Theo Von / YouTube
Vince Vaughn, one of the biggest stars of his generation in Hollywood, was a guest on Theo Von‘s show this week. Vaughn’s appearance came ahead of his new movie Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice premiering on Hulu on 3/27 but it wasn’t their discussion about the movie that is getting the most coverage, it is how they discussed the downfall of late night TV.
In the past year, ABC censured Jimmy Kimmel and put him in public timeout for a brief stint after speaking out about President Trump. CBS is dropping Stephen Colbert and ending the iconic Late Show. Stephen’s fine though, he is now pursuing his true passion: Lord of the Rings. And will be writing the next film’s script.
Then there’s Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, the latter I think deserves a lot more cred as a late night TV host and the former is a genuinely nice dude who I met on the street in midtown 2 years ago with my son and he stopped to joke with him before heading off to NBC. A great moment for young son then, meeting his first celebrity… All that is to say, late night TV is not thriving like it once was. Personally, I think it’s because Conan O’Brien isn’t hosting a late night show anymore but let’s get back to Vince Vaughn, Theo Von, and their discussion on the downfall of late night TV.
Vince Vaughn And Theo Von on Late Night TV: ‘It Felt Like They Had An Agenda’
The portion where they discuss late night TV kicks off with Theo Von saying “a lot of the late shows have struggled” to which Vince Vaughn perks up and nods along with “oh, bro…”
The video clip is below, but here is the back and forth for the people who prefer to read versus watch:
Theo Von: “Because, the only person they could make fun of at a certain point was just like white redneck kind of people. And it f—— tanked…”
Vince Vaughn: “I think that the talk shows, to a large part, became really agenda-based. They were gonna evangelize people to what they thought.. It felt like they had an agenda. It stopped being funny, and it started feeling like I was in a f—— class I didn’t want to take. They all became the same show. And they all became so about their politics and who’s good and who’s bad. Imagine sitting next to someone like that on a f—— plane. You’d be like, how do I get out of this f——- seat?”
Theo Von: “I would FART right next to them.”
Vince Vaughn: “You’d fart your way out of it?”
Theo Von: “Yeah, I would. I would for sure.”
All of what they are saying is valid but like anything online it is worth considering the source. Vince Vaughn is a self-described Libertarian and outspoken Conservative which is somewhat of a rarity in Hollywood. With his Libertarian identity, it 100% makes sense that he would not want to see a talking head on TV discussing policy of any sort, whether he agrees with it or not.
Theo Von is a self-described Libertarian as well. So their perspectives on the downfall of Late Night TV make perfect sense through that lens.
The flip side is, when the message being shared by a talking head is one that you agree with or identify with you are rarely bothered by it. Only when the message conflicts with one’s worldview does that person speak out about how something is ‘too political.’
We’ve all had this conversation with people at some point in the past decade. Someone will say something to the effect of ‘oh, I hear XYZ is really political’ and that signifies not that the entity itself is overtly political but that the person sharing this message does not agree with the politics of that institution.
I’m speaking about generalities here, of course. This is not always the case. But more often than not if someone is claiming something to be ‘too political’ it is an indictment of the politics and not the degree to which the politics are present.
Has Late Night TV Changed? Has It Always Been Political?
I won’t dispute or deny that late night TV shows seem more political in the modern era than in decades past. But is that the reality of things?
Johnny Carson was overtly political in his time. He would rip into Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, and Richard Nixon equally. But instead of attacking administration’s policies he tended to target the presidents themselves and their idiosyncrasies. And for what it’s worth, Johnny Carson mocked President Trump decades before Trump had political ambitions. People just didn’t care as much back then and a joke about Trump didn’t offend every fiber of someone’s being.
The same can be said for Jay Leno. He cracked jokes about every president and other politicians but he kept it more about the individuals and rarely veered into jokes about policies.
Modern identity politics makes this considerably more difficult for late night TV hosts. Cracking jokes about any politician seems to offend that entire party’s constituency. It is almost as of jokes about the politician are internalized as jokes about them, because so many people identify so closely with party politics in the modern era. Well, this is true at least with the people who are most outspoken against and offended by late night TV political jokes.
Vince Vaughn’s new movie, Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, premieres on Hulu this Friday 3/27. It co-stars James Marsden, Eliza González, and Jimmy Tatro. The tagline is “two friends navigate the dangerous world of organized crime, testing their loyalty and survival skills as they get deeper into the criminal underworld.” Check it out this weekend if you are looking for something to watch!