More hosts began tackling subjects that had previously been beyond their scope - or, at least, beyond broad public scrutiny. There seemed to be a shift in balance from what we wanted (a respite from reality) and what we needed to feel safe (an acknowledgment of reality). As Donald Trump’s presidential term melted America’s political compass, Jimmy Fallon’s “The Tonight Show,” with its timeless escapism, slid to third place in the premier late-night time slot, behind a relatively radicalized Jimmy Kimmel and the linguistic dexterity and ethical rectitude of Stephen Colbert. (He responded: “Why start now?”)īut it’s not just discrete events we’re hoping our televised leaders will help us process: It’s the nuanced, ongoing impact of the whole of history on our current state, including the goings-on of the show being hosted. After 9/11, for instance, “Saturday Night Live” famously brought on Mayor Rudy Giuliani “Can we be funny?” Lorne Michaels asked him. Of course, there were times in the past when institutional frontmen have been called on to respond to profound moments of pain or importance. And so, we’ve started to ask more of our hosts. The television-watching audience has demanded a reckoning for the status quo - a status quo that comes at much of their expense.
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In the past few years, though, civil unrest has permeated even the least progressive corner of America’s consciousness: our TV screens.
But their momentary agitation served to reaffirm the glowing stasis of broadcast. Hosts didn’t always make the guests feel comfortable: David Letterman might ask Paris Hilton about Hilton’s jail stint Oprah Winfrey could interrogate writer James Frey about fabricating his way onto her book club list. A host’s job was to lead the show amusingly but unobjectionably, to raise or lower our temperatures as needed, to step in when guests or contestants weren’t following the rules, to let us know that there was only one rose left to be distributed, or that the tribe had spoken, or why it’s important to put sour cream in your pierogi dough. If it was political, it was ideologically agnostic, shining a light on or poking at the accomplishments or absurdities that were palatable between commercial breaks.
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Hosting televised entertainment - whether a late-night talk show or a reality competition series - was once a largely amoral and apolitical venture.
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And the full name of the late-night show she appeared on is “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” The article has been corrected. She was suspended by ABC, not the show itself. A previous version of this article incorrectly said that Whoopi Goldberg was suspended by “The View” after saying “the Holocaust isn’t about race” during an interview on “The Late Show.” Goldberg made the comment on “The View,” where she is a co-host.