A recent Vanity Fair spread on the ”titans” of US late-night TV presented a stark picture of the demographics in that exalted realm:
But do the women comedians with the stature to break the male host hegemony even want these supposedly coveted jobs? New York Magazine’s culture site, Vulture, asked 37 women in comedy what they thought, and many came back with a resounding “meh.”
Some had actually turned away feelers from those charged with filling the host seats. Amy Poehler and Amy Schumer are both reported to have been approached after Jon Stewart announced he was leaving The Daily Show. Amy Schumer responded that, while honored to be asked, the job’s nightly repetitiveness wasn’t appealing: “Picturing being in a building and knowing what I was going to do for five years — I love not knowing,” she explained. “And I’ve never done anything safe or to make money for that reason.” Meanwhile, the New York Times reported (paywall), Poehler gave “the quickest no in history.” (Stewart has since given the reigns over to a male comic, Trevor Noah.)
The writers and actors Mindy Kaling and Tina Fey told Vulture that a talk show would be too much of a grind, and suggested that the inherent sexism of the format makes it unappealing: ”A woman should have one, for sure,” Fey said of the host positions. “But so much of the dynamic of shows like that is like, ‘I’m a young actress,’ and if you don’t want to fuck that young actress, then why are you talking to her?”
Besides, Fey joked, “What would you wear?” Kaling responded, ”I think about that all the time. Something neutral.”
Stand-up comedian Liza Treyger said, “I can’t imagine anything worse than business outfits and jokes about the news.” And the self-described “insult comic” Lisa Lampanelli responded: “If you told me I had to host a late-night show I would kill myself, and I’m not even kidding.”
Of course there have been some exceptions to the all-male rule: Chelsea Handler hosted Chelsea Lately from 2007 until last year, and Samantha Bee’s new late-night show premiers in January. But many of the funniest women in entertainment, it seems, would be stifled by the constraints of such a straight-and-narrow format.
Said Twitter comedian and comedy writer Kelly Oxford: “No. I’ve watched Jimmy Kimmel work from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m. Nope, thanks.”
And while many women said they’d take a late-night gig if offered, some had trouble imagining themselves as hosts of anything resembling the standard buttoned-up talk show we’re used to. Emily Heller, for example, said she’d love to co-host a show with her friend, the artist Lisa Hanawalt: “Maybe one where she and I interview people, and then she animates us all as hideous creatures and all our stories get played out visually and you go inside our gross brains, and also there will be cussing, lots of cussing. It will take forever and not be timely at all. Maybe that’s not a late-night show. What’s a late-night show?”
Some of the women also raised the constraints of parental responsibility.
“I would host a late-night show if it was in my house. And in my life, like most working mothers who are trying to juggle it all—careers, family, and getting older—late night is about 8:30 p.m.,” said stand-up comedian Tammy Pescatelli. “From there, The Not-So-Late Show would be just like any other talk show, except celebrity guests would help me with my to-do list. Sandra Bullock’s from Texas: She knows how to wash dishes and fold clothes!”
And some of the women comics raised conundrums and ambivalences that women in many professions will relate to.
“That’s a tough question,” replied the comedian Jena Friedman. “If I say no, it will sound like I’m not ‘leaning in,’ whereas if I say yes, it will sound like I’m overly ambitious—either way, I feel like I’ll be putting my foot in my mouth by saying the wrong thing … wanna just ask me my stance on Israel?”