It's Just Not Funny
By Jim Bauer
@porwest (105485)
United States
July 28, 2025 7:32am CST
Late night talk shows aren't what they used to be. The charm of Carson, the clever edge of Letterman, even Leno's middle-of-the-road appeal—they've all given way to cold, bitter noise.
What passes for comedy now feels more like relentless mockery. Not satire. Not wit. Just mean-spirited jabs dressed up as punchlines.
Audiences tune in for escape, not a rerun of the day's outrage. Yet every monologue circles back to the same tired topic—Trump. Eight years of cheap shots, and it's grown stale.
It not funny. It's not fresh. It's just exhausting.
Networks are starting to catch on as viewers keep tuning out. It's not the format that's broken. It's the content. For a while the execs didn't mind. Ratings dipped, but the checks still cleared.
Beyond just the monologues, it's the guests too. Trump talk, wall-to-wall. The viewers didn't come for political rants. They came for stories, laughs and a break from the noise.
Plug your movie, share your Amsterdam mishap, tell us something else besides how much you hate Trump and think the country is in a freefall. Because not only is it not funny, but people are also starting to feel like it's not genuine either.
8 people like this
9 responses
@BarBaraPrz (50259)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
28 Jul
That's just your opinion... at least 250,000 people disagree.
3 people like this
@porwest (105485)
• United States
28 Jul
Either you are being sarcastic or you got your numbers wrong. lol. And by the way, these shows are on the chopping block, getting canceled, so...if people are watching, they wouldn't be firing the hosts. Colbert is gone, and I have heard Kimmel is next.
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (50259)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
28 Jul
@porwest So you haven't heard anything about the boxes of petitions being delivered to Paramount Headquarters?
1 person likes this
@porwest (105485)
• United States
28 Jul
@BarBaraPrz So what? What point does it prove? Okay, so 250,000 people say, "Hey, we want Colbert to stay." But there are 350 MILLION people in the country, and TV and media is a business. It doesn't matter that 250,000 people sign some piece of paper. It matters that tens of millions of people aren't watching the show(s). If the people were watching, the shows would not be getting canceled, and no one would feel the need to petition to keep them on the air.
3 people like this
@LindaOHio (198021)
• United States
29 Jul
I used to stay up at night to watch Carson and Letterman. Now I couldn't tell you who has a late night show. It's just not the same.
1 person likes this
@porwest (105485)
• United States
31 Jul
@LindaOHio Carson really was the "end of an era" for me. Fallon can be funny, but he's still no Carson.
1 person likes this
@LeaPea2417 (38234)
• Toccoa, Georgia
28 Jul
I agree. I never could watch that show.
1 person likes this
@LeaPea2417 (38234)
• Toccoa, Georgia
30 Jul
@porwest I agree. I liked Leno. I liked all three.
1 person likes this
@porwest (105485)
• United States
31 Jul
@LeaPea2417 I watched Leno sometimes, but when Carson was on, I was watching every night.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (125330)
• Gainesville, Florida
28 Jul
I know times change (sometimes for better, sometimes for worse), but I quit watching late night talk shows years ago. They've just become too political. Like you said, I don't want a rehash of all the garbage I'm fed throughout the day, I want to tune in for escapism for an hour or so and enjoy some laughs and humor. It's been a while since I've been able to laugh at anything on late night talk shows, and not necessarily because I'm a Trump fan.
1 person likes this
@porwest (105485)
• United States
28 Jul
It's gotten ridiculous and over the top. It's lost its "thoughtfulness" in the criticisms. People are tired of it and I think rightfully so. The sad part is that guys like Colbert won't realize they just weren't funny. They'll blame Trump and Trump supporters.
The bottom line is, they (the networks) gave you a job. They did that because you were funny and they had an audience who was seeking laughs. At some point you stopped being funny and the audience stopped laughing.
And this didn't just happen overnight. The ratings have been falling for years. But they still got their paychecks so they thought, "Well, I guess being funny really doesn't matter."
It does and...
It's as simple as that.
2 people like this
@porwest (105485)
• United States
28 Jul
BTW, I repeated my comment from my response to Looeyville because 1) I thought it was a good comment, 2) it fit your comment equally as it did hers and 3) I know she will delete it and...
I thought it was a good comment and I wanted to preserve it for posterity. 
1 person likes this
@Deepizzaguy (113124)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
30 Jul
The late Johnny Carson once said he tried to avoid discussing politics on his talk show since his audience wanted to be entertained.
1 person likes this
@Deepizzaguy (113124)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
6 Aug
@porwest That is what many vloggers are saying that the host trashing Trump is boring.
1 person likes this
@porwest (105485)
• United States
7 Aug
@Deepizzaguy There's just so much else to talk about, for one, and when the focus is so heavy on one person, leaving all the rest untouched, it also feels more like unhinged bullying than joke telling or serious commentary.
1 person likes this
@porwest (105485)
• United States
6 Aug
Like most things, there's a time and a place. These shows aren't it. People watched late night shows because they wanted to know their celebrities better and what they were up to. If all they do is sit around and talk about how much Trump sucks...
That's just boring.
1 person likes this
@Ineeddentures (13316)
•
28 Jul
Oh now
Amsterdam mishap
We have had a couple of those right enough
1 person likes this
@porwest (105485)
• United States
30 Jul
@Ineeddentures I often wondered if the girls were kept up, there.
1 person likes this
@Ineeddentures (13316)
•
28 Jul
@porwest
The Red Light District is a complete waste of time.
You wouldn't spend your money on some of the sights we saw in the windows
But the nightclubs, Rembrandt Square on a Saturday night, that's where it's at
And of course the coffee shops
1 person likes this
@Jenaisle (16213)
• Philippines
28 Jul
Well said. Late night used to feel like a fun escape. Now it often feels like another news segment with a laugh track. Carson and Letterman balanced smart humor with warmth, and that balance is missing today.
The constant political rants, especially about Trump, feel repetitive and forced. People are craving stories, real moments, and a break from the noise, not just recycled outrage. Hopefully, networks realize it's not comedy that’s failing, it’s the tone that’s lost its way.
1 person likes this
@JESSY3236 (20889)
• United States
29 Jul
My mother loves listening to Colbert and Stewart.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (47348)
• Staten Island, New York
28 Jul
I don’t really watch these shows but was that also the case during Biden or Obama?
Wondering why Colbert’s show was actually cancelled? Did it have anything to do with them paying out millions after Trump sued them, even though they claim otherwise?
I also hate it when celebs get political during their acceptance speeches at awards shows. That’s not what these awards shows are about.
1 person likes this
