This blog was originally published on elkharttruth.com on May 4, 2014.
Jimmy Fallon. Seth Meyers. Jimmy Kimmel. Conan O’Brien. Chelsea Handler.
All of these people are late-night talk show hosts.
Anyone else notice they are all men, except for Handler? And her late-night show isn’t even on a big network. It’s on E! And it’s only half an hour.
On April 3, David Letterman (who, in case you didn’t know, is a Ball State alumnus) announced he would retire from the late-night talk show circuit in 2015.
On April 10, it was announced that Stephen Colbert would replace Letterman.
Really? Why?
I personally find Colbert a bit intolerable. I don’t enjoy his show, and it really annoys me when people call it a news show. It’s news satire.
And what about Craig Ferguson? You would think the person who has a talk show after Letterman’s would be next in line.
To me, it wasn’t a surprise when Ferguson announced his departure from CBS on April 28.
And what about women in late night?
There are plenty of women in the talk show world. But most are featured during the day, and many of them are in groups (Ex: The View, The Talk).
A woman could easily hold her own on a talk show. Rachael Ray does it. Ellen DeGeneres does it. Handler does it.
And, in case anyone forgot, Oprah did it with flair. Her show had heart, but it tackled tough issues, too.
Woman like talking, so what’s holding major networks from throwing a woman in the late-night ring? Is it too risky?
If it is, it’s 2014, so get over it.
According to news reports, Ferguson’s departure had been in the works for some time. But since he doesn’t step down till December, I say it’s time to give a woman a chance.