leaning guest was booked to appear on the late-night shows.
In September of 2023, Bill Maher said out loud what late-night hosts are really up to.
“What they do is say exactly what a liberal audience wants them to say ... ,” Maher stated.
Maher also responded to a question about why other talk show hosts are handed Emmy Awards, despite having much smaller audiences than his own.
“Because I tell the truth,” Maher said. “I don’t perform for just one-half of the country and say the things that will make them applaud.”
A study recently conducted by the MRC provides additional evidence of the political bias that exists on the part of late-night television hosts and writers.
The MRC study analyzed the comedic content contained within the programming of the major late-night shows, which included ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” CBS’s “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” and up until the show stopped airing in April 2023 “The Late Late Show with James Corden.”
An extraordinary 81% of the comedic material contained within the programming was aimed directly at conservative-leaning public figures.
Certain shows contained more one-sided material than others. Kimmel’s show led the pack when it came to partisan bits aimed at right-of-center targets. Programming included slanted humor that 88% of the time lampooned conservatives.
Late-night TV took the same asymmetrical approach with the Supreme Court. Conservative-leaning justices were on the receiving end of punch lines at a ratio of 64 to 1.
Late night shows used to be an American staple. Now at least half the country has tuned out because folks are tired of being the butt of old worn-out unfunny mediocre jokes.
Try poking at both sides and you just might bring back the funny.
Our babies-in-waiting are already primed to laugh.
James Hirsen, J.D., M.A., in media psychology, is a New York Times best-selling author, media analyst, and law professor. Visit Newsmax TV Hollywood. Read James Hirsen's Reports — More Here.
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