NGAI: Women Denied the Chance to Stay Up Late

Back in high school when I had a cable subscription, I would watch late night shows almost nightly. In particular, I watched a lot of Conan O’Brien because I enjoyed his sense of humor and that crazy ginger hair of his. Sometimes, I watched David Letterman or Jay Leno, and if it were getting way past my bedtime, I’d put on Craig Ferguson.

The trend here is not only are they all white, but they’re also all male. The only time I ever saw women on popular late night television was either on Mad TV or on Saturday Night Live. Never once had I seen a lady host a famous late night show.

Some may argue that Chelsea Handler had a successful late night show on E!, but here’s the thing, Handler is the exception, not the rule. The rule is that late night television is a boy’s club, and even in recent years, with six shows changing hands, none of the new hosts have been women.

In the past years, we’ve seen Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, James Corden and Jon Stewart take on popular shows. When they stepped up for the spot or when they stepped down (in the case of Colbert and Stewart), no woman ever seemed to be the option as a replacement.

The newest member being added to this list is Trevor Noah. Yes, I’m highly aware that he will be one of the first African Americans — besides Larry Wilmore to take over Colbert’s show — to host a late night show, which is, in its own way, a monumental moment.

In no ways do I think that Noah is not qualified for the job, and in fact, I look forward to seeing what he’ll bring to the table in hopes that it will be a new and refreshing outlook.

Michele Ganeless, Comedy Central president, told The New York Times, “You don’t hope to find the next Jon Stewart — there is no next Jon Stewart. So, our goal was to find someone who brings something really exciting and new and different.”

When questioned as to why a woman wasn’t chosen, Ganeless said they interviewed women, but Noah was the best for the job. Sure, Noah could have honestly been the best for the job, but is it because he’s a man?

What I do have a problem with is that women are not being hired to take these late night jobs that have so long been dominated (and continue to be) by men. The first and last time a woman ever was on a broadcast network for late night was Joan Rivers in 1986.

Eight months later, her show was canceled. Since then, there hasn’t been another. Instead, women are given endless shows during daytime television and are supposed to be happy with what they get.

If Ganeless’ goal was to really find something exciting, new and different, why didn’t she find a woman? Now that would have been something no one would have expected, which, when you come to think of it, is really sad.

It’s sad to think that if a woman were to host a late night show on a broadcast network in 2015, it would be considered revolutionary.

I’m coming to see that major networks aren’t hiring women not because they aren’t “the best for the job” or because they think women aren’t funny.

I think these major networks aren’t hiring women to fill these big spots because they think women cannot succeed in this market. They think that the audience doesn’t want to see a woman be in that position of power. They think that women will be too highly criticized for their work.

This all can and sometimes is true. But, if no network will take the leap and try again, women will continue to only represent the daytime television and behind-the-scenes writers.

Even as behind-the-scenes writers, women are deeply unrepresented with no major late night show having an equal number of women and men writing together. Usually, women are in the minority, while men dominate the writing room.

Here’s the thing, these television networks keep giving men the chance to fail. Yes, they’ve hired hilarious male comedians to take over, but that doesn’t mean they will succeed or pull in the ratings needed.

Most of these late night hosts were just stand-up acts before and never proved that they could incorporate comedy and interviewing successfully into one package. Why aren’t women being given this same chance to see whether they will fail or rise to victory?

Women deserve to be the face of late night or at least be given the chance. It’s time to put to rest this boys club and make it one that is inclusive of women. Now that would be some refreshing television to watch.