New Jersey Stage Issue 59 | Page 111

What’s most difficult to swallow is the idea that in 2019 a female talk show host would find her posi- tion under threat from a right wing male comedian, as represented by Ike Barinholtz’s crude standup, who makes jokes about defecat- ing in peoples’ shoes and boasts of sleeping with co-eds. Can you imagine the outrage if Ellen De- Generes became the host of The Tonight Show and found herself in danger of being replaced by Dennis Miller? Late Night seems to exist in both an alternate fu- ture where women host late night talk shows and in a past, more conservative era of comedy. It’s a mess. Larry Sanders’ catchphrase was “No flipping!”, encouraging his viewers to stick around dur- ing commercials, but if you come across Late Night on TV, you’ll be compelled to flip channels by its first commercial break. w Late Night 1 ½ stars out of 5 Directed by: Nisha Ganatra Starring: Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, John Lithgow, Hugh Dancy, Reid Scott, Amy Ryan NJ STAGE - ISSUE 59 INDEX NEXT ARTICLE 111