Last Call with Carson Daly Format Talk show, Variety show Presented by Carson Daly Country of origin United States No. of episodes 1000 (as of April 15, 2009)[1] Production Running time 29 minutes per episode with commercials Broadcast Original channel NBC Picture format 480i (SDTV) Original run January 8, 2002 – present Chronology Preceded by Later External links Official website

Last Call with Carson Daly is an American late night variety show that is broadcast on NBC. Hosted by Carson Daly, the half-hour show features celebrity interviews, comedy, and musical performances. Last Call airs weeknights at 1:36 a.m. Eastern / 12:36 a.m. Central .

In 2003 and 2004, Last Call was nominated for a Teen Choice Award for "Choice TV Show - Late Night".

Contents 1 History 1.1 2002–2006 1.2 2007 1.3 2009 2 See also 3 Notes 4 External links

[edit] History

[edit] 2002–2006

Last Call premiered in 2002 as the successor to Later. Last Call initially aired Monday through Thursday until the cancellation of Late Friday in the summer of 2002.

Last Call was originally taped in Studio 8H of the GE Building in New York City, which was also the home studio of Saturday Night Live. However, this required the producers to work around the schedule of the facility's main tenant, Saturday Night Live. During this phase, Last Call had no house band and no jokes or monologue, going straight to the first guest at the beginning of the show. The stage was black and empty, save for two low-slung chairs and a small table.^{[citation needed]} Each week, a different unsigned band was brought in to do the music, in addition to any musical act at the end. Gradually, the set acquired more furnishings and decor, much of which was influenced by the occasional week-long trips to Las Vegas.^{[citation needed]}

Last Call was originally planned to begin taping in HDTV when Studio 8H was retrofitted for Saturday Night Live; however, instead, the show was relocated to Los Angeles in September 2005, and continues to air in standard definition.^{[citation needed]} After the move, Last Call began to resemble its counterparts, with a more traditional set, permanent house band led by Joe Firstman, short monologue and occasional comedy bits.

[edit] 2007

Production of new Last Call episodes was suspended for a month due to the Writers Guild of America strike, but on December 4, 2007, Last Call became the first late night talk show to resume production during the strike. On air, Daly explained that the only reason the show resumed production was that he was given the option to either return or have the show's 75 non-striking staff members fired. The shows were not scripted and did not include monologues. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) was critical of Daly, accusing him of crossing picket lines and labeling him a scab. Daly is not a member of the WGA.^[2][3]

On November 27, 2007, he was accused by the WGA of soliciting jokes for his show through a telephone hotline.^[3][4]

On December 11, 2007, an organized group of WGA writers attended a taping of Last Call. First, one heckled during an interview with Jerry Rice. After security removed the first writer, another spoke up disruptively, expressing sympathy with striking writers. A producer asked anyone planning to disrupt the show to leave or face prosecution; between five and twenty left.^[5]

[edit] 2009

As the end of Late Night with Conan O'Brien was approaching, Daly made it public that he was interested in moving to the Late Night time slot.^[6]. Jimmy Fallon was chosen to replace O'Brien, a choice that executive producer Lorne Michaels had in mind dating back to the day that Fallon left Saturday Night Live in 2004.^[7]

In February 2009, network executive Rick Ludwin told TV Week that the company was currently "going through the budgetary process with all of our shows. There are new budgetary realities. … It’s tough. We want to keep [Carson] going as long as we can make the budget work."^[6] Soon after that interview, NBC announced plans for Last Call to go on a one week "tour" of California, with taped segments of up-and-coming musical acts at various clubs, such as The Roxy, The Viper Room, and Hotel Cafe.^[8] As the show's 1000th episode approached in April, NBC's summary of the show made it clear that the change in format would continue:^[9]

Currently in its eighth season, NBC's "Last Call with Carson Daly" utilizes a new style by introducing a documentary style format. Host Carson Daly gets out of the studio and takes the show on location each night. Recent highlights include Daly’s motorcycle trip across the historic Route 66, a visit to comedian Tom Green's house in the Hollywood Hills, and a scene at the Whiskey Bar with the Grammy Award-winning band Kings of Leon.

In May, NBC announced that Last Call had been renewed for a ninth season, which debuted on September 21, 2009.^[10]

[edit] See also

• New Year's Eve with Carson Daly

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Official website
• Last Call with Carson Daly at the Internet Movie Database

v • d • e Current late night comedy shows in the United States Broadcast networks ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live! CBS Late Show with David Letterman · The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson Fox The Wanda Sykes Show NBC The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien · Late Night with Jimmy Fallon · Last Call with Carson Daly · Saturday Night Live Cable networks BET The Mo'Nique Show · The Wendy Williams Show Comedy Central The Daily Show with Jon Stewart · The Colbert Report E! Chelsea Lately · The Soup Fox News Channel Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld G4 Web Soup HBO Real Time with Bill Maher Style The Dish TBS Lopez Tonight Versus Sports Soup WGN America The Bob & Tom Show