Late Night Wars
by John Shekitka

The nominations for this year’s Prime Time Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series are, for the most part, a rather predictable lot. There are a few shows that were included for good reason, a few more that were excluded for good reason, and really only one show the certainly should have been nominated but, alas, was not.

First, there is the good. The Daily Show has won this category for the past five years, and this year it has deservedly retained its spot as a frontrunner. In the run-up to the 2008 election, Stewart’s team coverage was spot on, capturing the ironies and gaffes that abound when Presidential races are placed under the scrutiny of the 24-hour news cycle. Even more remarkably, Stewart has been tough on the new Obama Administration, willing to call out “Bullshit” when he sees it.

The Colbert Report is right up there with Stewart in terms of quality, and Colbert’s “The Word” segments have become brilliant meditations on language, truth, the post-modern condition and everything else in-between. Though, his shtick becomes a bit tired when guests can’t get a word out, and in an age where there is no Republican in the White House.

Then, there is the mediocre. The Late Show with David Letterman is still a fine production, if not for the fact that the host seems always cranky and a bit too mean-spirited. Dave is still funny, that is, when he doesn’t come of as being a total asshole or just a mean grandpa who hasn’t taken his medicine.

Saturday Night Live falls into this same category, but only because there is a strange combination of the wonderful and the absolutely dreadful. The wonderful would be Lonely Island’s Digital Shorts; Doogie Howser Theme, I’m on A Boat, Like a Boss, and Motherlover, should be required viewed for comedy in the age of YouTube. Then, there are the other segments on the show, from “Gilly!,” an often repeated segment with the yawn factor of “It’s Pat,” to a host of other utterly forgettable material.

Then there is the bad, neither of which received nominations.

The first is Conan O’Brien who as of late seems to be relying on the same tired tropes, both in monologues and interviews. While Stewart seems genuinely interested in his interviewees, and Letterman always seems to manage to insult his guests, O’Brien always heaps on smarmy fawning praise, even when there is no need for it. On the Tonight Show he seems to be particularly struggling with his cavernous new studio and the realization that the self-deprecation and low-budget antics don’t necessarily translate that well to the Major Leagues.

Then, there is Jimmy Fallon, whose show is surely the subject of many an office pools betting on how many days are left until the show is canceled.

Finally, the most overlooked show in late night television is still the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Since its inception under Tom Snyder, it has been the black sheep of the genre, yet Craig Ferguson has infused the show with new meaning and purpose. His long, eccentric, and often poignant monologues are the highlight of the program and, unlike the other hosts Ferguson really seems to be talking to his audience and having a conversation with them. He is not so much telling jokes as much as he is baring his soul. A 2007 monologue in which he chronicles his struggle with alcoholism and an aborted suicide is perhaps the most famous of these, but one can tune in each weeknight for more of this man who has made a comedic mainstay into an art form.