Seth Meyers is the next late-night talk host to face the axe after Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension, a TV expert has predicted.
Professor Robert Thompson, the founder of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University, gave his somber prediction to the Daily Mail following the removal of Kimmel’s show due to remarks about Charlie Kirk.
“There’s a pattern happening here,” Thompson remarked, referring to Kimmel’s “indefinite” suspension and the potential cancellation of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
He pointed to the clear shift away from the politically charged jokes of late-night hosts like Colbert, Kimmel and Meyers.
‘It could very well be that [Jimmy] Fallon is the last guy standing,’ Thompson said.
‘Meyers is the one guy doing this type of comedy who hasn’t been fired yet. These last stories indicate that era is over.
‘I can see a period in the very near future where Fallon is the last franchise left – the oldest franchise, at that.’
Thompson went on to compare Fallon’s ‘apolitical’ approach to that of late-night legends Johnny Carson and Jay Leno.
Seth Meyers is the next late-night host whose program is jeopardy after Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension, a top TV expert predicted
“It might end up with [Jimmy] Fallon as the last remaining host,” Syracuse Professor Robert Thompson explained, highlighting Meyers’ frequent political discussions.
“All the exciting late-night content that was buzzworthy and discussed the following day seems to be something the networks no longer want to pursue,” the professor commented.
‘It’s either they don’t want to lose to money, or they don’t want to “fight the good fight.”‘
Meyers has managed to fly under the radar, thanks to Colbert and Kimmel’s star-power and earlier air times, Thompson said.
This scenario could shift if Kimmel is no longer part of the lineup, Thompson mentioned, suggesting it would be “challenging for him to return to ABC, regardless of whether they offer him the chance.”
Should Kimmel not return to ABC, “NBC will stand as the sole broadcaster with comedic personalities doing this type of show” once Colbert exits CBS next year, Thompson noted.
He added that linear television had already been deteriorating before the pandemic, and that for ‘all of the next generation who grew up watching Colbert and Kimmel, broadcast television isn’t the place for them.’
‘Substack and YouTube is where the action is and where the audiences are. Every decision made by legacy companies is indicating that.
‘These people will go to where these changes are happening and leave late night back to its old tradition of the Tonight Show. Carson and Leno, and now Fallon.
‘Meyers is the one guy doing this type of comedy who hasn’t been fired yet,’ Thompson explained, against the backdrop of Jimmy Kimmel Live! being pulled from the air ‘indefinitely’
‘There will people who bemoan the changing of late night and people who celebrate the changing of late night.
‘If I had to make a prediction, I think late night is, one, going back to where it used to be, where you had the Tonight Show and Carson.’
Thompson added: ‘I think the Tonight Show might actually survive the collapse of late-night television.’
Regarding Meyers, he said: ‘I don’t envy Seth Meyers going out and doing his show after something like this.
‘He’s got to feel skittish and vulnerable.’
