On Tuesday, liberal Late Night host Seth Meyers appeared on NBC’s Today show, where he was greeted with congratulations from the cast for five years of using his show to promote Democrats and bash Republicans. The morning show crew was impressed with Meyers bringing his left-wing “point of view” to the late night landscape – not that politics was lacking in that arena.
Co-host Craig Melvin particularly praised a regular segment featured by Meyers: “Congrats, by the way....Five year anniversary. That’s a big deal....My favorite segment on the show has been A Closer Look....You do it a few times a week and you take sort of this deep dive into an issue that a lot of comedians might stay away from.”
Meyers touted the series, which amounts to nothing more than to a long list of anti-Trump screeds that he has delivered on his show over the years:
I mean, we’re just really – we can’t believe that we have an audience that has the attention span for a 10 to 12-minute piece. So – and when we started doing it, we thought maybe it was a little long for a late night comedy show, but we got great feedback on it, and it’s, for us, our favorite thing to do. So we’re just really, really lucky.
Savannah Guthrie gushed over the success of the partisan monologues: “I know it’s really clicked online....that’s one of the things that’s been really popular online and I know that was a little unexpected.” Meyers happily replied: “...it’s just been a delight for us that there’s an audience out there who wants to sit down and spend, maybe even on their phone, watch something that takes 10-12 minutes.”
Weatherman Al Roker wondered: “Do think people want a point of view late at night?” Meyers declared:
Yeah, I mean, I don’t think we were smart enough to know that going into it, but we also didn’t quite know the other way to do things. But it has been nice that I think, this day and age, people have a sense for authenticity. And they know that – they want to hear what you believe. And so ultimately, you know, we say what we think, and it’s nice that we have an audience that comes to hear what that is.
Melvin remarked: “They appreciate that.”
Night after night, Meyers’ liberal audience does receive the latest Democratic Party talking points and a healthy dose of bashing conservatives.
Before the discussion wrapped up, Carson Daly further applauded Meyers: “Seth, some shows opted to like, kind of shy away from the political commentary on late night, I think people may not want to see that. You, much to your success, dive right in.”
Daly then promoted that Late Night would provide live reaction to the upcoming Democratic debates: “The Democratic debates are next week, you guys are going to be live after the debates.” Meyers confirmed: “Yeah, we’re going to be live after both of them....the whole idea is we’re going to comment on what happens in the debate.”
Viewers can look forward to Meyers celebrating the inevitable attacks hurled at the President by the field of 2020 Democratic contenders.
Here is a transcript of the June 18 Today show segment:
8:23 AM ET
(...)
CRAIG MELVIN: Congrats, by the way.
SETH MEYERS: Congrats on the –
MELVIN: Five year anniversary. That’s a big deal.
CARSON DALY: That’s unbelievable. Congratulations.
MEYERS: Yeah, five years of doing anything is a big deal.
MELVIN: My favorite segment on the show has been A Closer Look.
MEYERS: Oh, thank you.
MELVIN: You do it a few times a week and you take sort of this deep dive into an issue that a lot of comedians might stay away from.
MEYERS: We – I mean, we’re just really – we can’t believe that we have an audience that has the attention span for a 10 to 12-minute piece. So – and when we started doing it, we thought maybe it was a little long for a late night comedy show, but we got great feedback on it, and it’s, for us, our favorite thing to do. So we’re just really, really lucky.
GUTHRIE: I know it’s really clicked online, didn’t even mean to say that. But people really do, that’s one of the things that’s been really popular online and I know that was a little unexpected. You guys thought it would be the opposite.
MEYERS: Yeah, I think when we started doing the show in 2014, the more conventional wisdom was like short things are really good online, that’s what people want to watch the next day. And so, we have just, again, it’s just been a delight for us that there’s an audience out who wants to sit down and spend, maybe even on their phone, watch something that takes 10-12 minutes.
DALY: You guys don’t shy away either.
AL ROKER: Do think people want a point of view late at night? That they’re looking for?
MEYERS: Yeah, I mean, I don’t think we were smart enough to know that going into it, but we also didn’t quite know the other way to do things. But it has been nice that I think, this day and age, people have a sense for authenticity. And they know that – they want to hear what you believe. And so ultimately, you know, we say what we think, and it’s nice that we have an audience that comes to hear what that is.
MELVIN: They appreciate that.
(...)
8:25 AM ET
DALY: Seth, some shows opted to like, kind of shy away from the political commentary on late night, I think people may not want to see that. You, much to your success, dive right in. The Democratic debates are next week, you guys are going to be live after the debates.
MEYERS: Yeah, we’re going to be live after both of them.
DALY: What do you have planned?
MEYERS: Mostly just to try to follow whatever happens. You know, the nice thing about a live show is there’s not that much you can do in the prep for it because the whole idea is we’re going to comment on what happens in the debate.
(...)
