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ALPERN AT LARGE - There’s a reason or ten why so many Americans used to love staying up to watch late night shows hosted by Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, and Conan O’Brien. There’s also a reason or ten why late-night shows saw their viewership plummet over the last decade hosted by Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Seth Meyers.
The former, older-generation hosts divided their humor and satire as equally as they could against all corners of the political spectrum and did so with a smile. The newer hosts shifted gears HARD and became incisive, biting, and exclusionary critics attacking one-half of America with a sneer and a snarl.
Colbert, Kimmel, and Meyers were and are just MEAN, and sought to do so perhaps by taking on a man (President Trump) who they thought was mean, and sought to “out-mean” him…and by extension 40% or more of America who felt that Trump’s policies merited support (even if many of Trump’s voters can’t stand Trump’s bloviating).
In many ways, our nation has been divided not so much into “conservatives” and “liberals” (with those terms being rather evasive from definition nowadays) but divided into cancel culture advocates vs. inclusionary/politically incorrect advocates.
Hence, we saw late night talk show Jimmy Fallon be bullied into “towing the line” when he sought to make reach out to both the Right and Left, and hence we saw classic politically-incorrect liberal Bill Maher lean more towards agreeing with (despite despising) Trump and Trump’s supporters.
And let’s not get started with Saturday Night Live—people want humor and relaxation and good vibes before going to bed, not invective and finger-wagging and mean-spirited (self-righteous or not) diatribes.
Like it or night, Colbert, Kimmel, Meyers, and Fallon all got their starts on shows that relied on some support and love and compromise from conservative and independent viewers, both male and female, as well as from liberal and/or Democratic Party viewers.
Jimmy Kimmel especially got his start male/conservative viewers from the “Win Ben Stein’s Money” and “The Man Show”, and his change of course from Man Show co-host Adam Corolla speaks volumes—a cynical but perhaps accurate depiction of his hosting both “The Man Show” and now “The Woman Show” merits consideration.
And both Kimmel and Colbert, SNL and Seth Meyers, all helped piss off roughly half of America to help get Trump re-elected.
Hence when Trump (once referred to by Colbert on his show as “Putin’s ‘c-ck holster”) gloated at Colbert’s show’s demise, Colbert’s response of “Go F-ck Yourself” didn’t hurt Trump as much as proved Trump right.
Ditto when Kimmel reacted to Colbert’s show’s cancellation with “F-ck you CBS” …but in response to Kimmel’s persistent lack of class and dedication to his past and original audience his original audience probably thought: “right back at ya’, Jimmy, you holier-than-thou creep, and thanks for another reason to vote for Trump.”
Trump predicted Kimmel might be next, and if Saturday Night Live doesn’t drop its one-party-only politics then it risks decreased viewership not because it’s old but because it’s become non-humorous and downright mean.
And as for Jon Stewart, John Oliver, and all the other self-righteous comedic has-beens with shriveling audience throwing their own never-ending f-bombs? Well, perhaps they’ll never know why now ARE has-beens…but it has something to do with the following:
YOU’RE NOT FUNNY…JUST MEAN!
And who “gets it” the most” more than SNL alumnus Rob Schneider, who stated that Colbert just got a crash course in what freedom of speech really means.
In short, Colbert and his cohorts are losing money big-time for a variety of reasons, some perhaps beyond their control, but they’re performing so many self-inflicted wounds that ultimately they’ve got themselves to blame.
And ONLY themselves to blame.
But there is hope—Greg Gutfeld is funny but conservative, and does well on Fox News. If Colbert or Kimmel want to host shows on CNN or MSNBC, I dare say they’d do well and help those channels’ ratings.
Seriously—do their humor on channels that cater to their partisan audiences. Make money, and do so with kindred spirits!
But as for the classic Big Three Channels/Stations (CBS, NBC, and ABC), probably a shift to the center, and annoy and make fun of BOTH SIDES OF AMERICA EQUALLY might help bring us back together.
Because we need humor, and relaxation, and a bit of calm comfort before going to bed and trying to catch a few hours of sleep.
(Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D, is a dermatologist who has served in clinics in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, and is a proud husband and father. He was active for 20 years on the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) as an At-Large and Westside Village Zone Board Member focused on Planning and Transportation, and helped lead the grassroots efforts of the Expo Line as well as connecting LAX to MetroRail. His latest project is his fictional online book entitled The Unforgotten Tales of Middle-Earth, and can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.). This article reflects the author’s opinions and not necessarily those of this publication. Readers should verify facts independently and consider other perspectives.
