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The era of the Late Night Meanie is over.
Gone are the days when wed line up for our nightly hate fuck from David Letterman.
The format is dominated by happy, smiling Jameses.
And Conan OBrien is stuck in the middle.
Conanisslimming down to a half hour next season, which meansno musical guests.
YouTubers, like talk-show hosts, have to spew content on a near-daily basis to stay relevant.
They have to fake immediate chumminess with total strangers for the sake of their brands.
They have to stay abreast of, and even participate in, the latest trends.
Conanmoving to a half-hour format is the right move for him.
As he casually mentioned whileinterviewing 50 Centthis week, Conan has been doing late-night television for 25 years.
Its gotten harder for him to disguise his disdain for the parts of the job he finds irrelevant.
Swans are only supposed to sing once before they die, but Conan does it four nights a week.
No one has looked more bored with touching their nipples.
The Joel McHale Show With Joel McHalewasnt a news show, but it was very, very snarky.
It was essentiallyThe Soup 2.0,which seemed like a great idea at the time.
In interviews, McHale mentioned being excited to work with Netflix because the gloves could finally come off.
But the directionTJMSWJMwas punching never quite worked.
Who was that for?
The Break,on the other hand, was unimpeachable.
Its really hard to address both sides without making some truly dumb false equivalencies, andThe Breakdeftly avoided it.
She never backed down about herWhite House Correspondents Dinner speech.
If anything, she went harder, doing a mini-roast onThe Breakandcomparing ICE to ISIS.
The Breakwas a truly remarkable show that was just beginning to settle into its POV.
So whats next?Hasan Minhajs showis coming soon, so its not like theDaily Showdiaspora is over.
But most of the talk shows coming out next fall have nothing to do with political humor.
They arent even helmed by writers.
Theyre actors, and ones known for being enthusiastic, emotional, and agreeable.
Busy Philipps has been a presence in media sinceFreaks and Geeks,but her E!
show is a direct consequence of her Instagram Story fame.
Jerry OConnell parlayed hisHousewife stanninginto a Bravo show.
And Niecy Nash is just a fun hang.
Im excited to see what they can do in the genre.
We could all use more fun hangs.
