A late-night talk show is a genre of talk show, originating in the United States. It is generally structured around humorous monologues about the day's news, guest interviews, comedy sketches and music performances. It is characterized by spontaneous conversation, and for an effect of immediacy and intimacy as if the host were speaking directly to each member of the watching audience.[1][2][3] Late-night talk shows are also fundamentally shaped by the personality of the host.[1]
The late-night talk show format was popularized by Johnny Carson and his sidekick Ed McMahon with The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on NBC. Typically the show's host conducts interviews from behind a desk, while the guest is seated on a couch. Many late night talk shows feature a house band which generally performs cover songs for the studio audience during commercial breaks and occasionally will back up a guest artist.
Late-night talk shows are a widely-viewed format in the United States, but are not as prominent in other parts of the world. Shows that loosely resemble the format air in other countries, but generally air weekly as opposed to the nightly airings of those in the United States. They also generally air in time slots considered to be prime time in the United States.
- ^ a b Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler (2010) Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show, pp.3-4
- ^ Erving Goffman (1981) Forms of Talk pp.234-160
- ^ Erler, Robert (2010) "A Guide to Television Talk," in Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show, by Bernard M. Timberg