Improv and the Death of Comedy
Why is TV comedy nearly dead? This week, an accomplished comedy writer named Jay Martel tried to provide answers. Martel cited empirical evidence of comedy’s demise, a phenomenon as apparent to those of us in the field as the eruption of Mount Vesuvius probably was to people in Pompeii. The numbers are grim: Only one nominee for outstanding comedy series at the Emmys was actually a comedy.
Let’s Not Tell the "Death of Late Night TV" Story Without Mentioning Our Weird Obsession With Race and Gender
The end of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has led to a flurry of stories about the possible end of late night TV as we know it. It looks like a genre that’s older than velcro and the polio vaccine might be on its last legs. Most Americans can’t remember a time when we weren’t lulled to sleep by an affable guy in suit making pleasant japes, getting peed on by wildlife, and somehow persuading movie stars to gab about their latest film. Unless that time is “right now”, because nobody watches late night TV anymore.
