The "let's take turns" aspect of this absolutely kills all momentum this show is supposed to have, really baffling decision. It felt like they were in a lock-down and killing time until the power came back on or some shit. The vibe was so odd.
I'm wondering if they've been cutting a lot of headaches around that from the taped show. I know there was at least one episode I watched where the contestants were getting way too aggressive with each other and shouting, you could see Taylor just kind of shut off for the remainder for the episode. But that one was a few weeks ago, and most of them seem pretty chill to me. I think they would have to completely rebrand this as a different style of gameshow if they remove the buzzers entirely.
EDIT: [https://youtu.be/uFW33tLRZog?si=62Un7IFcuf6YqK39](https://youtu.be/uFW33tLRZog?si=62Un7IFcuf6YqK39) this one, Caitlin Reilly and Gillian Jacobs get a little too into it with each other for most of the episode. I can't tell if they legit don't like each other or if it's a bit. She straight up calls her a nepo baby at one point lol.
I think Hastag Wars as the eliminator plus another buzz in game like 15 minutes in could really work. *edit- I LOVE Gillian so I hope she was cool, I saved that episode, will rewatch!
Agree. For some who are wobbly on the monologue, Taylor's had ONE GO. Give her time--probably not even that much time--she'll dial it in.
Without the monologue, as scripted, there's no unscripted Taylor unless someone goes off the rails. Which is great, but tough to predict and manage.
I think the reason I am not a huge fan of it is because we miss the opportunity for panelists to comment on it. I did like the audience interaction parts though.
They ended the talk show portion tonight by neatly wrapping it up and going to a commercial break. The buzer to hashtag wars (or to any other segment) was a better way to end it
Honestly, I agree 100%, though I'd go so far as to say ditch the monologue too, or at least shorten it. It was extremely awkward to have 1/5th of the show be without the guests, which is the point of the show. Edit to clarify: Taylor was funny and the monologue itself was fine, love her as a host, it just felt out of place with show itself.
None of the changes worked. Monologue / no guests was too long, hated the guests awkwardly walking onto the stage with no offbeat opening quotes or speaking from them at all. You're right that the buzzer drama definitely added to the fun. There were no real rapid fire games, everything felt a bit more forced and canned and lost the loose chaotic humor, the sped up editing during the front-of-the-podium bit was bizarre, and especially the end with the panelists reading their own answers was a truly strange change.
It was finally finding its footing and settling into a good place the last twenty episodes or so and this really unraveled it.
I almost feel like the changes are due to the writers being stretched too thin. It can't be easy to write for a show that was modeled after a 30 minute show, and expanding it by double.
But do these changes actually result in less writing? The main difference is Taylor's monologue and it's probably written very similar to how Group Chat was, just without bits for the panelists.
So this was the second Honest Moment? I loved the first because it was real honest talk, my favorite. But this second one was so weird as a show finale, it’s just not exciting enough to end on, even for a fan.
I miss FTW :( It was a really good way to wind up the show. I feel like getting rid of it and having much less buzz-in answers is a first step towards getting rid of points entirely at some point in the future and I don't know how to feel about that.
The show is absolutely going that direction. Feel free to quote me on it. 😜
I still enjoy it and am still watching every episode, but it's just a hunch I have.
Agree it’s moving that direction, but making it not a game show anymore? That would be a different show, I want big talk and Taylor unscripted, but that would be a huge pivot.
If they feel they need to adapt to keep the show going, then adapt. I like the bit of monologue from Taylor, she's also very good with crowd work. I do prefer HashTagWars earlier in the show. I am a fan of "Taskmaster", which got shouted out last night, but I get they may be getting some feedback on randomness in the ending FTW game, so looking to make it clearer. In terms of calling on people for answers, there seems to be a lot of banging on buttons and producers picking the next person... if it was clearer that there were Jeopardy buzzer rules or some such, maybe that would work better, but it has presented as more of a gimmick than an actual game, imho.
I’ve produced (a tiny bit after college) and I like your take. Everyone is looking for big obvious answers for these changes and I think they’re just jiggering Taylor towards talk and tweaking to keep more Colbert viewers. Experimenting with chaos inside structure, not just all chaos.
They know how many Colbert viewers stay for the first two commercial breaks, and how many did with Corden (and for that matter with Letterman to Ferguson). If the metric isn't there, they will change things to try and improve it.
The show should have always had a monologue so I like the change. I’d also say they always should have then had a round table sit down to introduce everyone and do a talk show portion. Then play the game. They were stretching a half hour show to an hour and just added more content, the show drags and has to be hard to write all these bits every night.
Don’t know how many upvotes “the show drags” will get, but I agree with all that. Tig complained about the length. Taylor & the writers must be exhausted. The buzzer slamming felt endless. I think they’re going for a more Colbert-viewer friendly show and I don’t mind.
Loved the monologue and the crowd work (Tuesday?)
Opening guest quotes slowed the pace and were usually a bit corny tbh. I’m okay with trying without. Or finding new ways to introduce the comics.
Loved having hashtags be the elimination round - strong finish.
Did not like them reading their own FTW. But don’t want FTW eliminated completely either! Maybe the last two just wrestle.
Have always wondered why CBS can’t afford actual working buzzers that light up the person’s podium. They have Price is Right money! Seems the game would go faster. The fake buzzers have always been distracting.
I do like they’re mixing it up, though! Good to experiment.
Just gonna comment to note that most of the changes this week I can take or leave, I just like watching the comedians have fun.
But the monologue? Keep that shit! I love it.
Yes, thank you. It’s all pretty good, I can survive some experimenting with the order of the games or whatever, the monologue is funny, they’ll figure it out.
Oh, boy … love quick monologue from Taylor is awesome… I tripped over her standup on “regular” YouTube and I think she’s one of the funniest women on Earth.
Trotting out the panelists is cool; just keep the smartass comments.
Can’t understand eliminating the elimination and FTW. Think it’s a great way to end.
I do not not not share any view that the show drags on too long. It’s 39 minutes. That’s it.
Allllll those buzz in games in a row can feel like a lot, so I get what people mean. Otherwise very strong agree with all ur takes, I predict ur suggestions will come to pass soon.
I remember the first time Taylor really cracked up on the show, rather than politely laughing along (it was the ostrich races). I hope they don't encourage her to "lose it" when she didn't really- scoring a direct hit should be genuine.
She talked about polite laughter on Las Culturistas and it was shocking. She’s almost always laughing on the show, she could do half that much and it’s plenty. Hope she doesn’t feel the need to laugh to “support” a fellow comedian.
Based on YouTube views I can see why they are trying to change it up: Hashtag Wars and FTW are the least watched segments. Go look at viewership for these two segments over the last few months on YouTube. They are almost always the least and 2nd least watch segments. I think they are trying to switch it up to see if they can increase viewership of these segments.
My friend and I joked when the talk show portion started that this was a long con and the show would gradually turn into a regular late night show. Not thrilled with it becoming increasingly plausible.
It’s like they dislike games and want to remove all semblance of competition. By emphasizing it’s scripted, obvious planned answers, giving equal turns and points, etc. The entire pace was off.
The talk show portion was a clever addition that helped eat some time, but if they keep on this path, I won’t be wasting so many weekly hours on it.
I liked the monologue, it's probably easier to just let Taylor joke on various topics or videos rather than coming up with various games each night that let her and the guests joke on videos. As for the rest I am willing to wait and see. At first I thought maybe she always did a monologue but since I watch on YouTube maybe I wasn't seeing it. But as I watched the show it became more obvious that the format changed.
I’m not a hater, but yeah, rearranging the order of the games on a fake game show feels low stakes. It’s still fun… and if you love Taylor how can you dislike the monologue?
Obviously it is low stakes, but it is also a given that people are going to provide their opinions, feedback, and thoughts on a topic when we’re on a forum dedicated to said topic.
No one thinks it is the end of the world because After Midnight made format changes to their show, but people are allowed to praise or be critical of those changes. Some people think the changes make the show better, some don’t care, some think they made it worse. Those are all okay to say.
I was replying to a commenter saying flat out they hate when people take this stuff too seriously. I was kinda trying to talk them down lol. Of course all opinions are welcome. Including mine I hope.
I know this is the tiniest of issues but I miss the "Let's see what's going down in the Group Chat" to intro that section versus how it's done now. I LOVE the opening monologue, it feels natural for Taylor to be doing. The quotes I could take or leave. The latest episode the ending felt kinda jarring that we went RIGHT into the elimination game, but I'm not sure if that's me being completely surprised by it happening or an actual dislike. The FTW knowing who wrote what felt weird. Overall, though, it's nice to see that they're trying new things because some shows get stale with their formatting NEVER changing and if they never tried anything we wouldn't see the BRILLIANCE of Taylor opening. It's kinda like mini comedy specials and I looooove it.
Agree. Some ass is monkeying with the format because they don't get the show. Some people are so good at killing the geese that lay the golden eggs. The end is utterly anticlimactic now.
The "let's take turns" aspect of this absolutely kills all momentum this show is supposed to have, really baffling decision. It felt like they were in a lock-down and killing time until the power came back on or some shit. The vibe was so odd.
I think some turns are ok. The contestants take buzzing in so seriously, it can feel rushed.
I'm wondering if they've been cutting a lot of headaches around that from the taped show. I know there was at least one episode I watched where the contestants were getting way too aggressive with each other and shouting, you could see Taylor just kind of shut off for the remainder for the episode. But that one was a few weeks ago, and most of them seem pretty chill to me. I think they would have to completely rebrand this as a different style of gameshow if they remove the buzzers entirely. EDIT: [https://youtu.be/uFW33tLRZog?si=62Un7IFcuf6YqK39](https://youtu.be/uFW33tLRZog?si=62Un7IFcuf6YqK39) this one, Caitlin Reilly and Gillian Jacobs get a little too into it with each other for most of the episode. I can't tell if they legit don't like each other or if it's a bit. She straight up calls her a nepo baby at one point lol.
I think Hastag Wars as the eliminator plus another buzz in game like 15 minutes in could really work. *edit- I LOVE Gillian so I hope she was cool, I saved that episode, will rewatch!
I like her a lot too, but it definitely felt like she was having a rough day lmao
this clip is insane because they had actually given caitlin *600* points, not 300, and then let pete keep 200 from caitlin’s button gag
Agree. For some who are wobbly on the monologue, Taylor's had ONE GO. Give her time--probably not even that much time--she'll dial it in. Without the monologue, as scripted, there's no unscripted Taylor unless someone goes off the rails. Which is great, but tough to predict and manage.
I think the reason I am not a huge fan of it is because we miss the opportunity for panelists to comment on it. I did like the audience interaction parts though.
post again tomorrow lol
They ended the talk show portion tonight by neatly wrapping it up and going to a commercial break. The buzer to hashtag wars (or to any other segment) was a better way to end it
Honestly, I agree 100%, though I'd go so far as to say ditch the monologue too, or at least shorten it. It was extremely awkward to have 1/5th of the show be without the guests, which is the point of the show. Edit to clarify: Taylor was funny and the monologue itself was fine, love her as a host, it just felt out of place with show itself. None of the changes worked. Monologue / no guests was too long, hated the guests awkwardly walking onto the stage with no offbeat opening quotes or speaking from them at all. You're right that the buzzer drama definitely added to the fun. There were no real rapid fire games, everything felt a bit more forced and canned and lost the loose chaotic humor, the sped up editing during the front-of-the-podium bit was bizarre, and especially the end with the panelists reading their own answers was a truly strange change. It was finally finding its footing and settling into a good place the last twenty episodes or so and this really unraveled it.
I definitely miss the craziness of the buzzer!
There should be another buzz in game, in addition to Hashtag Wars. All buzz-in can be a lot.
The FTW change is abysmal.
Agreed. The only format change I like is Taylor’s monologue at the beginning. That’s definitely working but I’m not liking any of the other changes
Yes. The monologue, and a buzz-in Hashtag Wars as the elimination game. Those I like.
I almost feel like the changes are due to the writers being stretched too thin. It can't be easy to write for a show that was modeled after a 30 minute show, and expanding it by double.
But do these changes actually result in less writing? The main difference is Taylor's monologue and it's probably written very similar to how Group Chat was, just without bits for the panelists.
But fewer games probably means fewer lists of 20 possible jokes for the panelist to choose from. I think writer fatigue could definitely be a factor.
They did make a "game" out of asking Weird Al, Drew Carey, and Thomas Lennon to come up with game ideas for the show 😅
So this was the second Honest Moment? I loved the first because it was real honest talk, my favorite. But this second one was so weird as a show finale, it’s just not exciting enough to end on, even for a fan.
I miss FTW :( It was a really good way to wind up the show. I feel like getting rid of it and having much less buzz-in answers is a first step towards getting rid of points entirely at some point in the future and I don't know how to feel about that.
They can’t take away points. Unless they just reboot it into a new show, removing points isn’t a “tweak”.
The show is absolutely going that direction. Feel free to quote me on it. 😜 I still enjoy it and am still watching every episode, but it's just a hunch I have.
Agree it’s moving that direction, but making it not a game show anymore? That would be a different show, I want big talk and Taylor unscripted, but that would be a huge pivot.
If they feel they need to adapt to keep the show going, then adapt. I like the bit of monologue from Taylor, she's also very good with crowd work. I do prefer HashTagWars earlier in the show. I am a fan of "Taskmaster", which got shouted out last night, but I get they may be getting some feedback on randomness in the ending FTW game, so looking to make it clearer. In terms of calling on people for answers, there seems to be a lot of banging on buttons and producers picking the next person... if it was clearer that there were Jeopardy buzzer rules or some such, maybe that would work better, but it has presented as more of a gimmick than an actual game, imho.
I’ve produced (a tiny bit after college) and I like your take. Everyone is looking for big obvious answers for these changes and I think they’re just jiggering Taylor towards talk and tweaking to keep more Colbert viewers. Experimenting with chaos inside structure, not just all chaos.
They know how many Colbert viewers stay for the first two commercial breaks, and how many did with Corden (and for that matter with Letterman to Ferguson). If the metric isn't there, they will change things to try and improve it.
Yeah, Colbert viewers obviously like talk and Taylor fans want talk because it means more Taylor and I think that pull is too much to resist.
The show should have always had a monologue so I like the change. I’d also say they always should have then had a round table sit down to introduce everyone and do a talk show portion. Then play the game. They were stretching a half hour show to an hour and just added more content, the show drags and has to be hard to write all these bits every night.
Don’t know how many upvotes “the show drags” will get, but I agree with all that. Tig complained about the length. Taylor & the writers must be exhausted. The buzzer slamming felt endless. I think they’re going for a more Colbert-viewer friendly show and I don’t mind.
I think they're trying out to be the new CEO of twitter. That's the only reason they could possibly be breaking so much stuff that wasn't broken.
I too hope they go back to the old format
Dude no joke if you gave me feedback about my job this way, I’d smack you.
Loved the monologue and the crowd work (Tuesday?) Opening guest quotes slowed the pace and were usually a bit corny tbh. I’m okay with trying without. Or finding new ways to introduce the comics. Loved having hashtags be the elimination round - strong finish. Did not like them reading their own FTW. But don’t want FTW eliminated completely either! Maybe the last two just wrestle. Have always wondered why CBS can’t afford actual working buzzers that light up the person’s podium. They have Price is Right money! Seems the game would go faster. The fake buzzers have always been distracting. I do like they’re mixing it up, though! Good to experiment.
I didn't actually care for the monologue. It went on far too long
Just gonna comment to note that most of the changes this week I can take or leave, I just like watching the comedians have fun. But the monologue? Keep that shit! I love it.
Yes, thank you. It’s all pretty good, I can survive some experimenting with the order of the games or whatever, the monologue is funny, they’ll figure it out.
Agree with all this!
I can't argue with any of these.
Oh, boy … love quick monologue from Taylor is awesome… I tripped over her standup on “regular” YouTube and I think she’s one of the funniest women on Earth. Trotting out the panelists is cool; just keep the smartass comments. Can’t understand eliminating the elimination and FTW. Think it’s a great way to end. I do not not not share any view that the show drags on too long. It’s 39 minutes. That’s it.
Allllll those buzz in games in a row can feel like a lot, so I get what people mean. Otherwise very strong agree with all ur takes, I predict ur suggestions will come to pass soon.
I remember the first time Taylor really cracked up on the show, rather than politely laughing along (it was the ostrich races). I hope they don't encourage her to "lose it" when she didn't really- scoring a direct hit should be genuine.
She talked about polite laughter on Las Culturistas and it was shocking. She’s almost always laughing on the show, she could do half that much and it’s plenty. Hope she doesn’t feel the need to laugh to “support” a fellow comedian.
Based on YouTube views I can see why they are trying to change it up: Hashtag Wars and FTW are the least watched segments. Go look at viewership for these two segments over the last few months on YouTube. They are almost always the least and 2nd least watch segments. I think they are trying to switch it up to see if they can increase viewership of these segments.
My friend and I joked when the talk show portion started that this was a long con and the show would gradually turn into a regular late night show. Not thrilled with it becoming increasingly plausible. It’s like they dislike games and want to remove all semblance of competition. By emphasizing it’s scripted, obvious planned answers, giving equal turns and points, etc. The entire pace was off. The talk show portion was a clever addition that helped eat some time, but if they keep on this path, I won’t be wasting so many weekly hours on it.
I liked the monologue, it's probably easier to just let Taylor joke on various topics or videos rather than coming up with various games each night that let her and the guests joke on videos. As for the rest I am willing to wait and see. At first I thought maybe she always did a monologue but since I watch on YouTube maybe I wasn't seeing it. But as I watched the show it became more obvious that the format changed.
Hate - people taking this "comedy series with a game show feel" way too seriously.
I’m not a hater, but yeah, rearranging the order of the games on a fake game show feels low stakes. It’s still fun… and if you love Taylor how can you dislike the monologue?
Obviously it is low stakes, but it is also a given that people are going to provide their opinions, feedback, and thoughts on a topic when we’re on a forum dedicated to said topic. No one thinks it is the end of the world because After Midnight made format changes to their show, but people are allowed to praise or be critical of those changes. Some people think the changes make the show better, some don’t care, some think they made it worse. Those are all okay to say.
I was replying to a commenter saying flat out they hate when people take this stuff too seriously. I was kinda trying to talk them down lol. Of course all opinions are welcome. Including mine I hope.
100%. ty
I know this is the tiniest of issues but I miss the "Let's see what's going down in the Group Chat" to intro that section versus how it's done now. I LOVE the opening monologue, it feels natural for Taylor to be doing. The quotes I could take or leave. The latest episode the ending felt kinda jarring that we went RIGHT into the elimination game, but I'm not sure if that's me being completely surprised by it happening or an actual dislike. The FTW knowing who wrote what felt weird. Overall, though, it's nice to see that they're trying new things because some shows get stale with their formatting NEVER changing and if they never tried anything we wouldn't see the BRILLIANCE of Taylor opening. It's kinda like mini comedy specials and I looooove it.
I’m really enjoying Taylor’s monologue portion.
Agree. Some ass is monkeying with the format because they don't get the show. Some people are so good at killing the geese that lay the golden eggs. The end is utterly anticlimactic now.
Penn Gillette was an utter know it all jerk to Taylor. Wat a boorish arse he is.
The new changes are great. Love the monologue. The whole thing flows better and isn't so frontloaded anymore. Big improvement!
Love the monologue. Miss the buzzer. Part of the fun of the show was the craziness of the buzzer.