Latest in Late-Night Laughs

Late-night television hasn't changed a great deal since Johnny Carson took over The Tonight Show nearly 60 years ago. There's been the odd exception, such as Arsenio Hall's syndicated show finding a young audience and bringing Bill Clinton's saxophone licks to the country, or Joan Rivers briefly interloping on Fox…

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is having its best ratings run in over a year – suggesting that things are looking up for the NBC show in a post-Trump universe. The show is on an eight-week run of leading in the 18-49 demo, including a tie for the week commencing March 15, Fallon's best winning streak since…

As Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon compete to reach traditional late-night viewers, a new breed of talk show host is emerging. Digital platforms such as Twitch, Clubhouse, TikTok and Instagram are becoming the home to new faces that appeal to tens of millions of younger users that have no idea who…

Lilly Singh launched the second season of her late-night show A Little Late in January – having been off the air for nearly eight months due to the pandemic. She returned not in a studio as she was in season one, but in a house in Los Angeles, that made the NBC show feel more casual and also allowed her and her team…

Late-Night Laughs is Deadline's weekly look at the business of jokes after dark. We focus on the biggest topics in the world of late-night, the people who make these shows tick and the moments that go viral. Drop me a line at pwhite@deadline.com with tips or suggestions. This week, we hear from Ziwe Fumudoh about her…

Awards crisis averted. The late-night community has breathed a sigh of relief after the Television Academy capitulated and decided against merging the late-night talk category with sketch for this year's Emmys. Deadline has spoken to a few late-night sources this morning and there's a general sense of jubilation…

Trevor Noah had never hosted The Daily Show without Donald Trump as President or running for top office until yesterday. The comedian began hosting the Comedy Central show on September 28, 2015, two months after the former host of Celebrity Apprentice came down the escalator at Trump Tower to announce his run for…

The first night that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert beat The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in total viewers after his opening night, the bespectacled host sprung for pizza for his crew. That was the first week of February 2017, not long after Donald Trump was sworn in as President of the United States of…

2020 has been an incredibly tough year but the world of late-night has been both a constant source of entertainment for viewers and a shining case study for how to make television during a global pandemic. The genre has proved tenacious, resilient and funny in the face of a devastating health crisis, adapting to…

Lorne Michaels, who is the most nominated individual in Emmy history, may find his chances of winning an award in 2021 a little tougher after the Television Academy introduced a swathe of changes to the rules. The Saturday Night Live creator will now see his weekly NBC sketch series go head-to-head for nominations…

The diversity of late-night writers rooms is not a new topic of conversation. For years, these shows have been accused of being too white and too male, and while that still might be the case, there has been improvement across the board both in terms of gender and ethnicity. Progress is being made…

Conan O'Brien's departure from late-night linear television after 28 years is shining a spotlight on the sustainability of the nightly format outside of the broadcast networks. O'Brien, who will end his TBS show in June 2021, is heading to HBO Max for a weekly variety show. It comes after a storied career hosting…