Late-Night
Since the genre’s emergence in the 1950s, late-night has offered a reliable mix of crowd-pleasing humor and must-see commentary. For seven decades, the genre’s hosts – Steve Allen and Johnny Carson, Jay Leno and David Letterman, Conan O’Brien and Stephen Colbert – have fearlessly tackled hot-button sociopolitical issues, chronicling the very history of modern America via the art of TV comedy. These excerpts from the National Comedy Center’s interactive exhibition galleries in Jamestown, NY explore what makes this genre so unique: from the hosts’ monologues and signature bits, to the tradition of the late-night celebrity interview.
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Monologues
The late-night host’s monologue has become a cherished tradition in comedy. Since Johnny Carson perfected the art of the monologue in the early 1960s, Americans have looked forward to ending their day with a topical – and comical – accounting of current events delivered by a familiar face. Artist...
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Guest Interviews
The late-night interview is a unique platform for comedians to share candid, spontaneous moments with their audiences. In the 1960s and 1970s, repeat guests like Don Rickles, Joan Rivers, and George Carlin were viewer favorites. Today, interview segments on shows like The Tonight Show with Jimmy ...
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Signature Bits
Since late-night shows became a staple of network broadcasting in the 1950s, hosts have developed recurring ‘signature bits’ that inject their programs with a sense of offbeat silliness. The first generation of late-night hosts – like Steve Allen and Jack Paar – inaugurated this tradition, which ...
