Intimacy, In-Jokes, and the Feeling of Spontaneity on Late-Night Talk Shows: How Hosts and Audiences Laughed Together in Pandemic Times

Abstract

ABSTRACT Late-night talk shows, which rely on live, in-studio audiences for their tapings, were forced during the pandemic to reformulate how they produced their programs, first recording episodes from their hosts’ homes and then in audience-less studios. This article shows how network late-night talk shows used intimacy, in-jokes, and the feeling of spontaneity to connect with their at-home audiences and encourage their participation, despite their being locked out of the studios.