Is Late Night Dead? (A Daily Comedy News Series)

About Is Late Night Dead? (A Daily Comedy News Series)

In May 2026, CBS turned off the lights on The Late Show and filled 11:35 with reruns. The Late Late Show was already gone. The Tonight Show dropped to four nights a week. For seventy years, the late-night desk was the most important seat in comedy, so how did it come to this? Is Late Night Dead? is a new series from Daily Comedy News (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-comedy-news-with-johnny-mac/id1474309028?itscg=30200&itsct=podcast_box&ls=1&mttnsubad=1474309028). Host Johnny Mac tells the story of late-night TV through the people who made it matter to him: David Letterman at 12:30 in the morning, Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno, the Tonight Show wars, Johnny Carson, Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Tom Snyder, Chris Elliott, Jon Stewart, John Oliver, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon. This isn't an encyclopedia and it doesn't cover every host. It's one comedy fan’s soul-searching about where late night came from, who fought over the desk, and whether anything is left worth fighting for.

Publisher

Caloroga Media

Category

comedy · news · tv & film

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

23 Sept 2026

Latest episode

8 Nov 2026

Latest episodes

8 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   8 Nov 2026

   7. Jack Paar: The Man Who Walked Off

   NBC cut a bathroom joke, so Paar quit on the air. Weeks later he came back and said, “As I was saying...” How Paar turned The Tonight Show into a talk show. Is Late Night Dead? is a Daily Comedy News series, hosted by Johnny Mac.If you like this series, you’ll like the show it comes from. Daily Comedy News covers the comedy business seven days a week: the specials, the tours, the podcasts, the late-night shakeups, and the deals and feuds behind them. It’s one comedy insider giving you everything that happened in comedy today, in about the time it takes to drink a coffee. Follow Daily Comedy News with Johnny Mac on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-comedy-news-with-johnny-mac/id1474309028 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-comedy-news-with-johnny-mac/id1474309028) More at https://www.dailycomedy.news (https://www.dailycomedy.news/)

2. 

   7 Nov 2026

   6. Steve Allen: Where David Letterman Got It From

   The first host of The Tonight Show invented the street bits, the stunts, and the ridiculous suits decades before Dave used them. What Letterman took from Steve Allen Is Late Night Dead? is a Daily Comedy News series, hosted by Johnny Mac.If you like this series, you’ll like the show it comes from. Daily Comedy News covers the comedy business seven days a week: the specials, the tours, the podcasts, the late-night shakeups, and the deals and feuds behind them. It’s one comedy insider giving you everything that happened in comedy today, in about the time it takes to drink a coffee. Follow Daily Comedy News with Johnny Mac on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-comedy-news-with-johnny-mac/id1474309028 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-comedy-news-with-johnny-mac/id1474309028) More at https://www.dailycomedy.news (https://www.dailycomedy.news/)

3. 

   1 Nov 2026

   5. Jay Leno: The Guy Who Won Both Wars

   He beat Letterman for the desk, outlasted Conan, and spent 22 years as host of The Tonight Show. The case for Jay, from the guy who had the job everybody wanted. Is Late Night Dead? is a Daily Comedy News series, hosted by Johnny Mac.If you like this series, you’ll like the show it comes from. Daily Comedy News covers the comedy business seven days a week: the specials, the tours, the podcasts, the late-night shakeups, and the deals and feuds behind them. It’s one comedy insider giving you everything that happened in comedy today, in about the time it takes to drink a coffee. Follow Daily Comedy News with Johnny Mac on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-comedy-news-with-johnny-mac/id1474309028 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-comedy-news-with-johnny-mac/id1474309028) More at https://www.dailycomedy.news (https://www.dailycomedy.news/)

4. 

   25 Oct 2026

   4. Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show War

   Seven months as host of the Tonight Show, a primetime experiment that backfired, and the most public fight in late-night history. Then TBS, a podcast, and the Oscars. Is Late Night Dead? is a Daily Comedy News series, hosted by Johnny Mac.If you like this series, you’ll like the show it comes from. Daily Comedy News covers the comedy business seven days a week: the specials, the tours, the podcasts, the late-night shakeups, and the deals and feuds behind them. It’s one comedy insider giving you everything that happened in comedy today, in about the time it takes to drink a coffee. Follow Daily Comedy News with Johnny Mac on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-comedy-news-with-johnny-mac/id1474309028 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-comedy-news-with-johnny-mac/id1474309028) More at https://www.dailycomedy.news (https://www.dailycomedy.news/)

5. 

   18 Oct 2026

   3. Late Night with Conan O'Brien - The Guy Nobody Wanted

   An unknown writer from The Simpsons takes over David Letterman’s old job in 1993. The critics hate him, and NBC nearly fires him. Then.... the show starts to work...and Conan eventually gets The Tonight Show. Is Late Night Dead? is a Daily Comedy News series, hosted by Johnny Mac.If you like this series, you’ll like the show it comes from. Daily Comedy News covers the comedy business seven days a week: the specials, the tours, the podcasts, the late-night shakeups, and the deals and feuds behind them. It’s one comedy insider giving you everything that happened in comedy today, in about the time it takes to drink a coffee. Follow Daily Comedy News with Johnny Mac on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-comedy-news-with-johnny-mac/id1474309028 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-comedy-news-with-johnny-mac/id1474309028) More at https://www.dailycomedy.news (https://www.dailycomedy.news/)

6. 

   11 Oct 2026

   2. Late Show with David Letterman - Establishment Letterman and the show he didn't get

   Carson retires, NBC picks Leno, and Dave takes his act to CBS and the Ed Sullivan Theater. Twenty-two years of The Late Show, and a goodbye in 2015. Is Late Night Dead? is a Daily Comedy News series, hosted by Johnny Mac.If you like this series, you’ll like the show it comes from. Daily Comedy News covers the comedy business seven days a week: the specials, the tours, the podcasts, the late-night shakeups, and the deals and feuds behind them. It’s one comedy insider giving you everything that happened in comedy today, in about the time it takes to drink a coffee. Follow Daily Comedy News with Johnny Mac on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-comedy-news-with-johnny-mac/id1474309028 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-comedy-news-with-johnny-mac/id1474309028) More at https://www.dailycomedy.news (https://www.dailycomedy.news/)

7. 

   4 Oct 2026

   1. Late Night with David Letterman - The Anti Talk Show

   Before David Letterman became a late-night television legend, he was the guy at 12:30 in the morning reinventing what a talk show could be. In the premiere of Is Late Night Dead?, Johnny Mac of Daily Comedy News goes back to the birth of Late Night with David Letterman and the strange path that took Letterman from an Indianapolis weatherman to NBC, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, a failed daytime talk show, and finally the after-midnight time slot that changed comedy. We look at how Johnny Carson’s restrictions helped shape Letterman’s groundbreaking NBC show, the influence of Merrill Markoe, Paul Shaffer and Chris Elliott, and the creation of classic Late Night comedy including Stupid Pet Tricks, the Top Ten List, Larry “Bud” Melman, the Guy Under the Seats, dropping objects off buildings, and Letterman’s constant war with the conventions of network television. We also revisit unforgettable David Letterman moments with Bill Murray, Andy Kaufman, Jerry Lawler, Cher, Crispin Glover and Harvey Pekar, and explore why Late Night became a cult phenomenon for a generation of comedy fans. By 1991, Letterman had transformed the 12:30 time slot and become one of the most influential figures in television comedy. Johnny Carson was preparing to retire. The Tonight Show was about to become the most coveted job in television. And everyone thought David Letterman was next. Then came Jay Leno. Is Late Night Dead? is a series from Daily Comedy News tracing the history of late-night television, from Steve Allen, Jack Paar and Johnny Carson through David Letterman, Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, the late-night wars, and the uncertain future of the format. Questions this episode answers: How did David Letterman get his start in television? When did Late Night with David Letterman begin on NBC? Why did Johnny Carson have control over Letterman’s 12:30 show? What rules did Carson impose on Late Night? How did those restrictions help create David Letterman’s comedy style? Who were Merrill Markoe, Paul Shaffer, Chris Elliott and Larry “Bud” Melman? Where did Letterman’s Top Ten List and Stupid Pet Tricks come from? Why was David Letterman so influential on late-night television? Why did Letterman expect to replace Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show? And how did Jay Leno become part of the battle to succeed Carson? Is Late Night Dead? is a Daily Comedy News series, hosted by Johnny Mac.If you like this series, you’ll like the show it comes from. Daily Comedy News covers the comedy business seven days a week: the specials, the tours, the podcasts, the late-night shakeups, and the deals and feuds behind them. It’s one comedy insider giving you everything that happened in comedy today, in about the time it takes to drink a coffee. Follow Daily Comedy News with Johnny Mac on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-comedy-news-with-johnny-mac/id1474309028 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-comedy-news-with-johnny-mac/id1474309028) More at https://www.dailycomedy.news (https://www.dailycomedy.news/)

8. 

   23 Sept 2026

   Is Late Night Dead?

   In May 2026, CBS turned off the lights on The Late Show and filled 11:35 with reruns. The Late Late Show was already gone. The Tonight Show dropped to four nights a week. For seventy years, the late-night desk was the most important seat in comedy, so how did it come to this? Is Late Night Dead? is a new series from Daily Comedy News (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-comedy-news-with-johnny-mac/id1474309028). Host Johnny Mac tells the story of late-night TV through the people who made it matter to him: David Letterman at 12:30 in the morning, Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno, the Tonight Show wars, Johnny Carson, Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Tom Snyder, Chris Elliott, Jon Stewart, John Oliver, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon. This isn't an encyclopedia and it doesn't cover every host. It's one comedy fan’s soul-searching about where late night came from, who fought over the desk, and whether anything is left worth fighting for. Is Late Night Dead? is a Daily Comedy News series, hosted by Johnny Mac.If you like this series, you’ll like the show it comes from. Daily Comedy News covers the comedy business seven days a week: the specials, the tours, the podcasts, the late-night shakeups, and the deals and feuds behind them. It’s one comedy insider giving you everything that happened in comedy today, in about the time it takes to drink a coffee. Follow Daily Comedy News with Johnny Mac on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-comedy-news-with-johnny-mac/id1474309028 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-comedy-news-with-johnny-mac/id1474309028) More at https://www.dailycomedy.news (https://www.dailycomedy.news/)

Contact Is Late Night Dead? (A Daily Comedy News Series)

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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