I'll wipe your scores clean, wipe, wipe, wipe

July 19, 2017 8:12 AM

The great late-night show, @midnight, will air its last (and 600th) show August 4. No more "Points!," no more Hashtag Wars, no more providing a platform for mostly new and lesser-known standup comedians.
posted by anothermug (24 comments total)

McElroy brothers are getting in just under the wire!
posted by saladin at 8:25 AM on July 19, 2017 [13 favorites]

Poor Griffin. Now he owes 10 million dollars.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 8:40 AM on July 19, 2017 [8 favorites]

I stopped watching it when CC began geoblocking full episodes of their late night block, and while The Nightly and TDS could be watched with individual clips, @Midnight couldn't - didn't help that their clips were less than two minutes with a 30 second ad-break between.
I kinda miss it. It was a great showcase of their talent, and even if the quality depended a lot on the guests, a good panel usually turned out fantastic episodes.
posted by lmfsilva at 8:40 AM on July 19, 2017 [1 favorite]

I stopped watching when it was removed from Hulu. I miss it.
posted by elsietheeel at 8:47 AM on July 19, 2017 [3 favorites]

More than anything, I think I'll miss its regular showcasing of the sublime wit and wisdom of real American hero Ron Funches.
posted by Strange Interlude at 9:03 AM on July 19, 2017 [30 favorites]

no more providing a platform for mostly new and lesser-known standup comedians.

I have bought a baker's dozen (I just counted) comedy albums from people based solely on @midnight appearances, and follow a good two or three dozen more on FB/Twitter/wherever, and have gone to several live shows. It's the nearest thing to the old days when Carson could jumpstart a standup's career.
posted by Etrigan at 9:07 AM on July 19, 2017 [8 favorites]

I'd been seeing Chris pop up in more and more places, and was wondering whether @midnight would be affected. Didn't realize it would end so soon. Lot of comedians I never would have come across otherwise.
posted by Lykosidae at 9:11 AM on July 19, 2017

Man, @midnight seemed like the television outpost of the MaxFun podcast network, there was so much overlap. Even having never watched it, it'll be weird to have it no longer be there as something comedians can plug or talk about. I guess there's always Seeso?
posted by midmarch snowman at 9:14 AM on July 19, 2017 [2 favorites]

Does anyone sell T-shirts that say "Veteran of the Hashtag Wars"? That just occurred to me yesterday (watching Kristin Chenowith(!?) win last night's episode) and I'm shocked I can't find it online.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 10:00 AM on July 19, 2017

The closest thing the US has ever had to a UK-style comic panel show, and I'm sorry to see it go. Was one of the most entertaining half hours on television, IMO.
posted by hippybear at 10:23 AM on July 19, 2017 [4 favorites]

I really liked it when it began, but after a while my threshold for dick and fart jokes got topped out. I started making a point of turning off the show when the first blue joke was dropped, which seemed to slowly creep earlier and earlier into the show. Once they crawled into the monologue, I just stopped watching. I have tried to pick it up a few times, but the things that made me turn it off in the first place were still there. I will probably tune in for the last few episodes to close out the show.

That said, I did discover a lot of comics because of the show that I still follow.

I have been following Chris (plus Jonah and Matt) since early in the Nerdist podcast days, and it is great to see their careers succeed. It is also a little sad because they have had put aside some things that made me fans in the first place.
posted by Badgermann at 11:03 AM on July 19, 2017 [1 favorite]

While @midnight in its current incarnation is over, I hear that there has been talk about taking another look at the concept in the fall and exploring possibilities for reformatting it.

I really hope they delve into this further. @midnight got me into US comedy after years of being a UK comedy fan (which was aided by my love of panel shows).

Now that the Meltdown TV show is gone and @midnight is leaving (and I live in a comedy wasteland) I will have to actually work to find new comedians. Working, bah!

(SeeSo needs to step up. Gimme more Night Train with Wyatt Cenac!)
posted by elsietheeel at 11:25 AM on July 19, 2017

I will have to actually work to find new comedians.

Subscribe to any comedian's podcast, and all of the other ones will eventually cycle through.

Except Matt Braunger's. Geez, have a guest some time.
posted by Etrigan at 11:41 AM on July 19, 2017 [2 favorites]

That's a bummer. I really like this show though I do agree with Badgermann about it being occasionally a parade of dick jokes which is pretty lazy and tiring. The comedians are usually quite good, but when there is a non-comedian on like the Mother's Day show or 3 actors from a movie I really like it. Watching people whose job isn't necessarily riffing play hashtag wars can be pretty entertaining and surprising.

Here's the time I was on the show with Matt, Jonah, and a very blurry Doug Benson. OK, it's actually from a live show years before @midnight started, but it really is me and regulars from @midnight. Jonah looks really excited to be there. As a bonus, I must have won because I am standing in a crazy bright light. No Red Light for me.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 11:48 AM on July 19, 2017 [4 favorites]

I am new to listening to podcasts, so I'm still catching up on old content from my current favorite comedians. Also I've got auditory processing issues so I really prefer to watch someone if I can. But otherwise that's an excellent suggestion.
posted by elsietheeel at 11:49 AM on July 19, 2017

Does anyone sell T-shirts that say "Veteran of the Hashtag Wars"?

How about an Audio Quiz t-shirt with a sound chip: [smoky female voice] "AUDIO QUIZ"
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:53 AM on July 19, 2017 [1 favorite]

More than anything, I think I'll miss its regular showcasing of the sublime wit and wisdom of real American hero Ron Funches.

I would pay an extra share of rent if Ron Funches would just live in my apartment and hang out on my sofa watching TV with me.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 12:05 PM on July 19, 2017 [3 favorites]

I would pay an extra share of rent if Ron Funches would just live in my apartment and hang out on my sofa watching TV with me.

Everything would immediately be ten times funnier because of his delightful giggle.
posted by elsietheeel at 12:28 PM on July 19, 2017 [4 favorites]

oh but good news folks it's being replaced by a show hosted by a white guy who came up through UCB that's new and exciting
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 12:42 PM on July 19, 2017 [2 favorites]

Seeso looks like it's probably on its way out as well, unfortunately. They've already sold Harmontown and MBMBAM to another network, their main dude left a while back, etc.
posted by kmz at 12:50 PM on July 19, 2017

Nooooooo what will I do without Take My Wife?
posted by elsietheeel at 12:53 PM on July 19, 2017 [4 favorites]

More on SeeSo probably being GoneZo soon.

Nooooooo what will I do without Take My Wife?

Take My Wife was probably their biggest success and will likely find a home elsewhere, if MBMBAM and HarmonQuest already have.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 1:13 PM on July 19, 2017 [2 favorites]

I don't mind Jordan Klepper, but he's just so white, which I guess is a staple on TDS, and the multiple times he's played the "white guy" role worked so well that I had to remind myself that it's a bit and he's probably not really like that. Hardwick, whose nerdy sensibilities made him seem much less "white" by comparison, being replaced by Klepper feels like a loss, but I do have some hope; Klepper's comedic chops is pretty amazing, especially during the election conventions where they went there for interviews.

TDS is slowly replacing Klepper with someone whose latest clip revolves around the fact that he looks like Don Jr, so I guess we're not seeing another female correspondent of color anytime soon.

Sigh, I'm gonna miss the nerdiness and the unknown comedians getting their shot.
posted by numaner at 2:27 PM on July 19, 2017 [1 favorite]

oh but good news folks it's being replaced by a show hosted by a white guy who came up through UCB that's new and exciting

Okay, that is exactly why I never watched the show! I mean I am definitely a "comedy nerd" but I was so sad to see Larry Wilmore go I was just like "I'm not watching this boilerplate white dude" and the clips did not seem interesting to me. I guess now that it is going off the air I am learning I probably would have liked it. Oops!
posted by Emmy Rae at 8:09 PM on July 19, 2017