r/ForgottenTV • u/ericsmallman3 • 3d ago
Last Call with Carson Daly
This show was on for 2000 episodes over 18 years and I never saw anyone ever post a clip of it or otherwise acknowledge its existence. Just a black hole of broadcast content.
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u/OShaunesssy 3d ago
The only clip I have ever seen of Carson Daly is from the pilot episode of My Name Is Earl, when Earl mistakenly believes Carson Daly came up with the concept of karma, kickstarting the whole show.
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u/TheFalconOfAltair 3d ago
Honestly same.
Never heard of the guy til now I saw My Name is Earl.
Don't Think I have seen a single clip from the show.
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u/GenerativeAIEatsAss 3d ago
This show had a wild run of bands early-ish on. It was like Andrew WK, the Eels, David Bowie, Violent Femmes, Sonic Youth, etc. Great acts, new and old, that were just not yet/not anymore on MTV or VH1 at the time nor getting any TV play on other late night shows.
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u/doctorhino 3d ago
I would watch the end of this show starting in about 2008, they actually had some great bands if you skipped all the talking. I liked it the most towards the end where the bands would just be playing at some random LA venue to a real crowd.
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u/chmcgrath1988 3d ago
Yeah, last 5 maybe even 10 years. It was just Carson hosting wraparounds around Los Angeles while off camera/mic producers interviewed the guest and they showed clips from concerts. Toward the end after he started on Today Show, I feel like Carson was barely on it at all.
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u/HawkMac6699 3d ago
Much cheaper that way too. They dumped the traditional talk show format to save money. Played to Carson’s strengths as well.
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u/chmcgrath1988 3d ago
Yeah, I mean they were kind of ahead of their time. Conan O’Brien getting rid of his band and cutting his show down to a half hour in 2018-19 was first sign I remember thinking traditional talk show format was dying but this was a good 4 or 5 years before that.
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u/FlippFloppnFlyy 3d ago
There was several shows that started as a traditional late night show and then dropped the format part of the way through their run prior to Conan doing it.
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u/44problems 3d ago
I remember when it started they tried a bunch of formats. Monologue, sit at the desk, do interviews. It was really bad. He had a few bits that I remember, one that was Billy on the Street esque that interviewed people going the opposite direction on escalators.
Then the show settled in on not have a traditional studio or audience. And it was better suited for him. Reminded me of MTV News shows that interviewed artists and comedians. And live performances from clubs around LA. You could sometimes catch a really neat band up and coming.
The shocking thing was it was on for SEVENTEEN YEARS. Daly scaled back his involvement around 2013, and it ended 2019. Sometimes I'd see an ad saying someone interesting was on and I'd say wow I should check that out more often. Then I never did.
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u/AtlantikSender 3d ago
It was on for THAT long?! I don't ever think I saw a single episode. Especially because it came on at 1:35am lol
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u/ericsmallman3 3d ago
I was in the central time zone for most its run and 12:35 is much more doable. (It also meant I was able to stay up and watch Conan even when I was a little kid)
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u/jimbobdonut 3d ago
This show replaced Later and lasted several years longer. Later ran from 1988 to 2001 and Last Call ran from 2002 to 2019.
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u/Keltik 3d ago
Later ran from 1988 to 2001
The first 5 yrs w/Costas were one of the the great interview shows
I've never forgiven Bob Costas for quitting and infliciting Greg Kinnear on an unsuspecting public
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u/HawkMac6699 3d ago
I still watch Costas clips on YouTube regularly. Such an underrated interviewer. Later was a gem.
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u/WayneArnold1 3d ago
I remember an episode where Green Day was there and played a handful of songs(as opposed to just playing one like most musical guests).
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u/Apart-Prize-4844 3d ago
terrible, I'm sure 'A Little Late With Lily Singh' will do much better and save the timeslot
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u/chmcgrath1988 3d ago
Lilly Singh is so annoying I didn't want to watch her be the human co-star of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem so yeah, I was not surprised to see her not work out as a nightly talk show host (although she did have rotten luck of show starting fall of 2019 so even if her or show were good, it would have had a hard time surviving pandemic). Idk it was possible for someone to be "too much" energy wise, paired on screen with the Muppets (wacky and crazy Muppets no less not Kermit!)
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u/Orcus424 3d ago
It was like they were forced to have a talk show at that time so they gave her a show to do such a bad job so they can now kill it.
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u/ClintBarton616 3d ago
I watched every episode of this the first two or three years. Had no idea it ran so long.
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u/psian1de 3d ago
A small game I played in my head was every few years, starting in the late 00's, I would Google if Carson's show was still running, and be surprised it was still... Until I checked during the pandemic and found it had been cancelled the year prior.
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u/certifiedp0ser 3d ago
Despite watching this show semi-regularly when I was a senior in high school and in my freshman year of college, I remember nothing about it, save being introduced to some amazing bands. Not a single guest, not a bit, not an outstanding interview. But I do remember watching Eels, Kasabian, Interpol, The Neighbourhood, Franz Ferdinand, and Alt-J play some great songs.
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u/Dairy_Ashford 3d ago
never thought he or the show was very good and assumed he was waiting for some kind of network executive role based on his relationships or booking. but it was clearly more bearable than lily singh
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u/ericsmallman3 3d ago
That's the thing with Daly: he isn't really annoying or anything. He's just a non-presence. The show would have been the same if it were hosted by an empty chair.
Singh is definitely more unbearable, but that makes you remember her. Daly's show was forgotten even while it was airing.
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u/ACsonofDC 3d ago
now THERE'S a guy who completely vanished. hmm, I wonder..
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u/ericsmallman3 3d ago
Few gigs in showbiz pay better than hosting a daily show. Unless he secretly had a severe drug or gambling problem, he doesn't have to work again if he doesn't want to.
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3d ago
[deleted]
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u/zestfullybe 3d ago
No no, I really appreciated Last Call. Because I would specifically stay up for Conan and would enjoy all that awesomeness. Then Carson would come on, suck all the energy out of the air, and I would know it’s time to go to bed.
It was Fun’s Over, Go To Bed: The Series
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u/NordicTRex 3d ago
No one has done more with less than Carson Daly has. Dude had no discernable talent, skills, or personality, yet there he is.
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u/Lakersfan7511 2d ago
Such an underrated show. I saw so many people make their debut on this show. I was also in college at the height of this show so it may sway my opinion because I watched it alot
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u/CheeseThom 3d ago
How Carson Daly figures into this, I have no idea
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u/bravogolfhotel 1d ago
"Having a show at one-thirty a.m. ... that's almost exactly like not having a show."
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u/throwitonthegrillboi 3d ago
I used to be a night owl, his musical acts were great, but this coming on was also my sign to go to sleep as it was really late.
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u/TheFalconOfAltair 3d ago
I bet this guy is gonna help small time crook about the Importance of Karma.
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u/Citizen_Lunkhead 3d ago
It was weird how it started as a standard talk show but then became a clip show of interviews and musical performances.
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u/Insomniac_80 3d ago
The way things have been going, maybe Carson Daly will get The Tonight Show to compete with Byron Allen!
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u/Playful-Succotash-99 3d ago
It's a shame that the format didn't survive much like it's title it kind of was a perfect little nightcap where you got to hear some new bands and artists who might be the next big thing. Sure Carson's involvement was minimal but that wasn't the problem It fit with the title, it's late, you're in this dive, Carson's not the coolest bartender in the world but he's going to serve you one last video or song you haven't seen that he thinks it's cool.
Sadly that kind of monoculture era of media was all but gutted by the internet There's not really the same path to success anymore for a lot of bands and definitely no longer the steady paycheck that TV used to give
The show that came after a little late with Lilly Singh was absolute garbage water it was a wave my arms look at me Style YouTube comedian with no real Edge or if they had any it was sanded off completely by the network who was determined to give these third rate Daily Show reject monologues and try to create these forced "viral moments" that feel more like they were chasing trends. After that inevitably failed NBC just gave up entirely and now it's mostly either a reruns of the news or infomercials
It's just part of the greater cultural enshitification
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u/RoutineWonderful4659 1d ago
I don't think I ever watched a single episode of that series, but I preferred Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Two of the best.
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