Online Platforms: The Future of Canadian Late Night Television
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airs every weeknight at 11:35 p.m. EST
(Source: finanace.yahoo.com, credit: Scott Kowalchyk/CBS)
In 1978, the final episode of 90 Minutes Live, regarded as Canada’s first late night talk show, host Peter Gzowski proudly proclaimed “…Canadians have landed on late night television, and we’re bloody well here to stay.” If only that were true, Peter. So, why is it so difficult to sustain a successful Canadian late night talk show and what does Canada’s future in late night television look like? First, let us refresh ourselves of some past late night attempts on Canadian network TV.
As mentioned, CBC’s 90 Minutes Live kicked off Canada’s debut into late night and ran for two years (1976-1978) before it was rebranded with a new host into Canada After Dark which lasted only four months. Yikes. On the other end of the longevity spectrum, CBC’s This Hour Has 22 Minutes (1993-Present) has maintained an impressive nearly 30-year run on television, which is no simple feat. Airing during prime time, 22 Minutes isn’t a full-on late night show per se, but it certainly has elements of one including various sketches, occasional remote pieces, and a news segment similar to SNL’s “Weekend Update” that serves as a throughline for each episode. It wouldn’t be until the late 90s that Canada would get its first “traditional format” late night style show.
Love him or hate him, the closest Canada came to a late night show in the standard format of a host being welcomed on stage by a house band before delivering a monologue of jokes followed by a desk piece and then interviewing various guests, was Open Mike with Mike Bullard which enjoyed a six-season run on CTV (1997-2003). When Bullard’s contract ended, he moved to Global to host The Mike Bullard Show in a similar late night format, only to be cancelled after three months on air. According to a CBC news article at the time, The Mike Bullard Show “…has not demonstrated the degree of success that merits a continued run.” How was that degree of success quantified? Bullard’s average number of viewers dropped to 54,000 his second episode of The Mike Bullard Show, meanwhile, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart which eventually replaced Bullard on CTV had an average nightly audience over 260,000. The numbers speak for themselves.
American late night shows such as The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah both garner a large viewing audience in Canada and are easily accessible via over the air broadcasting (shout out to my leaf antenna). For those who subscribe to cable and learn towards more conservative values, you may find yourself watching the highly successful Gutfeld! on Fox News. Greg Gutfeld’s show delivers topical headline jokes and includes a group discussion among a panel of guests in a format reminiscent of Bill Maher’s first late night show, Politically Incorrect. As pointed out in a recent Forbes article, Gutfeld received an average of nearly 2 million (American) viewers in April 2022, surpassing Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel. That’s a lot of eyeballs. I mention these shows because they attract viewers, which is something Canadian television, I’m sorry to say, often struggles to do.
So, what are some of the key differences between American and Canadian culture when it comes to talk shows? Simply put, the political tone is more biting and confrontational on American shows. However, the tone of late night in the United States wasn’t always so charged and accusatory. It has changed over time as duly noted in John Doyle’s article, in which he states, “…the tone of late-night comedy is even more scathing and ferocious than before.” Which is perhaps one reason a politically charged late night show may not thrive in Canada if the audience and the broadcasters here don’t have the palette for harsh political satire and criticism.
While hosts like John Oliver, Greg Gutfeld, Trevor Noah, and Samantha Bee for example, represent late night shows that lean into more political content, there are others such as Jimmy Fallon, James Corden (who will leave in spring 2023), and Conan O’Brien (who will return to HBO Max in the near future) who tend to highlight more oddball stories in the news and go lighter on politics to serve an audience looking for a break from the madness. Maybe a Canadian late night show with a Conan-esk host who is more quirky than aggressive would have a greater shot at connecting with the network audience of The Great White North? Alternatively, are Canadians secretly wanting their own late night show with strong political opinions, or is the preference to watch the car wreck of politics south of the border from the safety of one’s home above the 49th parallel? In Kate Taylor’s 2011 article, comedian Steve Patterson said, “Without the same provocative or celebrated guests that a U.S. talk show can draw, the host is absolutely key…” and that the audience tunes in to see the comedian and the shows format over celebrity guests. But, is that really the case?
Perhaps the celebrity guests are the biggest draw card for Canadians tuning into American late night television. This brings us to the other main difference between American and Canadian talk shows: the breadth and accessibility of celebrity guests. The star power of American talk shows tends to dwarf Canada’s entertainment industry, thus American shows yield bigger ratings on Canadian networks. While there are numerous talented and funny Canadian artists, instead of staying on home soil, most seem to flock to Los Angeles or New York City as an Alien of Extraordinary Ability (which conjures up images of E.T. performing open heart surgery) to foster their career growth in acting, writing, filmmaking, stand-up comedy, etc. With Vancouver and Toronto being the two main filmmaking and production hubs of Canada, it’s not as though celebrities aren’t passing through these areas. Rather, there is still a much, much larger celebrity talent pool in the LA and NYC area for guests to conveniently appear on late night talk shows to promote their latest project. So, now that we’re fueled up with a mix of emotions, let’s end on exploring one possibility that could revive the heartbeat of Canadian late night: online platforms.
Thanks to YouTube and other online platforms, anyone can make their own web series, and for a fraction of the cost it takes to produce a “real” show. It’s no secret that many people have spring-boarded into careers after posting their content online. YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook (remember Vine? RIP) have helped launch artists such as Justin Bieber and Lilly Singh.
Notably, Lilly Singh’s successful YouTube channel caught the eye of NBC and moved into the big leagues with Singh’s own (short-lived) late night show A Little Late with Lilly Singh (2019-2021). According to Deadline, Singh’s show ended due to the low 1:30am time slot ratings and Singh’s desire to develop a “…longer format content telling underrepresent stories, which is difficult to execute on a nightly show.” While Singh may not have thrived in a late night format, the fact that her YouTube channel is so successful proves what we already know: you don’t have to be on TV to reach a wide audience. Do I even need to mention the comedy of (yet another Canadian) Kris Collins who has over 42 million followers on TikTok? That’s comparable to the entire population of Canada plus the state of Utah (yes, I did some fact checking).
As long as Canadian network television is not willing to risk creating a late night show, it seems the burden of keeping Canadian late night alive falls upon the people themselves, in particular those with a keen interest in producing their own show. This might not entirely be a bad thing – creating a late night web series gives the creator full control of their content without having to be at the mercy of government funding. Also, anything broadcasted over the internet in Canada doesn’t require a CRTC license. Recently, Bill C-11 has been threatening to impose regulation upon online Canadian content and social media, which is another rabbit hole of a topic to go down. Let’s try to stay positive.
To produce an online late night show, luckily it can be done on a small budget and a checklist that is relatively short and manageable: recording device, green screen, desk, and a point of view. Great, done. Enthusiasts can write their own material or better yet, assemble a writers’ room with other late night fans who want a piece of the action. Have a friend who is in a band or DJ’s? Great, invite them on as a guest or as the house band. Don’t be afraid to approach local comedians after a show and ask if they’d like to perform some stand up or sketch on your late night show. You’d be surprised what can happen if all you do is ask…and maybe take them out for a coffee, too. When you are done filming, utilize free editing software like DaVinci Resolve or iMovie to keep your costs down (you may want to consider feeding your writers as well, just sayin’).
To demonstrate, there have been past attempts at DIY Canadian late night inspired web shows such as the intriguingly titled Late Night Talk Show on a Subway with Matt O’Brien (2013-2016). These short episodes prove you don’t even need a desk or a green screen to produce your own late night show. Just arrange for a guest, someone to film, and don’t forget to top up your transit pass. In his series, O’Brien’s playful humour shines through as he interviews various actors, musicians, and comedians including Scott Thompson (Kids In The Hall) and Adam Duritz (County Crows) to name a few, while civilians play the role of background actors during their TTC commute.
More recently, Toronto resident Clare Blackwood took advantage of the COVID lockdown days to produce her own series, Late Night in Canada with Clare Blackwood (2021). Her take on late night as “a little bit Colbert, a little bit Last Week Tonight, and a whole lotta Canadian!” delivers exactly as described. Blackwood’s fast-talking delivery features sharp political commentary, smart humour, and funny doctored photos to support her jokes, the way late night does so well.
By this point you may be thinking, why is this blog post so damn long? Well, for those of us who love late night, there’s a lot to speculate about its relationship with Canadian broadcasting, that’s why. I’ll end on saying, for those who are most motivated to do so, create the late night content you want to see. Take a risk and have fun in the process. Prove there is some air of truth to what Peter Gzowski said, even if the medium has changed.
Written by Rachel Faircloth