‘Later’: An Overview
Title: Later
Hosts:
Created by: Dick Ebersol
Format: Thirty minute one-on-one talk show
Broadcast information: Originally broadcast on NBC at 1:30 a.m.
Production company: NBC Universal
Distributor: NBC
Location: 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Studio 8H
Premiere Date: August 19, 2013
Brief History:
Former Saturday Night Live executive producer Dick Ebersol created Later, a 30-minute talk show starring award-winning sportscaster Bob Costas.
In many ways, it was a recreation of Tomorrow, a late night talk show that broadcast after Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Like Tomorrow, Later was bare bones. The show’s host wouldn’t come out and present that night’s monologue. He wouldn’t invite a handful of guests on the show to tell jokes and star in comedy bits. He had no announcer or house band or audience. Instead, Later offered viewers 30 minutes of one-on-one time between the host and the subject.
Costas thrived in this format. He won an Emmy for his work and was nominated more than once. His questions were on point and thoughtful, and his guests, like Walter Cronkite, Dick Clark and David Letterman, responded.
Costas did this all while living in St. Louis. Each week he would fly to New York to tape an entire week’s worth of shows in one day. Interviews would last for an hour or more. Editors would cut down the interviews into bit-size, 22 minute episodes. If the guest and interview were spectacular enough, the show would air over more than one night.
The travel took its toll on Costas, though. And rather than move his family to New York, he chose instead to end his tenure on Later.
Kinnear arrives
Costas’ replacement was actor and Talk Soup host Greg Kinnear. Kinnear was making a name for himself on the E! Network show. Producers were noticing, including Ebersol and producers on Later. In 1994, Kinnear joined the program. (He also maintained hosting duties on Talk Soup, much the same way actor Joel McHale has kept his hosting duties on The Soup while shooting the NBC sit-com, Community.)
When Kinnear took over, the show moved to Burbank, Calif., and changed its format to a more traditional late night talk show. Kinnear would deliver a short monologue and perform in sketches. The one holdover from the Costas era was hosting a single guest. Kinnear’s guests, however, were less noteworthy newsmakers and more likely to be celebrities pitching new films or television shows.
Kinnear’s time on Later was short-lived. His star was rising fast and he was regularly picking up plum movie roles. Shortly after Sabrina debuted in 1985, Kinnear left Talk Soup and then bowed out of Later as well.
Guest hosts galore
NBC wasn’t as quick to find a permanent host of Later after Kinnear’s departure. Instead the network handed the show over to a cavalcade of guest hosts. The only regular guest host to bubble up was Friday Night host Rita Sever. Friday Night was a variety program that began as a very popular music video program. In fact, Later during this time period was more like Friday Night than either incarnation of Later.
Cynthia Garrett’s Later
Former VH1 veejay Cynthia Garrett became Later’s third official host in 2000. When she took over, the show went back to its roots, focusing its time on in-depth interviews with one guest. The only problem was that the show also became very low profile and terribly low budget. Guests were often D-list celebrities, and the show received very little promotion from the network. Garrett’s version, much to her dismay, was gone in a year.
Last call for Later
While Garrett’s version was winding down and she was heading to the TV Guide Channel, NBC began negotiations with a young, popular MTV veejay named Carson Daly. But negotiations took more than year, so in the intervening months, Later showed reruns of the Canadian comedy sketch show SCTV.
When Daly did arrive, the show was cancelled for good and replaced with a somewhat similar talk show called Last Call with Carson Daly.
Hosts:
- Bob Costas (1988 to 1994)
- Greg Kinnear (1994 to 1996)
- Guest hosts (1996 to 2000)
- Cynthia Garrett (2000 to 2001)
Created by: Dick Ebersol
Format: Thirty minute one-on-one talk show
Broadcast information: Originally broadcast on NBC at 1:30 a.m.
Production company: NBC Universal
Distributor: NBC
Location: 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Studio 8H
Premiere Date: August 19, 2013
Brief History:
Former Saturday Night Live executive producer Dick Ebersol created Later, a 30-minute talk show starring award-winning sportscaster Bob Costas.
In many ways, it was a recreation of Tomorrow, a late night talk show that broadcast after Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Like Tomorrow, Later was bare bones. The show’s host wouldn’t come out and present that night’s monologue. He wouldn’t invite a handful of guests on the show to tell jokes and star in comedy bits. He had no announcer or house band or audience. Instead, Later offered viewers 30 minutes of one-on-one time between the host and the subject.
Costas thrived in this format. He won an Emmy for his work and was nominated more than once. His questions were on point and thoughtful, and his guests, like Walter Cronkite, Dick Clark and David Letterman, responded.
Costas did this all while living in St. Louis. Each week he would fly to New York to tape an entire week’s worth of shows in one day. Interviews would last for an hour or more. Editors would cut down the interviews into bit-size, 22 minute episodes. If the guest and interview were spectacular enough, the show would air over more than one night.
The travel took its toll on Costas, though. And rather than move his family to New York, he chose instead to end his tenure on Later.
Kinnear arrives
Costas’ replacement was actor and Talk Soup host Greg Kinnear. Kinnear was making a name for himself on the E! Network show. Producers were noticing, including Ebersol and producers on Later. In 1994, Kinnear joined the program. (He also maintained hosting duties on Talk Soup, much the same way actor Joel McHale has kept his hosting duties on The Soup while shooting the NBC sit-com, Community.)
When Kinnear took over, the show moved to Burbank, Calif., and changed its format to a more traditional late night talk show. Kinnear would deliver a short monologue and perform in sketches. The one holdover from the Costas era was hosting a single guest. Kinnear’s guests, however, were less noteworthy newsmakers and more likely to be celebrities pitching new films or television shows.
Kinnear’s time on Later was short-lived. His star was rising fast and he was regularly picking up plum movie roles. Shortly after Sabrina debuted in 1985, Kinnear left Talk Soup and then bowed out of Later as well.
Guest hosts galore
NBC wasn’t as quick to find a permanent host of Later after Kinnear’s departure. Instead the network handed the show over to a cavalcade of guest hosts. The only regular guest host to bubble up was Friday Night host Rita Sever. Friday Night was a variety program that began as a very popular music video program. In fact, Later during this time period was more like Friday Night than either incarnation of Later.
Cynthia Garrett’s Later
Former VH1 veejay Cynthia Garrett became Later’s third official host in 2000. When she took over, the show went back to its roots, focusing its time on in-depth interviews with one guest. The only problem was that the show also became very low profile and terribly low budget. Guests were often D-list celebrities, and the show received very little promotion from the network. Garrett’s version, much to her dismay, was gone in a year.
Last call for Later
While Garrett’s version was winding down and she was heading to the TV Guide Channel, NBC began negotiations with a young, popular MTV veejay named Carson Daly. But negotiations took more than year, so in the intervening months, Later showed reruns of the Canadian comedy sketch show SCTV.
When Daly did arrive, the show was cancelled for good and replaced with a somewhat similar talk show called Last Call with Carson Daly.
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