The Best of Late Night, on the Movies and Beyond

Published: March 27, 2024

The new horror-thriller “Late Night With the Devil” stars David Dastmalchian because the host of “Night Owls With Jack Delroy” the place, on Halloween night time 1977, an occult-themed episode takes a darkish flip through the stay broadcast. Shot in a found-footage means that reveals the “lost” episode, the film (now in theaters, streaming on Shudder on April 22) is a satirical throwback to the period’s supernatural and non secular fanaticism, with a notable nod to “The Exorcist.” And it is without doubt one of the most up-to-date in a string of late-night moments that make their technique to the massive and small screens.

Late-night hosts previous and current have lent their units (and generally themselves) to tasks, whereas fictional nods and pretend hosts pop up elsewhere. From Gucci campaigns that includes James Corden interviewing Harry Styles to a number of “Simpsons” cameos and sendups, to David Letterman crossovers on “Seinfeld,” “The Larry Sanders Show” and “Roseanne,” late-night hosts play a very current position in in style tradition.

Below is a choose have a look at the instances late-night tv has neatly made its means into fictional motion pictures and TV.

Rent on Apple TV or Amazon.

In this movie directed by Don Weis, Connie Francis stars as Libby Caruso, an aspiring singer who initially discovered success peddling a line of ladies’s clothes. Booked on “The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson” to speak style, Libby makes point out of her singing and sees her life change after Carson invitations her to carry out a music.

Stream it on Hulu.

Martin Scorsese’s follow-up to “Raging Bull” reunited the director with Robert De Niro for this darkish satire. De Niro performs Rupert Pupkin, a fame-obsessed aspiring slapstick comedian who kidnaps the late-night host Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis) and blackmails his means into his gig. Believing himself to be a star, Rupert’s ruse pays off as he turns into notorious and lives in a fantasy of his personal making.

Stream it on Max.

After visitor internet hosting “The Tonight Show” within the Eighties, Garry Shandling was supplied his personal late-night gig, however turned it all the way down to star on this HBO parody of the style as a substitute. Famous for breaking the fourth wall, Sanders’s on-screen alter ego took viewers by way of the day-to-day of crafting a monologue, interviewing superstar company and dealing with backstage drama. A precursor to “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” the collection featured comedians and different public figures enjoying exaggerated variations of themselves, together with David Letterman.

Stream it on Max.

Based on Bill Carter’s ebook of the identical title, this made-for-TV film introduced the business battle of the post-Johnny Carson period to life. When Carson proclaims his retirement in 1991, Jay Leno (performed by Daniel Roebuck) and David Letterman (John Michael Higgins) battle to take over “The Tonight Show.” Directed by Betty Thomas, this movie presents a heightened model of the tumult that may in the end result in the creation of Letterman’s “Late Show” on CBS.

Stream it on Netflix.

On an episode aptly titled “The Merv Griffin Show,” Kramer discovers the whole set for the long-running discuss present in a dumpster and units it up in his residence in order that when buddies come by, he’s fairly actually enjoying host. Kramer’s invasive tabloid-style interviewing of his company incites arguments between Jerry and a girlfriend (for good cause), and a hawk and a squirrel, whose altercation trashes the set for good.

Stream it on Adult Swim.

The reimagining of the unique Space Ghost character when Cartoon Network debuted featured the animated star internet hosting his personal late-night discuss present that includes actual live-action company. A has-been superhero, Space Ghost enlisted his enemies Zorak and Moltar to work on his present and introduced out stars like Eartha Kitt and Alice Cooper in its prolonged run on-and-off over 11 seasons. Jon Stewart seems on a 1997 episode known as “Mayonnaise,” through which Space Ghost tries to promote the “Daily Show” host on aromatherapy, to disastrous outcomes.

Stream it on Peacock and Hulu.

Conan O’Brien performed himself in a number of episodes of the NBC hit collection “30 Rock,” together with an interview gone incorrect in a Season 1 episode known as “Tracy Does Conan,” when Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) tries to stab O’Brien. The present had a operating joke about lingering stress between O’Brien and Tina Fey’s Liz Lemon, which ended with a clumsy elevator run-in between exes: “We dated for a year!” O’Brien says to a tuned-out Lemon. “We were going to lose our virginity to each other!”

Stream it on Netflix.

Stephen Colbert was nonetheless internet hosting “The Colbert Report” on Comedy Central when he appeared on the Season 3 premiere of the Netflix collection “House of Cards,” interviewing Kevin Spacey’s President Frank Underwood about his America Works plan. In typical Colbert style, the host challenged Underwood on his large goals for bipartisan help for his jobs program and teased that “AmWorks” was “a socialist redistribution of wealth wherein the baby boomers latch onto the millennials like a lamprey and just keep sucking until they’re as dry as a crouton.”

When the Muppets returned to weekly tv in 2015, the premise was all about “Up Late With Miss Piggy.” Shot like a documentary collection following the muppets of their each day lives working for the present, Miss Piggy’s latest ex, Kermit, was her govt producer, whereas the remainder of Jim Henson’s brood labored within the writers’ room or elsewhere on set. A number of celebrities pop by to duet (or duel) with the host on the short-lived collection, however Miss Piggy was loath to share the stage for too lengthy, per typical.

Stream it on Tubi.

As the pinnacle expertise booker on the fifth-highest-rated late-night discuss present, “Nightcap With Jimmy,” Staci Cole (performed by the present’s creator Ali Wentworth) tries to wrangle her workers whereas appeasing superstar company. The present solely had two seasons on the Pop community, however a secure of personalities popped by to play themselves, together with Sarah Jessica Parker, Kelly Ripa, Andy Cohen, Gwyneth Paltrow, Whoopi Goldberg, Denis Leary and Wentworth’s husband, George Stephanopoulos.

In this darkish drama from Todd Phillips, Robert De Niro goes from enjoying the kidnapper of a late-night host to enjoying the host himself. In the position, De Niro pays tribute to his components in “The King of Comedy” in addition to in “Taxi Driver,” internet hosting Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur (a.ok.a. the Joker) as a visitor on his present. It includes a tense look that goes off the rails.

Stream it on Amazon Prime Video.

Mindy Kaling wrote and co-starred on this 2019 comedy a few fictional host, Katherine Newbury (Emma Thompson), who, regardless of being likable, is struggling to maintain viewers for her present, “Tonight With Katherine Newbury.” Kaling performs the aspiring monologue author Molly Patel, who joins the workers simply in time to assist Katherine navigate the community’s try to switch her with a hack.

Stream it on Netflix.

On an episode known as “The Horny Unicorn,” Samantha Bee makes a quick look voicing an animated model of herself as an anthropomorphic bee internet hosting a present on “T-Bee-S.” When she lobs a joke aimed toward BoJack, he deems it an “unfair drive-by,” which solely will get worse earlier than he turns her off altogether.

Stream it on Amazon Prime Video.

Reid Scott portrayed the late-night host Gordon Ford, loosely based mostly on Johnny Carson, on Seasons 4 and 5 of the Emmy-winning Amazon collection. Still seeking to make a reputation for herself on tv, the comic Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) is hoping for her breakthrough second after Susie (Alex Borstein) finagles her a set on “The Gordon Ford Show.” But Midge finds herself having stress with Ford, who doesn’t give her fun till the viewers does first. Ultimately, he deems her “the marvelous Mrs. Maisel” on the collection finale.

Source web site: www.nytimes.com