It can’t be said that the UK is lacking in topical shows with comedy leanings in the early evening, with The One Show on the BBC, or weekly chat shows like Graham Norton’s and Alan Carr’s. They even have the weekly comedy panel shows that Americans don’t, much to the great sadness of some of us. After all, “Mock The Week” brought America John Oliver for “The Daily Show,” where he’s in danger of stealing the show much of the time.
But there has been a big hole in the landscape – where’s the UK’s “The Daily Show”? So many politically verbose comedians all over the telly, but no nightly place for them to skewer the news of the day like Jon Stewart and his correspondents, and right afterward Stephen Colbert, do four nights a week here. It’s especially ironic because Stewart and Colbert’s shows undoubtedly have to be censored for language and innuendo on a level that would be laughable on British telly.
It looks like the success of “Stand Up For The Week” (which was just picked up for a second series order, wahey!) and the “C4 Alternative Election Night” have helped Channel 4 make the leap into trying out the format. “The Late List” will air nightly at 11 p.m. and be taped only a few hours before the airing.
According to the British Comedy Guide, channel representatives said the programme will be presented by “a mix of established and new talent.” and will feature a combination of celebrity guests and video clips that will “bring you everything you need to know about ‘today’ whether it’s news, entertainment, sport or anything else that may prove a springboard to great comic material.”
C4 has attempted to do late-night comedy before with “Tonightly” and “The TNT Show”, but those shows featured a typical two-host format. Possibly with the two recent successful shows, in particular “Alternative Election Night” – which generated enormous online buzz and if there is a special TV deity would inspire C4 to try to get some sort of even sporadic involvement from the unholy trinity of Brooker, Mitchell and Carr – they have figured out that a rotating cast of comedy, much like that of panel shows, may be the way to go.
“The Late List” is due to debut Sept. 6, with tickets already available online.
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About Dana Franks
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Anglotopia was founded by Jonathan and Jackie Thomas for people who love Britain - whether it's British TV, Culture, History or Travel - we cover it all. Anglotopia was started to get us back to the UK for a trip and it did that in 2009. Now, the goal is for Anglotopia to make our dreams of traveling to the UK whenever we want a reality.