When news stories fall through the cracks, we here at Colbert News Hub find them for a post we call, In The Press.
With April behind us, there are only four months left until Late Show with Stephen Colbert starts! (!!) Sadly, that also means there are only three months left of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. For now though, the good news is that Jon has been giving new interviews, and those are always a treat!
In this edition of In The Press, we also catch up with The Nightly Show and The Late Late Show, the new kids on the block of late-night TV, who are still trying to find their footing, as well as their audience. Have you guys been watching either (or both) show(s) regularly?
Finally, late night writers talk about improv and submitting writing packets… and stir up some controversy!
Stephen Colbert
- 35 Most Powerful People in New York Media 2015 – The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter published the 2015 edition of its annual ‘Most Powerful People in New York Media’. Unsurprisingly, Stephen made the list once again. Also on the list are Jon Stewart, John Oliver and Larry Wilmore.
Why He Matters: The man CBS CEO Leslie Moonves anointed David Letterman’s “only logical successor” signed off from Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report in December after nine years (to a series high of 2.5 million viewers) and is set to launch Late Show on Sept. 8. Colbert, 50, will ditch his satirical blowhard persona as he enters a cutthroat broadcast late-night arena armed with a coveted commodity: youthful fans. At an average age of 42, Report viewers skewed almost two decades younger than Letterman’s core.
And Stephen Colbert, who begins as Corden’s CBS lead-in in September, sent over “the single most impressive thing of orchids I’ve ever seen,” says Corden, with a touching card that concluded: “I’m here waiting in the wings. Love, Stephen.”
- Up All Night with Stephen Colbert – New York Spring Spectacular
Samantha Berger, a Rockette, talks about dancing with Stephen for the “Daft Punk” video montage we were treated to a couple of years ago (has it really been that long?).
Thanks to my work as a Rockette, I got the chance to take my “friendship” with Stephen beyond watching him on TV—I got to dance with him.It happened when my late-night friend Stephen created a star-studded music video to Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky.” In the video, he makes an appearance dancing with the Rockettes (he was extremely flexible, by the way). Initially, the Rockettes wanted to just teach him our kickline, as is customary when celebrities join us (like Heidi Klum and Michael Strahan), but Stephen was different. He wanted to learn our entire routine. Not only did he hit every move, but he taught us some of his own.
Jon Stewart
- Jon Stewart: The President of American Satire – Short List Magazine
Ahead of Rosewater’s UK release, Jon has once again been making the rounds of interviews. This time, his upcoming departure is obviously a major subject of discussion.
How long had you known you were going? I don’t think there was an epiphany moment: the skies parting and saying it is time for me to go. Like any job, you do it for a long period of time, you start to feel like you’re maintaining it rather than evolving it. It wasn’t a case of me being like, “I’m fed up with the system, man, I can’t take it any more.” It’s just, I’d like to try different ways of skinning that cat. I told the network in late November, and we had to wait for a variety of reasons. Eventually, I was able to tell the staff and the crew, but I knew once we did it it would get out, so I told them the afternoon of the announcement. They’re the part that I’ll miss the most.
- Jon Stewart: Why I Quit The Daily Show – The Guardian
This is a longer profile. Its author interviewed Jon both in October 2014, and after he announced he would be leaving The Daily Show. It touches on a little bit of everything; from Rosewater, to Fox News, and past Daily Show interviews. If you haven’t read this article yet, I strongly recommend that you do. Just ignore the part where it says he has 18 Emmys (20, please!).
“[If I left the show,] I would do what I’m doing. Whether it’s standup, the show, books or films, I consider all this just different vehicles to continue a conversation about what it means to be a democratic nation, and to have it written into the constitution that all men are created equal – but to live with that for 100 years with slaves. How do those contradictions play themselves out? And how do we honestly assess our failings and move forward with integrity?”
Late Night Television
“Nightly’s” ability to try so many things is remarkable given its growing importance to Comedy Central’s lineup. “Nightly” fills a timeslot previously occupied by the successful “Colbert Report” and is part of a unique run of latenight wins at a network that is about to face a new test. Jon Stewart’s tenure on “The Daily Show,” which airs at 11 p.m., is slated to end August 6, which means the network could lean more heavily for a time on Wilmore and the show’s staff to draw in wee-hours viewers.
According to Nielsen ratings data, in the three months since The Nightly Show‘s debut on Jan. 19, the show has averaged 417k viewers in the late-night key demo of 18-to-49-year-olds. During that same exact time period, in 2014, The Colbert Report averaged 683k demo viewers. That’s a 39% decline for Comedy Central.Similarly, in the 25-54 demo, The Nightly Show is down 37% from Colbert’s 577k viewers. And in total viewership for the three-month period, year-over-year, Wilmore is down 38% from Colbert’s 1.24 million
- How Improv Helps Television’s Best Comedy Writers – Splitsider
Here’s a nice long article featuring writers from various TV shows (including The Colbert Report), who share the lessons they’ve learned from improv, and how those can be put into practice in the writing room.
“Improvisation not only taught me how to write comedy, it taught me how to write collaboratively,” says former Colbert Report writer and soon-to-be Late Show with Stephen Colbert writer Ariel Dumas, who studied theater in college before training at Second City, iO, and the Annoyance in Chicago. “In improvisation, you use your relationship with your scene partner to grow the story together. It doesn’t matter if one of you has some genius comedic premise about working in a hot dog factory – if the other person immediately shoots it down or won’t let go of their competing idea about being at a rodeo, the whole thing falls flat.”
- Tips for Submitting a TV Writing Packet – Improv Nerd Blog
Writers who have worked for Conan, Key & Peele, and The Colbert Report share some tips on writing a packet. A great read not only for people looking to write for TV, but also for those of us who enjoy knowing more about the process!
Peter Gwinn, former writer for The Colbert Report “First, make a list of the shows that you would be interested in submitting to if you were someday asked. Then watch those shows, starting right now. When shows ask for packets, you usually have a week max to write it. So there’s no time to cram lessons on the show’s voice. You need to already be familiar with it.When you get the packet instructions, read them carefully. Don’t be the guy whose packet is eliminated immediately because you submitted 10 segment scripts when they asked for 10 segment pitches. If you ignored Tip #1 and haven’t been watching the show, and you don’t know what something is that they’re asking for (like a “Tip/Wag” or a “desk bit”), don’t be afraid to ask.
- ‘Conan’ Writer Slams Late-Night Competition: “Shove Your Lip-Syncing Up Your Ass” – The Hollywood Reporter
Conan writer Andre du Bouchet got into a little bit of controversy after he took to the tweets, criticizing the current late-night TV landscape. Not very classy, but it definitely reflects our own misgivings about Stephen’s move to CBS. He and his staff have gotten us used to a brilliant, edgy, and hilarious show. And as entertaining as Fallon’s and Kimmel’s shows can be, I don’t believe the words “brilliant” or “edgy” easily come to mind. I think I speak for all of us when I say, it’s not the type of show worth losing The Colbert Report for! In fact, Bouchet did say he was looking forward to seeing Stephen’s show.
“Comedy in 2015 needs a severe motherf—ing shakeup. No celebrities, no parodies, no pranks, no mash-ups or hashtag wars,” he wrote, before adding: “And shove your lip-syncing up your ass.”
“Prom King Comedy,” continued du Bouchet. “That’s what I call all this shit. You’ve let the popular kids appropriate the very art form that helped you deal. F—.”
In The Press – April 2015 Edition
When news stories fall through the cracks, we here at Colbert News Hub find them for a post we call, In The Press.
With April behind us, there are only four months left until Late Show with Stephen Colbert starts! (!!) Sadly, that also means there are only three months left of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. For now though, the good news is that Jon has been giving new interviews, and those are always a treat!
In this edition of In The Press, we also catch up with The Nightly Show and The Late Late Show, the new kids on the block of late-night TV, who are still trying to find their footing, as well as their audience. Have you guys been watching either (or both) show(s) regularly?
Finally, late night writers talk about improv and submitting writing packets… and stir up some controversy!
Stephen Colbert
The Hollywood Reporter published the 2015 edition of its annual ‘Most Powerful People in New York Media’. Unsurprisingly, Stephen made the list once again. Also on the list are Jon Stewart, John Oliver and Larry Wilmore.
Why He Matters: The man CBS CEO Leslie Moonves anointed David Letterman’s “only logical successor” signed off from Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report in December after nine years (to a series high of 2.5 million viewers) and is set to launch Late Show on Sept. 8. Colbert, 50, will ditch his satirical blowhard persona as he enters a cutthroat broadcast late-night arena armed with a coveted commodity: youthful fans. At an average age of 42, Report viewers skewed almost two decades younger than Letterman’s core.
And Stephen Colbert, who begins as Corden’s CBS lead-in in September, sent over “the single most impressive thing of orchids I’ve ever seen,” says Corden, with a touching card that concluded: “I’m here waiting in the wings. Love, Stephen.”
Samantha Berger, a Rockette, talks about dancing with Stephen for the “Daft Punk” video montage we were treated to a couple of years ago (has it really been that long?).
Thanks to my work as a Rockette, I got the chance to take my “friendship” with Stephen beyond watching him on TV—I got to dance with him.It happened when my late-night friend Stephen created a star-studded music video to Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky.” In the video, he makes an appearance dancing with the Rockettes (he was extremely flexible, by the way). Initially, the Rockettes wanted to just teach him our kickline, as is customary when celebrities join us (like Heidi Klum and Michael Strahan), but Stephen was different. He wanted to learn our entire routine. Not only did he hit every move, but he taught us some of his own.
Jon Stewart
Ahead of Rosewater’s UK release, Jon has once again been making the rounds of interviews. This time, his upcoming departure is obviously a major subject of discussion.
How long had you known you were going? I don’t think there was an epiphany moment: the skies parting and saying it is time for me to go. Like any job, you do it for a long period of time, you start to feel like you’re maintaining it rather than evolving it. It wasn’t a case of me being like, “I’m fed up with the system, man, I can’t take it any more.” It’s just, I’d like to try different ways of skinning that cat. I told the network in late November, and we had to wait for a variety of reasons. Eventually, I was able to tell the staff and the crew, but I knew once we did it it would get out, so I told them the afternoon of the announcement. They’re the part that I’ll miss the most.
This is a longer profile. Its author interviewed Jon both in October 2014, and after he announced he would be leaving The Daily Show. It touches on a little bit of everything; from Rosewater, to Fox News, and past Daily Show interviews. If you haven’t read this article yet, I strongly recommend that you do. Just ignore the part where it says he has 18 Emmys (20, please!).
“[If I left the show,] I would do what I’m doing. Whether it’s standup, the show, books or films, I consider all this just different vehicles to continue a conversation about what it means to be a democratic nation, and to have it written into the constitution that all men are created equal – but to live with that for 100 years with slaves. How do those contradictions play themselves out? And how do we honestly assess our failings and move forward with integrity?”
Late Night Television
“Nightly’s” ability to try so many things is remarkable given its growing importance to Comedy Central’s lineup. “Nightly” fills a timeslot previously occupied by the successful “Colbert Report” and is part of a unique run of latenight wins at a network that is about to face a new test. Jon Stewart’s tenure on “The Daily Show,” which airs at 11 p.m., is slated to end August 6, which means the network could lean more heavily for a time on Wilmore and the show’s staff to draw in wee-hours viewers.
According to Nielsen ratings data, in the three months since The Nightly Show‘s debut on Jan. 19, the show has averaged 417k viewers in the late-night key demo of 18-to-49-year-olds. During that same exact time period, in 2014, The Colbert Report averaged 683k demo viewers. That’s a 39% decline for Comedy Central.Similarly, in the 25-54 demo, The Nightly Show is down 37% from Colbert’s 577k viewers. And in total viewership for the three-month period, year-over-year, Wilmore is down 38% from Colbert’s 1.24 million
Here’s a nice long article featuring writers from various TV shows (including The Colbert Report), who share the lessons they’ve learned from improv, and how those can be put into practice in the writing room.
“Improvisation not only taught me how to write comedy, it taught me how to write collaboratively,” says former Colbert Report writer and soon-to-be Late Show with Stephen Colbert writer Ariel Dumas, who studied theater in college before training at Second City, iO, and the Annoyance in Chicago. “In improvisation, you use your relationship with your scene partner to grow the story together. It doesn’t matter if one of you has some genius comedic premise about working in a hot dog factory – if the other person immediately shoots it down or won’t let go of their competing idea about being at a rodeo, the whole thing falls flat.”
Writers who have worked for Conan, Key & Peele, and The Colbert Report share some tips on writing a packet. A great read not only for people looking to write for TV, but also for those of us who enjoy knowing more about the process!
Peter Gwinn, former writer for The Colbert Report “First, make a list of the shows that you would be interested in submitting to if you were someday asked. Then watch those shows, starting right now. When shows ask for packets, you usually have a week max to write it. So there’s no time to cram lessons on the show’s voice. You need to already be familiar with it.When you get the packet instructions, read them carefully. Don’t be the guy whose packet is eliminated immediately because you submitted 10 segment scripts when they asked for 10 segment pitches. If you ignored Tip #1 and haven’t been watching the show, and you don’t know what something is that they’re asking for (like a “Tip/Wag” or a “desk bit”), don’t be afraid to ask.
Conan writer Andre du Bouchet got into a little bit of controversy after he took to the tweets, criticizing the current late-night TV landscape. Not very classy, but it definitely reflects our own misgivings about Stephen’s move to CBS. He and his staff have gotten us used to a brilliant, edgy, and hilarious show. And as entertaining as Fallon’s and Kimmel’s shows can be, I don’t believe the words “brilliant” or “edgy” easily come to mind. I think I speak for all of us when I say, it’s not the type of show worth losing The Colbert Report for! In fact, Bouchet did say he was looking forward to seeing Stephen’s show.
“Comedy in 2015 needs a severe motherf—ing shakeup. No celebrities, no parodies, no pranks, no mash-ups or hashtag wars,” he wrote, before adding: “And shove your lip-syncing up your ass.”
“Prom King Comedy,” continued du Bouchet. “That’s what I call all this shit. You’ve let the popular kids appropriate the very art form that helped you deal. F—.”