In the midst of the whole Jay Leno/Conan O'Brien brouhaha, I realized something big. Something huge that I simply had never noticed before. There are no women -- and there have never been women -- featured on the major-network late night TV talk shows.
We have male hosts, male sidekicks, male bandleaders, male announcers. It's a good ol' boys network -- no, make that three networks -- completely free of female faces, and it's been this way for years. The closest any woman has ever come to occupying a coveted late-night seat was when Joan Rivers was named the "permanent guest host" on The Tonight Show in 1983, filling in for Johnny Carson. This official designation came only after she'd covered for him dozens of times.
Look beyond the Big Three, however, and you'll see that one woman was given a shot years ago.
The very first show ever launched by the fledgling Fox Broadcasting Network was The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers in 1986. Going toe to toe with Carson's The Tonight Show, Rivers did better than anyone else had in years. Yet the show failed to earn the kind of ratings Fox execs had hoped for, and Rivers left the show in 1987.
Women score big as TV talk show hosts in the daytime. In fact, they dominate. Look at Oprah, Ellen Degeneres, and Rosie O'Donnell. Obviously, we've got some sort of talk show mojo going.
So what happens when the sun sets? Do we somehow lose our talk show host powers? Are we unable to make inane chit-chat with celebrities promoting their latest films/TV shows/books? Obviously not.
And since women make up 50% or more of the audiences watching Leno, Letterman, and O'Brien, there's no excuse that "we're catering to our 'primarily male' viewers."
Yet aside from Chelsea Handler on E!'s Chelsea Lately (who gets a paltry half-hour to do her thang), The Wanda Sykes Show Saturday nights on Fox, and BET's overlooked (by the white mainstream media) The Mo'Nique Show at 11 pm, there are no women on late night TV. (And of the aforementioned three, two just started last fall.)
It's no coincidence that the lack of women in front of the camera is reflected by the lack of women producing content for these shows. There are no women writers writing jokes for Jay Leno, David Letterman, or Conan O'Brien. And this is a lost opportunity that the Big Three networks can't see.
As Judy Howard Ellis observes in a commentary for Politics Daily:
Will somebody have a revelation and realize that a writing team armed with a variety of perspectives could lead to new audiences (read: more profits for the show)?...
Let the men scrap about who will be the Ratings King. Every woman knows that the added value of smart female writers on the team would help the best show become the undisputed champ.
We've seen the Big Three finally put women behind the evening news anchor desk after decades of resistance. So how long will it take late night TV to follow suit?
Comments
That is because women aren’t funny. Ellen is the closest thing there is and she’s not even funny. People only really like her because she is a lesbian and if you don’t like her then you are homophobic.
Joe, either you’re not paying attention, or all the women you’ve surrounded yourself with are atrocious bores. Perhaps you’re too dull witted to see anything but the surface, and in reality they’re great people, but by the tone of your comment, who knows! I pity you, your dull kind, and any woman (or for that manner, impressionable young male) who has had the ill fortune of being in your company. They’re most likely worse for wear by your presence.
Amen, QueGee!
@Joe: Newsflash for you: (Go ahead and sit down. I’m sure you’re going to need to.)
Just because YOU don’t think something’s funny doesn’t mean it isn’t funny.
Yeah, I said it. It IS just YOU.
Lest you try to argue differently: The aforementioned Joan Rivers and Ellen DeGeneres who IS funny. Anjela Johnson, Lucille Ball, Betty White, Mo’Nique, Adele Givens, Laura Hayes and Sommore; Suzanne Westenhoefer…. I could go on like this all day. Oh, wait–Sarah Silverman….
Joe, Joe my dear little boy! Ah, I feel so very sorry for you,,, your mama never did love you.. and now you can’t separate a ‘person who is a wonderful comedian’ whether they are male or female. You are trying way too hard to be the small penis we all know you to be..
Do people still say things like that? Things ike women are not funny, or women can’t be this or that. We really need to start looking at people for their qualities and abilities, not for their gender. Just out of curiousity, Joe; just what circle are you haging out in, my dear? You’ve never met a funny woman? Gosh, some of us do have the sad life.
I can think of 10 women who combine smarts, humor and performance skills that are on TV right now with great ratings. Personally, with most people’s daily schedule, and all the reality show options, I don’t think late night is that much of a draw anymore. Except for people who have the time to watch and can actually stay up that late, who is watching? Women rule in other media areas!
You know where you can find the funny women? Where you always find the women, behind the successful men. Letterman’s ex-significant other, Merrill Markoe, used to write for him. Carol Liefer, Jerry Seinfeld’s ex-significant other, used to do the same for him (look @ the credits sometime). Sylvia Fine Kaye wrote for her husband Danny. Let’s see, if women aren’t funny, what does that make these guys?
Unfortunately there are a lot of men who think like Joe in the hiring and l decisionmaking process in the media.They tend to have one category for women: “Is she f*ckable?” That’s it.That’s how they think.
The United States of America still tells the world that women are still property(objects) to men and that is why the ERA isn’t supported. It’s not about funny. It’s about keeping us where they want us ..unequal and beneath them.
Here in Australia we’ve had few females trying to be funny on TV but none of them have made me laugh. Most of them try and ape male comedians with smutty jokes eg. Wendy Harmer who has a cleft lip. Of course their acts are supported with canned laughter and clapping turned off and on even if what is said is not funny.
You guys seem to be forgetting about the amazing;y popular, and highly entertaining Chelsea Handler. She has a show at 11 pm on the E! Network. And it is amazing! High ratings, and she is one of the few female late-night show hostesses, who have high ratings. There is also Monique; however, I don’t exactly know her station. I think BET. But it is a shame how few ladies are on late night. But you know, I think it is smart for most women to have daytime shows because it is good for them due to a lot more people being awake, so there is a higher chance for success. And also, I don’t have to stay up too late for them….that part is just mine.
i’m a woman..and i dont find women good late night hosts. period.
yes they can give you a laugh here and there…but to be funny day in and day out takes a lot!
women dont develop their humor when they are young as they dont need to. men on the other hand are expected by women to be funny, so they develop that aspect. and its really hard to develop that when you’re older. its simple science..thats all. women develop laughing and men develop the art of making people laugh.now having said that i dont find jay leno and letterman funny at all. but jon stewart, colbert and craig ferguson are in a totally different level. they are the best
Everyone here is missing the point. Women are less funny than men. This is not to say there are not funny women, I find Sarah Silverman to be hillarious, funnier than most male comedians, however, she is the exception and not the rule. Furthermore, I am amused by the argument that TV execs just want to keep women down. They may be sexist, but they are greedy first. They are in it for the money, and how they get it doesn’t matter.