Is snark dead in late-night?

Vulture

"The era of the Late Night Meanie is over," says Bethy Squires, in reaction to the cancelations of Netflix's The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale and The Break with Michelle Wolf. "Gone are the days when we’d line up for our nightly hate f*ck from David Letterman. Maybe the world is too cruel to sustain nightly acerbic wit, but the acid-tongued comic is no longer the prototypical late-night host. The format is dominated by happy, smiling Jameses. And next fall will see several actors known for their cheery dispositions take over the late-night scene. Hasan Minhaj, Busy Philipps, Jerry O’Connell, and Niecy Nash (with a pilot in the works) are in; Michelle Wolf, Joel McHale, and Robin Thede are out. And Conan O’Brien is stuck in the middle." Squires adds: "Back in the day, late-night TV was dominated by somewhat detached father figures who knew magic tricks, then, thanks to Letterman laying the groundwork, Jon Stewart and Conan opened the door for the snarky and smart. But now snark feels mean and smart feels pyrrhic. News commentary shows abound, but I hear more people talk about the impassioned pleas of Rachel Maddow than the somewhat removed perspective of Trevor Noah."

ALSO:

• The Break with Michelle Wolf was never going to be the new The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
• The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale was canceled because its Soup-like premise was laughably outdated in this era of instant video sharing