Inside Late Night with Mark Malkoff - Can Late Night Do Everything at Once? [LateNighter Roundtable Podcast]

Episode Date: April 3, 2026

With late night under growing pressure to meet the moment, Bill Carter, Mark Malkoff, and Jon Schneider break down a pivotal stretch for the genre in this month’s edition of LateNighter’s Roundtable Podcast.

Hello, everybody, and welcome to Late Niders Roundtable for March 2026. My name is John Schneider from Late Nider. Very excited to be back with you this month to talk about a very busy month in late night television. And joining us, we got the whole crew back together again. It is the host of the Inside Late Night with Mark Malkoff podcast. Mark Malkoff is here. Mark, how are you? Thanks.

I'm doing well. Nice to see you. So great to see you as well. And always a pleasure to get to speak to this guy. Bill Carter is here. Bill, how are you? I'm great. It's great.

to be back with you guys for this stimulating conversation we always have. Should be a fun one. So last time we got together, we were previewing Conan returning to host the Oscars, and he did it, and rave reviews all around for his performance. Bill, you actually published an interview that you did with him, both in print and by podcast. So I would love to know how you thought Conan did in his return to hosting the Oscars. Well, I should start by saying that I like Conan. I always like Conan.

His style appeals to me. That said, I think he wasn't as good as the first time. I thought the material was not. I think the material was not as good as the first time. That's just my feeling. And maybe it's because, you know, the opening, which is the big thing for him, was a film I hadn't seen.

I hadn't seen that movie. So I didn't get it. I was like, why is this funny? I don't get what he's doing. I knew it was funny because the audience was funny. but that sort of left me out of that of that joke you know i was sort of left out of that joke and i just felt like um i don't know he didn't have as many knockout punches he had knockout punches a year ago in my opinion and i think he's always good and i love his just his physical presence as a host he's

really good he dominates a big stage because he's the big guy and i like all of that but i just felt I thought the material was better last year. I like the Jane Lynch, the ads that's going to YouTube. That was really funny. And the Ted Sarando, he mentioned, I forget what it was, about Ted Serando seeing a movie in a theater. There were some good ones, but it was definitely different. And I agree.

I didn't see the film with the kids. I didn't see that until after the Oscars. So I was like, I'm sure that this is very funny for people that saw it. I think it's just such a disadvantage when you don't have these big, I mean, the film did well, but it was certainly. It certainly wasn't... It wasn't one of the best... There were movies there that were way more popular than that one.

And he... But obviously the bit worked better for him. The crazy fright wig and the crazy glasses and all that definitely worked better for him. And I'm sure if you saw the movie, it killed. It just, to me, it was playing to a smaller crowd. That's all. I love that Conan was going all over L.A. to these all comedy rooms,

just doing stand-up, just running stuff. I mean, it was... The amount of time that this man puts into his writing and the performing is, it's unbelievable. He went, as he said to me, he went to those, clothes. Nobody knows he's going to be there that night. I know. They don't tell anybody. So you're just going to, and then Conan O'Brien shows up.

And, you know, I think that's the best he can do. It's still like it's Conan O'Brien. They're going to be laughing at even mediocre material. You know what I mean? But so it's an interesting test. It's a bit of a different test. but I think he puts everything he hasn't to it then and that's why he's great at it yeah and respectfully I would disagree just a little bit because I do feel like any

Oscar nominated movie is fair game to make fun of at the Oscars totally I'm not saying you shouldn't have done it I just felt like as a as a viewer that I didn't appreciate as as much as the year before because I didn't see the film and that's on me I guess but I I'm not a voter so I don't feel obligated to see every movie but he could have played he could have played another movie. Like I saw the Ethan Hawk movie, which many people didn't see, right? That was a very small, small, small movie. He could have done that. A lot of people would have been like, what,

what's this about? And I would have thought it was hilarious. It's a lot easier when he's hosting the Emmys and he can do, go through all the different TV shows and people, they know it and you're playing. And he had movies that like were bigger at this time. You know, Sinners was much bigger movie, you know. And so was what do you think of the one battle after another ending that we had with Conan where he gets killed off and says that Mr. Beast will be hosting the Oscars in the future? Yeah, I mean, again, very inside baseball, but very Conan kind of thing to do it. Play up to the top of his intelligence for sure.

Absolutely. Yeah, I totally get your point. I just think it's harder now, obviously, that it was 10, 20, 30 years ago when there was less things to watch, less places to go. You know, who knows how many people in the room have seen all the films. it's a tough spot mark we have to go back to this in the last 10 years of the Oscars maybe even a few more it's the hardest room they were always a hard room to do comedy but it's only got in worse since the johnny carson bob hope days they still back then would actually laugh and they were a good audience and it's just it's a thankless job in

well he said and i and i did ask him that too and he said it it is but he liked it he likes it because he likes the pomposity of it like that you know there's it's there's so much of that that you can use, you can use that fact. And he understands that the audience is like, we're not really there for seat coming. They're all on the edge of their seat. They're, you know, it's very tense for a lot of them. But he embraced that. He thought that was fine. He liked that. And as I said, it is a big room. It's a big cold room kind of. But he has a big personality. So he's a right host for it, for sure. Bill, do you think he's going to do it again next year? I'm going to guess no. I think he'll be at.

but I think he probably thinks it's best to take a break from it. I'm just guessing. He loved the first one. He loved it. He came up and said he loved it. I don't know what he personally thought this time when he came off the stage. They're going to ask Malaney again. He'll probably say no. And they'll probably maybe ask Nikki Glazer.

I mean, she, I think, would do a good job. I think Malini would do a good job. Yeah, he would. He would. He would say. It'll be interesting. We only got a few more years before. heads to YouTube. I believe they're moving theaters at one point as well. So it's a lot of changes

coming. You know who I would I would have host Shea and Jost. Yeah, well, that's an interesting choice. But I mean, the MAs more, but still, they get TV people to host. I mean, they, I think, would shake things up, but that's just me. All right. Well, let's talk about something a little darker. Let's talk about everyone in late night has been covering all month long. And that's the Iran War. So this has been a huge topic every night. late night given what's going on overseas. So I would love to know from both of you how you feel that this subject matter has tested the late night host this month and who has come out on top. Mark, I'll start with you. I think the Colbert's take was really funny and interesting.

You could say it was obvious, but it was still like, why are we in this war again after eight days? I mean, it seems like it's something that everybody, all the late night host have to comment to. I don't think that there's a lot of material. right material for them to do with it. But yeah, I thought Colbert had a good take. It's a delicate one because, you know, it feels so huge and potentially tragic for families. And there's already been families that have lost people in this. So you do walk a line about satirizing it.

And the other thing is I think people don't fully understand it. Like it's kind of a hard thing to explain, what is going on here? Why are we doing this? And that is hard, I think, to make fun of, harder to make fun of than specific things. You know, Colbert was doing his whole jokes on, he rhymed Harmoos with the news and the blues and everything else. But Americans are not really great at geography, things like this. and this is forcing them to say, well, what's going? Why is this straight and forth?

What's going on there? Like, you know, there's a bit of explanation that has to go on. I always think that, like, I think Stewart is brilliant at this kind of stuff. He is. He just is. This is right in his wheelhouse. And he was very funny a couple of weeks ago when it started. I think it's feeling, he's just getting angry now.

Like, and there's a level of anger going on about this. Like, what the hell are we doing here? What's going on? Why are we doing this? And, you know, as I've said many times, Trump does things that are in themselves so broadly funny and stupid looking. Like this recent video of him standing on the stage doing his dance with the big sword. Did you see this?

Like he has the big, he's doing it. You know, like the soldiers have their big saber or whatever. And he's doing his thing. And I'm like, what in the heck is this? You know, like, and in the middle of talking about what is. I'm going to obliterate these people. But here's some photos of my ballroom. And look at this.

Look at this. That's what Stewart did in his most region show. And you're like, yeah, that's insane. Why is he talking about that? It's just, so I just feel like it's a tremendous, war is a tremendous challenge to be funny about. It just is. There's a natural tendency to say, I don't know if I want to laugh about that, you know. It's very true.

And I thought that Stewart was the most interesting one because he, had been around to cover the early 2000s, you know, the Iraq War and Afghanistan and all that. And it was, you know, to me, just from taking a step back, looking at the macro of it all, that felt so different than this because there was this, you know, horrific event that happens in the United States with 9-11. And it felt like the war that, you know, followed was supposed to be a response to what happened there. And it felt like everyone, okay, we can all get behind this, just if we're looking at the major

steps that went along the way those few years. this didn't feel like there was any major event that led into why all of a sudden the Iran war has happened. And so it's really hard for people to get behind because everything is moving so quickly that I do feel the importance of a late night host in these times is really spotlighted because they're the ones that are able to break down the situation and make us understand it for those that don't watch the news every single day. And I will say one thing that's very interesting about it, in every other kind of recent war like this, which would go back to Vietnam, I guess,

and certainly the Iraq war and Kuwait and all those, they start out with very strong public support. They start out that way because people are like, it's our guys, we've got to win. This one did not. This one did not. From the beginning, people were like, I don't like it. I don't want to be, I want to be involved in it. So the late night host's being resistance really is playing into that, a much more favorite. atmosphere than it would be normally because I think a lot of people are asking the same

questions but it's still hard to make it funny that's the thing it's it's very easy to make fun of Trump for putting his name on the on the money I mean that that is really easy that's an easy target but for him to say I'm going to blow up all their salinization plants and people won't have drinking water I mean that's really over the top kind of war crime sounding stuff hard to be funny about. Mark, is there a late-night host that isn't around right now on a show that you wish was here to cover what's going on? Oh, goodness.

That's a great question. I'm trying to think of somebody that would have an interesting take that's no longer on, because Conan was more about the silliness. I mean, he would do topical stuff, but we really looked to him. I can't come up with anyone. Good. anybody you can think of? I would say

Stephen Colbert from the rapport. Good answer. I feel like Letterman would be Well, Letterman would be a, he danced very hard on this because he does, he did have a very big sensitive streak

about people dying and things like that. The later years, the later years on CBS, yes, but there was a long stretch a couple, first two decades where that really didn't happen much. But I just think Stephen Colbert's character would have been so gung-ho and foolish about this that he would have been really effective in satirizing it.

Yeah, it'll be interesting to see what happens in April if this continues to go on, how they end up continuing to cover it or pivot at a certain point. Let's stick international and talk about the premiere of SNLUK. This is something we've been talking about on many of our roundtables leading up to this moment, where Tina Faye hosted the premiere of this new series. It was very exciting. A lot of people, very apprehensive about what this would look like. Seems like the reviews were pretty strong.

We just passed in the time we were reporting the Jamie Dornan episode as well. And we have six more episodes now the season. So they up the total to eight. Mark, how have you felt about what we've seen overseas with SNLUK? Oh, I think they've done a tremendous job. It is the hardest show to do. And I think that they have definitely pulled it off. I was just kind of a little bit nervous that it would be a little bit more raw,

but I thought it was polished. I think it's there. And I think if they are given the opportunity to do 20 an episode, I can't wait to see in a couple seasons where it's going to be. I thought it seems just that the performers just seemed really, really happy to be there. And it's this new thing that I hope has a lot of impact. And I think it can. Bill, you wrote a review after the premiere.

feeling after two episodes? I thought the first one, Mark, he's the right, was stunningly polished, actually. For the first one, I just thought it was so well brought off, and it just showcased real talent. I mean, they had real talent. I thought the second one, what I thought was very interesting, was they were more British in the second one, for sure. Cold Open was British. They did much more British-centric stuff, which was fine with me. That was fine with me. That's what they should do. And I thought the first half of the show was strong. I thought it was weak in the second half. I thought there's some of the sketches they did later. And I didn't think update was nearly as good. Update was much better in the first one, in my opinion.

And I also noticed they flubbed more in the second update. They were, they actually, she actually ruined one joke kind of. She stumbled over one joke and sort of ruined it. And that surprised me because the week before, one of the things I was really impressed by was their reading of cue cards was fantastic. You could hardly tell they were doing it. And on weekday, they're actually allowed to read. Like, they are reading. Bill, something really interesting that came out of hearing, you know, what's been going on over there is that they're not using Q cards on Weekend Update in the UK. They're using a prompter. Okay, they're using prompt. Oh, interesting. But that's interesting. I would think Q cards would be easier. I would think. I agree with you. But it may be that we're

used to it, Mark. But I agree with you on that because I, I feel like the cadence is easier in a way when they're turning that card. I just feel like they might have a better timing with that. But I didn't think they had any problem reading. It didn't look like guys, you know, how sometimes you watch an SNL sketch and the person is so evidently reading the card that it kind of subverts it a little. But when the update, update has always been on, I don't know if updates on prompter. Is update on prompter or still on Q cards?

No, it's with Q cards in the States, but it's on Promptor in the UK. So I just thought that was interesting. I mean, that's make sense because that's what you do with a newscast. They always use a prompt or a newscast. But you shouldn't flub there. That's what my point is. You shouldn't mess up when you can actually read it, like instead of having to be acting while you're reading. So I thought that was a little bit of a flaw in the second one. But I thought some of the material was very good. Again, I thought some of the sketches were, I thought the open was very good. I mean, their thing with Prince's, what's his name, Andrew, is a big. story for them. Of course that's going to be something

they're going to do. That made a lot of sense. And everybody in America gets that story. So that wasn't a problem for me. I was talking to John just, I asked him, I'm like, for 225,000, whatever it is, the people that were tuning in, and I'm like, how can they justify spending that much money? And then it came

out shortly after that it was estimated something like it was $2 million and it's an episode, which is a lot for them. But they basically said that they're looking at it as investment. Correct, John? For sure. And I think that the retention that they had from week one to week two was huge. It was massive. 90% of the audience returned for week number two. That's a number that I've been told as unheard of in the UK for a show like that. And I don't think that they're only looking at the people who are watching it within 24 hours. Again, we know that NBC doesn't look like at that specifically for us and the US. The social mark that the show is making not only in the UK, but globally, has been huge for them. I mean, I, Sky subscriptions, I'm sure, are going up, and among the other ways that they're looking to profit off this show. So I would imagine this is a huge success, especially with the British media, because most of them were saying this is going to be a massive failure before it started.

And now everyone's like, I can't believe this is good. Yeah, that's the sense I've had, that they are really switched into, we're on board with this. You know, where we want to watch, yes, give us more. Okay, you expand. That's great. Like, they seem to be very enthused about it. John, there's not an official YouTube channel. Is there for, there is?

Yeah, they didn't have one for the first week, and then they pivoted. Oh, the first week, and now there is an official one. Okay. But I love to say, I don't know, to me, one week in, I'm starting, I already identified the talent. I kind of identify who they are, which I think was pretty impressive. Like, oh, it's that guy, it's that woman. I mean, I think they did a very good job of giving people something to do that was, that broke

through. I would agree. I think that week number two really highlighted Annabelle, who wasn't so featured in week number one. And it's possible that in weeks three, four, five, that we get somebody that we didn't see as much. Sometimes it just takes time to develop these people. But naturally, you will get a hierarchy over time and the people that are the best will shine through. And that's the fun of watching the show. I hope they keep the cast the size it is now.

And they go 18 to 20 people. And for three minutes, you're doing the opening. I like less as more. You get to actually get to know the people. I agree completely. I want to ask you both about an underreported story that Tina Faye, apparently, after hosting the premiere, stuck around for week number two to help with what Jamie Dornan's episode would look like. I thought that was really interesting because, you know, Lauren left her there as like, you know, his conciliary to manage what's going on over there. Yeah.

Bill, is this like an indication of maybe Tina's future? Well, certainly for us it is because we've been wondering about this. And clearly she has the skill set to do this. There aren't many people I would say that about. And the idea that she did so well with the show, clearly had a hand in making it that good early. Her sticking around is a statement. Okay, it's a statement.

You know, she's kind of quasi-show running a little bit. And you have to say, well, what does that mean? Maybe it means nothing in the short term, but it is experience for the long term, possibly. I would think so. Yeah, I would think so, too. I mean, she's one of those people that there are some people that have a skill set that they can do the creative, but she is able to do both and work with the network. She's run shows before.

She has all this production experience. So, yeah, I would think that that would be the most likely fit. And the other major pivot with SNLUK was they had announced. that it would be up on Peacock at 9 p.m. Eastern on Sundays. This was an insane decision, if I could be light about it. Absolutely. Because it was coming out for most of the United States over 24 hours after it originally aired live.

And then you had everyone all day saying, where is S&LUK? It seems that after week number two, it was put out at 1 p.m. Eastern, so they moved it back by about eight hours. I still think there's no reason that this show should not air live in the States in some way. I hope that eventually they will get to that point. But for me, if Lauren really is thinking about global expansion, I think that acknowledging that the SNL is now a global sport and people just want to watch it when it airs will be important for the future of these international additions. I'll tell you what's interesting is I forgot that it was not supposed to be on until nine

and I wanted to see it and I thought, oh, I guess I'll put it on peak and it was there. And it was there. And And then it's only a little while later, I realized, well, this is much earlier than it was supposed to be. It was like 2 o'clock in the afternoon. I put it on. And there it was. And I thought, oh, that is interesting. They came alive and did it. Now, when you say Lauren's goal is to be global, I mean, you know, how many countries could really do this?

I think Australia would be the next one. Potentially, Australia, I guess, they have good performers. They have not as many as England had. you know, Britain has, you know, Scotland and Ireland, they have a lot of very good comic talent. But it's got to be, I mean, I can't see it being done in China. Maybe I'm crazy, but, you know. John, is it too far out to think that even the notion that Canada would want a version? I know they had air bars and they've done a lot of other sketch stuff, but it's never going to happen, right?

I mean, we had a Quebec version because it was French. French language, so it was different. But I think that Canadians, I mean, I'm sure Trump would be thrilled to hear this, but I think Canadians are so ingrained in American culture that it would just be too hard to separate these. It would look exactly the way that the U.S. does. We already have, you know, Veronica Slaucoxka rookie this year. She's Canadian. Like, we already have Canadians appearing on the American edition of the show. Some of the biggest names ever were Canadians. Some of the biggest drones ever. Mike Myers, Hartman. Norm MacDonald. I mean, come on. It's so much. Yeah. Lorne himself. It's just,

it's too intertwined to ever get to that point. And I don't think that the show, despite it taking place in New York and being sort of this mecca, I don't think that it feels so American and not so Canadian, as a Canadian myself, who covers the show. So I think that I couldn't see that. I think British expansion was so natural.

I think potentially Australia down the road. And look, I really feel like he was focusing so much on the 50th. And then it's like, well, what's next before eventually I retire? This feels like something that he maybe really wanted to accomplish before those steps. So very happy for their success and we'll come back and talk about this

in the future. Another show with a lot of success right now, Daily Show, cannot believe what's happening over there. Five year ratings high recently near record share with all younger viewers coming back to this show. Whatever, you know, formula they have put together, Bill, it is working right now. Yeah. And I think, you know, the formula is what they once were, which is, you know, we're going to tell you things in the news that you're not getting anywhere else. kind of young people used to always say I always watch the daily show that's what tells me what's going on in the world and they're getting a little bit of that back now obviously Stewart coming back was gigantic absolutely gigantic and he is as good as he's ever was maybe

better so you know but the other people aren't bad this is a good group this is a very good gosh is very good des he's very good des he's very good i mean yeah yeah and so they have they've got a very good bench there. So you don't feel like, oh, it's only the Monday night show. I mean, you know, I would say maybe a couple of them aren't as strong, but generally speaking, that's a very good crowd. And I just think the timing is right. People are looking for somebody who's saying the truth. Speaking comedy to power is the way I put it. And that's sort of what they do. They speak comedy to power. Mondays are definitely appointment late night TV for people. And it's been a while since it's like that. It's been like that. Absolutely.

But I think it's the younger viewership that really shocks me. It's not even, like, I'm not surprised that John Stewart's bringing back viewers who have watched him for years, but the fact that all of this new generation is coming in to watch the Daily Show and are connecting with these people really interests me. I do wonder if a factor is the fact that the other Daily Show hosts also have pretty good stand-up careers and they tour and people can go out and see them. So there's a connection. Like, oh, I know Ronnie Chang.

Like, I'd love to know what he has to say about this. I see Clapper out there. Like, he's a man on the street. So I would be, you know, I wonder if there's a connection that the Daily Show is building in a way where John Stewart, as fantastic as he is. He doesn't accomplish that

because he's so much bigger than the show where the others are like able to connect with the audience. Well, it's certainly true. John's, I mean, he has a tremendous following from his YouTube work. So that, but he's only, he hasn't actually host that much and he doesn't do as much correspondence stuff, it seems like, as the other people. But what I noticed when he was on last week, the audiences were wildly enthusiastic,

like crazy enthusiastic. You know, and he, and I couldn't help thinking, I'm throwing out something totally different here, but, you know, if you were, if you were not CBS deciding that you were closing down late night and running for the hills, and you just wanted to replace. Colbert, I would look at Josh Johnson. I mean, I really would. If the world was different and people were still looking for Layton Hills. After seeing him, I'd say, I want to have a conversation with that guy. He's very likable. He would be really good. I just think if they did a show with him, you'd have half the number of writers that they have now and it would just be scaled down. I doubt if they

would get a ban. Maybe they would. Oh, no, they wouldn't. Of course. No, no, that's true. But I think he He would succeed. I think he would succeed. Yeah. I'm very happy for what's going on over there and hoping that we will see Josh a little bit more than we have so far in 2026. Crazy story over the last couple of weeks, Bill, I believe you wrote about it, Bill Maher getting the Mark Twain Prize. This was something that we had heard was happening and then it wasn't happening. And this is a farce.

And then it is happening because no one really fully understands the relationship between Bill Maher and Trump. This is a wild circumstance bill that now he is getting the Mark Twain Prize. Well, it first had to begin with the fact that who knows how they even pick a host. It's a winner. It's like, how did that happen? Is there a commitment? It's not really, I don't know, it's public or what, but they used to have sort of a group that did it. I don't know who's doing it.

Okay. I have no idea how that works. But they clearly link that it's going to be more. And then the White House says no way, like Trump. obviously has control. Trump has control of this too. Like he, he decides who gets the Mark Twain Award. Now that's something else he decided. So that was pretty outrageous to begin with. When I heard that, it was like, oh, now Trump vetoes the Twain Award. And he's vetoing Marr because Mar hasn't been sufficiently, you know, understanding of his position, even though he's more

open to them than any of the other layoffs. Clearly, he's been more open to them. And then it comes back and no one only came back because somebody was talking in the background about you know, hey, he does, look, here's a guy who does kind of support, look what he's supporting the whole business in Iran, so, you know, you're not going to get that with any other, probably any other

comic legend that you can name. So it comes back again. And I mean, look, if you're Mar, of course you want to get it, you know, that's a big honor. And God, how many times he come on the air and sort of complained about not winning an Emmy? Like, he does that

lot. I mean, I think he has the record for most nominations without a win. I was looking up stuff, and I think there's a Wikipedia entry says he's had more nominations without winning. But he did win as a producer for Vice once, but never for his own shows. And I think he's had way over 20 nominations, and I won. So he wants, I think he really wanted this award. I think he really wanted the award. I don't know what combinations were made. Maybe none, maybe some. He's a difficult guy to figure out. And, you know, I wrote a piece basically saying, you know, a lot of people probably don't like the idea that he's getting this award. They don't particularly like his comedy, his style, is in your face kind of, but he's been on for almost three decades doing this.

Plus, they know that his friends all from all the stand-ups, regardless of their politics. Seinfeld's going to come out. Yes, very much. Yes. They're all pals. Yes, that's what I was going to say, because somebody asked me, who's going to do him. And I said, while I know Seinfeld and Leno are frequently on him and many other comics. Sean Penn. Yeah. He has Hollywood friends for sure. He does.

He does. But he also has, he rubs a lot of people the wrong way. And generally speaking, the Twain Award has gone to, you know, like Carol Burnett and Steve Martin and kind of mainstream big-time comedy names, not people who have kind of a pool of people who don't really appreciate them. I just think he has an identity crisis sometimes where he doesn't know. I don't know. I don't think Bill Maher like knows who his audience is sometimes. Like I think sometimes he's like, hey, like, you know, I'm going to be like somewhat controversial and say things that nobody else will say. And I think he always like toes the line between like is he right, is he left?

Is he in the middle? Like we don't really know. Well, he wants to do. That's what he wants to do. He wants that. I mean, he thinks that gives him a unique identity. And it kind of does. Because most of the stance he takes are either libertarian or liberal, right?

They're certainly not right wing. Most of the stance he takes would fall into those categories. And, you know, he's not going to support some of the lunatic stuff that goes on. I mean, you know, he absolutely skewers Trump for all the fatuous, you know, put my name on things that he does. But on the other hand, he takes these positions that he thinks piss off liberals. He likes that. He likes doing that. But would he have Trump on his show?

Yeah. Sure he would. I think he would. Sure he would. Because I don't think like Colbert or Camel would. Was it? Didn't Trump interview? Didn't Mar interview Trump previously?

I thought in the White House. Yeah. In the White House? You mean when he was in office? I thought so. I could be off on that. They had dinner, but I thought, oh, maybe you're right. Maybe that had never happened.

I don't think Trump has been on a late-night show since being elected president. Bill Maher is so good at staying. relevant in terms of controversy. So I think he would want Trump on 100%. And Trump, I expect Trump will be there. I expect Trump will be there for this award. Right. So I guess that's my point.

It's not, I'm not trying to put his views on, like, or my perception of his views on him. But what I would say is that, you know, despite his views, he's always open and willing to entertain anyone else's. And that's unlike the other late night host. He's the only late night host that will turn on his audience if they don't clap to support his opinion. The claptor is the worst for him.

Let's face it. It's the worst. His audience claps for every single joke. And if they don't, he'll give like a love. Yeah, and clearly he's expecting it. And that, to me, hurts him because he does have good jokes. He has good jokes. And he's good at delivering a good joke.

But not every joke is good. Nobody tells. And not every joke, the only jokes that should get applauded are extraordinary jokes that you laugh at so much you then start to applaud. Because you say, wow, that was. good. Not every joke. I mean, I think it's, it undercuts the, the whole range of material you're doing. But I will say, and I said this in the story, he's a legitimate winner. There's nothing illegitimate about giving him this award. He's done this a long time. Mark Twain was the first

stand-up comic. That's really who he was. And there's a guy who started a little before him that Twain actually watched, guy named Artemis Ward, and he sort of looked at that guy, and that guy might be considered a prior stand-up. But March Wayne, basically, that's what he was. He wasn't a joke teller so much. He would tell jokes, but he was a storyteller. He was a Mike Brimiglia kind of guy. He told a lot of funny, long stories.

But that's what he did. He went all over the world doing this. So if you're going to give it to a guy, and he's been in the comedy scene for, you know, at least three decades or more, and he's been on TV all that time, yeah, he's legitimate. It's legitimate to get it.

giving the price. And I'm certainly not questioning his legitimacy, but I will say a few years ago, you know, John Stewart wins it. You get to see, you know, Colbert appearing, Oliver appearing, Kimmel appearing. Like, it feels like, you know, the Boys Club is there and the strike force assembles for their, their, you know, counterparts. And, you know, we get Letterman winning. You get Conan winning over the last few years. I don't know that any other late night hosts are going to be there to celebrate Bill Maher getting this. I mean, it just doesn't feel like he's part of the crew. It was definitely Colbert when Bill Maher went on Colbert and Colbert very gently pushed back on, I think it was religion, right? I think that's what it was,

that they kind of, and I enjoyed that, but it was definitely there was a little awkwardness. So I'm not sure. You might be right on that, John. I can't think of one who would. I agree with John. I can't think one of those guys would say, yeah, I'm going to speak for Bill Maher at this event. That's what makes this very. That's interesting. That makes it. It's pretty interesting. It's a standup. Look who goes on club random. I mean,

there's definitely Brillstein people that he's been friends with for years, like, that go on that show. I mean, he still gets big names. He does. And he gets politicians. Politicians of every stripe go on his show. They just do it. And they sit there when he tells stuff that you would think would make them very

uncomfortable. Like the joke he told, I cited about, you know, how he hates children and people, sending him a picture of their grandparents are like people sending him dick pics. And I'm like, people with children are, that's pretty awkward for a politician sitting there. You know, like, it's just, you know, but he, that's, I think he, I think he likes, I think he likes being edgy and contrarian as part of his style.

I want to talk about someone very awkward, but in the most beautiful way. Chris Fleming has made quite the splash on. late night in the last month where we saw him on Kimmel and everyone was like whoa what is this this guy this is like such a throwback here and then he went to Seth and he did the same thing probably ended up even more and I just remember sitting with the two of you a couple of months ago talking about the late night Hall of Fame and discussing guests you know we just don't have like those type of guests anymore and this was incredible to see him make a mark on it sort of like Robin Williams as like Marty Short like has a little of these like combinations of just these

wild lunatics, but it's like these evil geniuses and the way that they go out and perform as guests on these shows bill. Chris Fleming has made a mark in late night this month. I have to say, you know, I didn't know who he was. And I saw him and I thought, look, he wasn't hilariously funny to me, but he was so energetic and electric that I was like, yes, this is what we need. We need more of this. Like, you know, unpredictable is the word. You know, like that guy was not sitting there just to tell a story that he told, you know, the segment producer, the anecdote, whatever. He comes out, and a lot of it looked like he was just winging it, whatever was going to happen, and he was killing the host. He was killing both those guys.

They were really, really charmed and found it very, very funny. I wish there were more of those. I mean, Connor O'Malley is really good on Seth, a former Seth writer making fun of Seth Myers, and I love what he's on. But, you know, I would talk to these people that would tell me back in the day, Letterman, they were watching Letterman or Carson. There were certain guests. There were a lot of them that I need to watch this person. I need to watch this.

And I just, yeah, I wish there were more of them. But I think he did a phenomenal job. We're only being on two late night shows that's his real far. Yeah. Yeah, that was really good. I mean, I encourage it. Yeah. As longtime late night fans, we watch these shows every night and they can be very samey,

very formulaic. We go in, we talk to the guests, funny anecdote, promote the movie, whenever you see somebody breaking format, pushing the limit, it creates excitement and it makes you want to watch these shows because you don't know what's going to happen night tonight. And I feel like this was such a, like, it made me like fall in love with these interviews all over again because I was like, I sending this all my friends. I say you have to see this because I feel this really tests the late night host.

Like if you want to know who's good at hosting their show, put Chris Fleming next to them and see how they can rain him in or how. some fun with him and make the audience involved in the whole thing. And I feel like Kimmel and Seth did a great job with that. Well, we've talked about it. I think we've actually talked about how they need to do this. That it is the sameness to it. And they need somehow to bust the format up and change it around. I mean, like, interestingly, I watched Malaney last night on Colbert. And Malaney, I want to see Malaney. I like Malaney. And it was very bland to me. It was just, okay, he told he went to see, he went to the Supreme Court and watched. And it was kind of

of interesting, you know, but I was like, well, Malaney's a town. He just, he didn't come to really play. Like, Lederman used to want somebody to come on and, and, and, like, do so. Let's play. Let's go for it. Bill Burr. Bill Burr's really good like that. Yeah. Let's go for it. You know, like he, you know, he would have people on like, even like Terry Gar, and people, and there would be some chemistry that would be like, you know, sparks would be flying. And we just rarely see that. But this guy was sparks on his own. It was just a sparkler. And so I would totally encourage that. And I'd encourage them to look for more of those types of people.

Do we think that Chris Fleming will host Kimmel's show this summer? If they're smart, I mean, it's one night. They don't rerun those. I think that they should do it. I would tune in. What do they got to lose, right? I think that's a really good idea, John. And I hope that they do that.

I think it might be the first time that they ever had somebody that was, I don't want to say he was an unknown. he's an unknown, but he definitely is not, they usually put people that have been established for years in years. And I would love to see somebody who was just really, I think recently getting thrust into mainstream spotlight to see him host. That's a great idea. See, but they give him a whole week usually, don't they? Yeah, they do. They give a whole week. Oh, is it a whole week? So, so that's an interesting thing. I haven't seen enough for the guy to know what he can handle what he can. I don't know. This is really all I've seen him. He may not be an unknown,

but to me he was unknown. You know, I haven't seen it on YouTube or anything. So that was great in a way, but that was actually good. I was like, who is this guy? Like, what's happening with that? That happened, they used to happen all the time. They'd introduce somebody. You wouldn't know who you didn't know who Robin Williams was when he first walked out, you know. There are times when Al Franken only guest hosted for Jimmy once. Dana Carvey only guest hosted maybe once or twice. It was whole weeks. I can have a lot of it. they have short weeks where they may have or they may split a week up where someone will do the first two days of the week and someone will do the next two days of the week. Yeah. Okay. But other people do, yeah, weeks. So I think it'd be great. And I think it makes sense to do a week because a person really sort of needs to get into the groove, I think of it. But I don't know what this guy doing. I just don't know. But that that would be another reason for me to do it. That's it. That's it. Give me a danger on these shows. Let him host the show. Let them host Saturday at live at one point. We want to see it.

He's too early for that one, John. I think it's too early for that. All right. I'm loving this guy. So hopefully we get one of them. Yeah. Let's see more of them. Yeah.

Let's talk a little bit about what's coming up in April that we'll talk more about when we get back together in a month's time. So we're going to have some more information about what CBS will do at 1135. The up fronts are scheduled for April 15th. We also have the final countdown for Colbert. The final episode is supposed to air May 21st in the last six weeks traditionally end up being an event for a show like this. So, Bill, what are you looking forward to with what will be happening on CBS over the next month and a half? Okay, well, I think the April 15th date is looming really large right now. And I did write a story about this with some internal intelligence that I got.

They really haven't decided what they're going to do. They actually don't know what they're going to do. And what they seem not interested in doing most is giving the things. time back to the affiliates. I don't think they want to just say we're giving that. They're already giving up a lot. So they're giving up their franchise. But I think they don't want to do that. So that leaves the only two possibilities, which is to turn it over to Byron Allen and have him do his thing at 1130 instead of 1230 or maybe he'll do both. I don't know. But I think they would rather maybe do something else. And there have been pitches made to them. People have pitched ideas

to them. So, but of course, they have to be very self-contained ideas that don't have anywhere near the staffs or ambitions of the other late night shows. But, you know, I think if they thought there was a Tom Snyder type guy who could be a one-on-one talk show that had some bite or whatever, you know, I don't know who that person is. I can see them, somebody trying to pitch themselves as that. But, you know, it's not going to be a show with writers and all that kind of stuff. I mean, it's not, they're not going to spend much money. I found it interesting, though, that they are listening. They are listening to that, that they're willing to say, well, maybe there is something, because it seemed like they were just throwing up their

hands and saying, we're out of this. You know, good, goodbye. One of late-nighters, very loyal supporters, Farad Muhammad mentioned. I think it was his idea of bringing back Craig Ferguson. And Ferguson had a huge, huge impact on the show. Very few writers compared to what they have now. He would not stick to the pre-interview. It's an interesting pitch to bring someone like that back. Well, and he got credit for being a very good interviewer, you know, celebrities, et cetera. So yeah, and it's interesting he would do a monologue without it being scripted. Like he would just take topics and do his monologue. He was burned out.

That's why he stopped doing the show. He was completely burned out. But it does seem that with some time passed, I would think that he would at least entertain the idea. Yeah. The other thing is he was passed over for the Letterman show and that pissed him off. But now he would get the time period. It's an interesting idea. But that's the kind of thing that maybe would intrigue somebody.

Yeah. I would think Chelsea Handler wants it. I think Chelsea Handler wants it. I don't know if they would do that with her, but I think she'd be somebody that would really want it. If she wanted it badly the other time. I also wonder if there's some sort of Pat McAfee-style show that could go in that place where ESPN, you know, Pat McAfee was a huge show.

And they basically simulcast his show onto ESPN for a couple hours, and then the show finishes on YouTube. And there's so many great shows that are online. I wonder if there's a way, perhaps, the CBS to get into bed with one of these shows, have it air on network television, and then it can continue and do extra stuff on YouTube, that type of thing. Who did they have?

It was two people, Adam Paley and one other person. It was pure chaos, and they were guest hosting, was at the late show or the late late show, and they were having guest host. Regis was a guest host once and had Letterman on, and it was Adam Paley and someone else. And it was just the two of them, And it was so much fun and chaos.

If you get the right people, a combination, no studio audience. Yeah, I think that's an interesting, but McAfee thing is interesting because that seems to be, you know, look, people are doing podcasts that are really kind of television shows all over the place now. So maybe there's a talent out there. Mark Marin. If he wants to shut his down, I mean, I don't know if he would continue to. That's true. And I think he's like in acting as well. Yeah.

But I think if you do this, you go for someone a little bit. younger, someone who already has an existing audience out there that are people maybe even already watching the show. And you don't have to, you almost like you license the show to CBS instead of having them produce it. So ESPN did this with TNT where they have the inside the NBA, like the great, you know, Charles Barkley and Shaq and all of them. They do their show from Atlanta via TNT, but it appears on ESPN. And I feel like that's a something that CBS and maybe even the future other networks can use as a format of like, hey, there's already things that exist might be pretty cheap to produce to have this then license it.

And just license it. Yeah, that makes sense. I did sort of explore a little bit whether they would repurpose the Daily Show because that would, it's in the same company now. You know, they could just repurpose the Daily Show. But that's very convoluted with, you know, affiliate deals for cable and network stations. So that is not what's going to happen. And I also think they're much better off taking a shot, like what you're talking about.

Just roll the dice on something here and try to be different, make it quite different and see what you can get. Cheap, obviously. Yeah, we'll know a lot more in the next couple of weeks. One last thing to talk about here is Jack Black's hosting SNL this weekend. He's joining the Five Timers Club, Mark. Are you excited to watch this episode with Jack Black and Jack White? He's phenomenal. Well, he could have easily been a cast member.

I mean, I was watching him Mr. Show days before he was really Jack Black. I mean, I went to Irving Plaza to see Tenacious D when Jack Black could still walk down the street. And now, I mean, he's just, I mean, kids, he's global. But he's so good on that show. And it feels like when he's there, he's at home. I'm excited. And I like that. I think that he's a natural sketch performer.

Like, he just a natural sketch performer. And he'll, he shines when he does it. And, you know, it's also, again, unproductive. I like things that aren't to do. You don't know what he's going to do. He's going to do something over the top and wild. And that's great for the show. So I'm looking forward to it.

I love when they go a little bit older. Sometimes they get accused of being youth obsessed, but these are two gentlemen music and host that are over 50. And I like that. Jack's over 50. And he's over 50 pounds where he used to be. But he still, he still moves like, a dancer. He's really

quite, or an athlete. He was, he was voted from the, from your poll, right? From the Saturday Night Network. His episode was voted greatest episode of all time, correct? Yeah, season 31 episode, the fans just absolutely love. I mean, it's an epic episode. But this feels like a wrong that is being righted because to go 20 years without having

him host the show was crazy. It's crazy. It is crazy. Yeah. Yeah. Now to finally have him back is fantastic. Was there a reason for that? I don't know.

I think it was probably him. There's certain people. that just for whatever reason. I'm guessing Steve Martin, whenever he wants to host, could host. I don't know. That's an interesting question, though. I feel like sometimes they lose people.

20 years is crazy. That is. It doesn't feel like it. I mean, John Hamm was a long time, too, and then they brought him back. I feel like there's definitely some people that they can call. But I am thrilled that we're getting Jack Black. I feel like he gives me like John Belushi energy.

If John was still around. There's danger. and he's phenomenal sketch player. So it should be a great week to have him host the show. Very excited to talk about that. And the rest of the SNL episodes we're going to get in April when we're back in a month. And we really have one quarter left of the SNL season, season 51. So a lot happening in late night television.

I hope you check out late-nighter.com to see all of our great stories this coming month on everything on all of the shows in Late Night. Mark, what's happening over on Inside Late Night? We have some really fun guests coming up, including in terms of my opinion, the greatest sketch writer alive, Robert Smigel. We had an epic talk. I learned a lot. We talk a lot Saturday night live. He has a new podcast coming out, which is really, really unique. So yes, stay tuned for that. Very exciting. Bill, what's happening with you? What are you writing about this month? well I'm very interested in whatever CBS is going to do obviously and I am you know I'm really interested in what they're going to do to wrap up Colbert and how it's going to go because you know is there going to be some sort of a farewell wrap up kind of tour with his guests coming back the way they've done it before or are they going to say something else like I could do something else because it feels like Colbert is kind of resisting sort of being this is not the end for me kind of like do you know what I mean?

Like he's not really saying, I'm walking off and that's it for me, kind of, you know. They need Letterman to stop by. They need John Stewart, which is pretty much a given. And then Stephen's two wish guests are Beyonce and the Pope, and I hope he gets both. Well, the Pope, you know, the copes from Chicago, he might have seen Colbert back in the day. Yeah, oh, yeah, for sure. He might have seen him. I mean, he might have seen him.

So that would be a fantastic coup, yes. I hope he does something like that because I think he, look, the guy's an immense talent, an immense amount, and I'm intrigued what he does. I mean, I'm not sure he's going to do television. You know, he may not. I probably mentioned before, but I think he should do a one-man show on Broadway and bring back the character. That, to me, would be a great idea. No, I mean, I saw Will Ferrell on Broadway do George W. Bush.

I mean, Stephen could easily do something like that. Absolutely. It would sell out in seconds. Great. Yeah, I can't wait to see what he will do. We invite you to subscribe to our Late Nighter podcast feed to never miss any of our conversations here that we have on our roundtable once a month. Our Mark's great conversations he has on inside late nights and head over to Late Nander.

com for all of your late night needs. So thank you for joining us here today on behalf of Bill Carter and Mark Malkoff. My name is John Schneider and we will see you next month. Have a good one, everyone.