Reasons to Stay Up Past 11:00

I’ve spent many years resisting the allure of the late-night television show. Well, okay technically for many of those years my parents had a strict be in bed by 10:00 rule, but even now sans bedtime I rarely feel the need to watch late night chat shows. Sure I tune in if Seth Green’s guesting on Conan or if one my Lost folks is popping up on Jimmy Kimmel, but mostly I opt for Simpsons reruns if I’m up past the 11:00 hour.

Lately, I’ve begun to feel left out. I’ve never actually seen one of Letterman’s Top 10’s or watched an entire episode of Saturday Night Live. What does this say about me as a pop culture consumer? That I value sleep over largely overrated late-night television? Perhaps, but I fear that is not a valid excuse for such a glaring cultural blind spot. Especially since these shows have been pretty entertaining as of late. For instance last night’s Jimmy Kimmel retaliation to girlfriend Sarah Silverman’s extracurricular activities with Matt Damon? Priceless (with the added bonus of Dominic Monaghan and a profane Josh Groban). And what about the Tina Fey hosted episode of SNL? Man, I really should have watched that one live.

Then there was the Stewart/O’Brian/Colbert match up a couple of weeks ago that I had to google before I could get the joke. Late night television appears to be culturally relevant again and I suppose it’s time for to dip my toe into these uncharted waters. It’s not feasible for me to watch all of the late night shows so I feel I should pick one or two to watch at least once a week, you know just so I no longer feel left out of those annoying Who’s your favorite late night host conversations.

I know I won’t be picking Leno. Once I watched a few minutes of his show and became some distracted by the strange proportion of his head I found I hadn’t heard a word of what he had said.

I find Letterman to be a bit dry for my taste, but he does get props for being the first host to step up and pay his crew during the strike. But his show has too much audience interaction for my taste. Leave the audience alone, Letterman, I do not want to audition for a seat to watch your show---why don’t you do a backflip while singing the national anthem backwards?

Now Conan I’ve watched before and liked, so he’s a distinct possibility for regular viewing. I particularly enjoyed the episode last season when B.J. Novak called out the Cadbury company on decreasing the size of their chocolate eggs. Youtube it, it’s fantastic.

Kimmel gets bonus points for being a Lost fan. Out of all the late night shows I’ve seen his the most, which is you know six more times than I’ve seen Letterman.

And then there’s Ferguson who would be a serious contender if he wasn’t on so late. I watched him one night while taking a break from writing a paper that was due at 9:00 a.m. and found him delightful. Plus Dominic Monaghan appears on his show. A lot.

Hey, does Carson Daly still have a talk show? Oh well, I’ve never seen it and I don’t think anyone else has either.

And then there’s SNL, not technically a chat show, but it is on quite late and I’ve only ever seen the random skit.

So, in conclusion, I think I’ll make an attempt to catch Kimmel and O’Brian when I’m not in desperate need of a good eight hours and I’m totally going to watch an entire episode of SNL. I will be well versed in late night television you just wait and see. And now I’ll be able to let you know where I land on that whole best late night host issue.