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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDid CBS Even Consider Hiring a Woman Before It Pounced on Stephen Colbert?
http://www.alternet.org/media/colbert-another-middle-aged-guy-late-nightAs a child, I would have told you that by 2014 we'd definitely have jet boots, pills for food and a woman hosting a late-night talk show. Instead we have selfies, Xanax and a bunch of white guys.
When it was announced Thursday that Stephen Colbert was set to replace David Letterman, my first reaction was, well, that's a safe choice. I would have thrown a parade if CBS had cast or even considered a woman.
I read so many articles and lists all about different hilarious woman whoshould be up for a late-night TV job myself being on one of them, I'm happy to say, in a story that I posted to Twitter, of course, to which a follower responded, "Not gonna happen". Can you please unfollow me? I don't need that kind of reality check from someone who volunteered to be my fan.
But I understood what my fan meant: with all of the chatter over the last week since Letterman announced his retirement, even after all the short-lists and opinions, it never seemed like a female comedian was really in the running to be the next host of the Late Show anyway.
Why, exactly, is all of late night still geared only to satisfy the tastes of my Uncle Jack?
JustAnotherGen
(31,683 posts)And she has a fair and strong point. But I think Chelsea Handler was in the running - I think Variety or HR - one of those rags had the list.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)WhaTHellsgoingonhere
(5,252 posts)another white guy.
Didn't we just do this in March with NBC?
chelsea0011
(10,115 posts)CBS simply threw her name out there with no intention of ever offering her the job. CBS just didn't want to have to answer all the questions about her. I hate Handler's show, but not because of her. I just hate the format and think she would be pretty damn good on one of these late night shows. I would have preferred her over Colbert so we could keep the funniest show on TV still around.
WhaTHellsgoingonhere
(5,252 posts)because she's a woman lol
I'm pretty up on my funny people, I'd say not gonna happen because I've never heard of you.
But she did good to get her name out there. Self promotion. Mission accomplished.
pipoman
(16,038 posts)That has a proven record of being a great comedian and a great interviewer is Ellen Degeneres. There may be others, I just can't think of them. The late night battles have long been so competitive that none are going to bring in an unknown talent. Being a good comedian doesn't make one good at monolog, audience participation, and most importantly interviewing celebrity guests. There is no room for error, the wrong decision would likely be the end of Late Night.
WhaTHellsgoingonhere
(5,252 posts)and perfectly explained.
stevenleser
(32,886 posts)They could start by making a woman Stephen's backup.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)that would have been a good choice.
Fla Dem
(23,352 posts)Even Stephanie Miller for heaven sakes. If each of these guys hold on to their jobs for as long as Leno and Letterman, I'll probably never see a female late night talk show host in my lifetime. I did hear that maybe a female will fill on one of the later slots.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)important when posing such a question and someone says, cant think of one, that names are thrown out. we are conditioned to believe women cannot be funny and though we have the evidence in front of our face, our conditioning is forefront. we need to uncondition that response.
i have no problem with colbert. excited to see what he accomplishes, though i am going to miss his show on comedy channel. so, that is not the point of my posts.
Loudly
(2,436 posts)Chelsea is an NBC Universal employee.
lonestarnot
(77,097 posts)get back with me.
frazzled
(18,402 posts)After all, we've never seen him out of character.
Frankly, I'm probably one of the few here who isn't thrilled about the choice of Colbert. But I only know him from the character he's played, which after several years I found fatiguing and too self-indulgent. Maybe he'll be fine.
But in the end, it really doesn't matter. I haven't watched any of the late-night shows in over a decade. (I do watch the fabulous Andy Cohen on Watch What's Happening Live, on Bravo. Now THAT's some fun. A little too risque and way too gay for network television.)