Watch Taylor Tomlinson Debut Late-Night Show ‘After Midnight’
Farewell James Corden, hello Taylor Tomlinson. CBS unveiled its new late-night show, After Midnight, last night in the time slot following The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. Instead of a talk show like The Late Late Show, After Midnight is a reboot of Comedy Central’s popular game show @midnight, which ran for 600 episodes.
For its debut, Tomlinson enlisted fellow comedians Whitney Cummings, Aparna Nancherla, and Kurt Braunohler, who battled it out in a series of improvised games. Tomlinson joked that the grand prize was “my father’s approval.” “It is rare but winnable,” she quipped.
More from Rolling Stone
Watch Matthew McConaughey, Jimmy Fallon Celebrate Fashion With 'Tight Pants' Performance
Watch Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon Humble Brag About Their Famous Friends
The comedian added of the show’s intent, “We are taking the Internet and desperately trying to make it fun.” The games included “Group Chat” and “Hashtag Wars.” For the latter, in honor of the Emmys on Monday night, Tomlinson gave the contestants #LesserKnownTVShows.
“No matter where you stand politically, you can’t deny the Emmys were yesterday,” Tomlinson told the audience. “And I was there. They’ll invite anyone. Did you guys watch the Emmys?” The comedians remained silent. “There’s no obligation, it was on Fox,” Tomlinson continued. “We don’t care here at CBS if you watched it! I was just making sure. So nobody watched the Emmys? TV’s dead? Great.”
She added, “I don’t even know what awards our show can possibly win, because it’s kind of a talk show where there’s no conversation. It’s a game show, but the points are fake. It’s vanity project, but it somehow makes me look worse.”
After Midnight continues tonight with Paul F. Tompkins, Sophie Buddle, and Carl Tart, and on Thursday with Max Greenfield, Ike Barinholtz, and Robby Hoffman.
Tomlinson was announced as the host of After Midnight in November during an appearance on The Late Show. The comedian got her big break on Netflix with a 15-minute set on 2018’s The Comedy Lineup. Since then, the rising comedian has become one of the most praised stand-ups in the industry, gaining her first comedy special, Quarter-Life Crisis, on Netflix in March 2020, and following it up with Look at You in 2022.
Best of Rolling Stone