Seth Meyers To Do Live ‘Late Night’ Broadcast Following Republican Convention

Seth Meyers To Do Live ‘Late Night’ Broadcast Following Republican Convention

Brian Steinberg, Variety

Seth Meyers is joining the parade of late-night talk-show hosts flocking to make comedic hay out of the coming political conventions.

NBC said Friday that Meyers’ “Late Night” will broadcast live 12:35 a.m. Eastern on the evening ofThursday, July 21 from Studio 8G in 30 Rockefeller Center – the same night as the final session of the Republican National Convention from Cleveland. Presumably, Meyers will have choice words for the party’s presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump, whom he has jokingly banned from the show.

The move will allow the host to return, in a sense, to his days of doing live comedy at “Saturday Night Live.” And it will also give Meyers the benefit of coming up with fresh one-liners about the event mere hours after it ends. “Late Night with Seth Meyers” typically tapes in the early evening, so its jokes and signature sketches riff off the news of the day  – but not the headlines of the evening.

Doing the show live adds a new set of logistics for the show, its writers and producers, who will be up until the next day crafting fresh zingers (“Late Night” typically runs a repeat on Fridays, giving Meyers’ staff some respite).

“Late Night” isn’t the only program in the genre making a run for relevancy by playing off the conventions. CBS’ “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” will broadcast two weeks of live shows on the East Coast during the July political conventions, operating without the benefit of the editing room from Monday, July 18 through Thursday July 21 for the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, and Monday, July 25, through Thursday, July 28, during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

Bill Maher has unveiled plans to expand his weekly HBO program, “Real Time,” with two extra editions slated to air in the weeks the conventions take place. Typically, Maher’s show airs live Friday nights. And Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” will cover both events from the ground, with tapings taking place in Cleveland and Philadelphia.

Fans of “Late Night” will no doubt want to see if Meyers trots out one of his go-to segments, “A Closer Look.” During the bit, the host weaves together jokes, outtakes from news reports and clever graphics to uncover the motives behind the biggest news stories. The pieces often require an entire day of writing and production to get them right, and it will be quite a feat if the host and his crew can mount one within a few hours after the last speeches ahve been uttered at the Republican convention.