CBS gave its new late-night series “After Midnight” a soft launch Tuesday night, debuting the show with minimal fanfare in its 12:37 a.m. time slot behind “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” Comedian Taylor Tomlinson hosts the series, which is taped at the Paramount lot in Hollywood.
The decision to keep the premiere of “After Midnight” low-key is intentional: Let the new show find its voice over the next few weeks before the Super Bowl and the return of the original scripted series in February, when more attention will be drawn will be back with the broadcasters.
“I'm Taylor Tomlinson and this is After Midnight, where three comedians enter, one wins and two come to regret taking part,” she said at the start of the first episode. “We use the internet and desperately try to make it entertaining. It'll be fun, right? Comedians, you will compete for the grand prize of my father's approval. It’s rare but winnable!”
Comedians Whitney Cummings, Aparna Nancherla and Kurt Braunohler were the first panel of comedians to play the game, in which panelists make clever comments about pop culture, headlines and “the dumbest things on the internet.”
“After Midnight” looks like a game show, but points are awarded by Tomlinson randomly and based on the panelists’ answers. The show began with a segment called “Group Chat,” where she shared trending, thought-provoking stories for the panelists.
The premiere episode was recorded on Tuesday – and Tomlinson pointed to Monday night's Emmy Awards as proof. “No matter where you stand politically, you can’t deny that the Emmys are yesterday,” Tomlinson said. “And I was there. They will invite everyone. Have you seen the Emmys?”
The comedians were silent. “There’s no obligation, it was on Fox,” she replied. “Here at CBS we don’t care if you saw it! I just wanted to make sure. So no one watched the Emmys? The TV is dead? Great.”
Braunohler joked: “This will be well received on the Internet!”
Tomlinson added: “I don't even know what awards our show can possibly win because it's a type of talk show where there are no conversations. It's a game show, but the scores are fake. It's a vanity project, but it somehow makes me look worse. Panelists, what award would 'After Midnight' win at the Emmys?”
Braunohler spoke up: “Best late night host!” Sorry, only female late night host.”
In the “Hashtag” segment, the comedians were asked to think of “lesser-known TV shows” like “Bottom Chef” and “NCIS: Modesto.”
Kurt Braunohler, Aparna Nancherla, Whitney Cummings. (Terence Patrick/CBS) CBS
On “Tik Chopped,” Tomlinson and the panelists discussed terrible TikTok cooking videos. In the game “What I Can’t Live On,” comedians were shown random products and asked to describe why they needed them. “Suburban Dictionary” included real slang like “Bussin'” and asked comedians to use the word in a sentence. In “To Smash or Not to Smash,” the comedians chose who they would rather have: Mario or Luigi; Patrick Star or Sandy Cheeks; Garfield or Jon Arbuckle; Gritty or the Quaker Oats mascot. The elimination game “Is This Still Cool?” – in which comedians had to explain on Tuesday night why or why not, animal prints are still cool.
“Yes, it is, but the lesser-known animals,” Braunohler said. Nancherla: “Yes, because with climate change it will be good to remember what they look like.” Cummings: “As an aspiring cougar, I need animal prints to be stylish. And if you don’t agree, you’re not a feminist.”
Cummings was the first to exit the show and was asked to apologize for the loss.
In “For the Win,” Braunohler and Nancherla were asked to create new holidays, with the audience voting on a winner.
Braunohler: “Today is Port Day: A celebration of American ports, the parking lots of the sea. This is Harbor Day, not Arbor Day. Everyone knows what a tree is, so why doesn't Arbor Day just call it a day and move on to Tree Day? Kind regards, Harbor Day.” Nancherla: “Ashley Wednesday. It’s Ash Wednesday, for girls with bangs.” Nancherla won.
After a somewhat slow start (while both Tomlinson and the panelists were feeling out the guard rails of the new show), as the hour progressed everyone got more punchy – and more nervous, so the beps started to fly. Cummings, in particular, had fun getting on the line and seeing if her jokes would make it to the air. Tomlinson once asked, “Whitney, would you like to be in this episode?”
Guests later this week include Paul F. Tompkins, Sophie Buddle and Carl Tart on Wednesday and Max Greenfield, Ike Barinholtz and Robby Hoffman on Thursday.
“After Midnight” takes over the spot previously occupied by “The Late Late Show with James Corden” (and briefly reruns of “Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen”). It is based on “@midnight,” which followed “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” from October 2013 to August 2017, and, like the new show, was a panel series with primarily guest comedians interacting with host Chris Hardwick.
Last year, Tomlinson inked a deal with Netflix to premiere her next two stand-up specials on the streamer. Tomlinson recorded her latest special in Washington, DC for a premiere date in 2024.
Tomlinson saw her rise to prominence in 2020 when “Quarter-Life Crisis” debuted on Netflix just before the pandemic began. Meanwhile, Tomlinson is working on a Village Roadshow Pictures film based on her upbringing for director Paul Weitz, which she is co-writing and starring with Taylor Tetreau.
Jack Martin, showrunner for all four seasons of @midnight, and Eric Pierce serve as co-showrunners and executive producers. Comedian and writer Jo Firestone is co-executive producer and head writer. Alexx Wells also serves as co-executive producer.
CBS Studios produces After Midnight with Stephen Colbert's Spartina Industries and Funny Or Die. Carrie Byalick, Stephen Colbert, Evelyn McGee Colbert, James Dixon, Tom Purcell, Whitney Hodack, Mike Farah, Joe Farrell, Henry R. Muñoz and Jason U. Nadler also EP with Martin and Pierce.