Last Call with Carson Daly
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| Last Call with Carson Daly | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Talk show, Variety show |
| Starring | Carson Daly |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes per episode |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Original run | January, 2002 – present |
| Links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
Last Call with Carson Daly is a late night NBC talk show, hosted by former MTV VJ Carson Daly.
Last Call, originally called Later debuted in January 2002, and transitioned from four nights per week to its current five nights per week schedule (after the cancellation of previous Friday night timeslot holder Late Friday) in the summer of that year. In both 2003 and 2004 it was nominated for a Teen Choice Award for "Choice TV Show - Late Night".
Tapings last anywhere from 1.5 to 2 hours. Last Call appeals more to a younger audience than most other late night talk shows.
Previously, the time-slot was filled by Later with Bob Costas (1988-1994), Later with Greg Kinnear (1994-1996), Later (1996-2000), and SCTV reruns (2000-2002). The 1996-2000 run featured a 'guest host of the week' format for two years before Cynthia Garrett became the permanent host from 1998-2000. The show aired Monday-Thursday through these years due to Friday Night Videos/Friday Night holding the after-Late Night slot on Friday nights.
Last Call was originally taped in Studio 8H of NBC's headquarters. This required the producers to work around the schedule of the facility's main tenant, Saturday Night Live. The show relocated from New York to Los Angeles in September 2005.
Like Conan O'Brien's ending phrase "Stay tuned for Last Call with Carson Daly," Carson Daly's ending phrase is "go get some sleep" (Due to the fact that the show ends at 2 a.m Eastern Time).
Last Call with Carson Daly is a half-hour show, unlike the other late night talk shows (Leno, Letterman, O'Brien, Kimmel, Ferguson) which are all one hour. As a result of Last Call 's shortened time, Daly dispenses little or no monologue and very few jokes, usually beginning the show with his first guest. However, because Daly is not a comedian, the lack of humor is justified.
The most infamous moment on the show was when magician David Blaine "pulled" his heart out and fainted. While it was a staged performance, it nevertheless shocked the studio audience as well as viewers at home.
Last Call has a house band, Joe Firstman. Joe Firstman plays the role of a usual talk show house band (like Max Weinberg and The Max Weinberg 7 of Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Kevin Eubanks and the Tonight Show Band of the The Tonight Show with Jay Leno or Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra of Late Show with David Letterman), intermittently conversing with Carson and even occasionally bouncing back some jokes. Firstman has occasionally pulled double duty as both house band and musical guest when the show cannot book performances, due in large part to "Last Call"'s low viewership, budget constraints, and general appeal to mainstream performers.
[edit] 2009
Jay Leno, host of The Tonight Show, announced that in 2009 he will retire and step down from his hosting duties of the Tonight Show, since he hosted since 1992 taking over the late, retired Johnny Carson who hosted Tonight for 30 years. NBC promised The Tonight Show to Conan O'Brien, current host of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Carson Daly has said he wanted Late Night following Conan's move to The Tonight Show.
[edit] Trivia
- Within the storyline of NBC sitcom My Name Is Earl, Carson Daly provided the impetus for the show's ongoing plotline.
[edit] External links
- NBC's official Last Call Web site
- Last Call with Carson Daly at the Internet Movie Database
- Joe Firstman's Official Website
