Late-night shows have become more intimate under quarantine, and essential

Los Angeles Times

"With the host and the guest essentially alone together — Face Time to Face Time is a joke I might have made before — the performance of intimacy that talk shows typically offer grows closer to real intimacy," says Robert Lloyd. "Interviews become conversations, even though they may still may be keyed, as in the olden days, to promoting a book or TV show or film. And because host and guest are looking into a camera, we’re placed into the middle of their virtual shared space, rather than looking on from afar as a member of an audience." Lloyd adds: "It may just be that I find these shows more than usually necessary for my well being, the times being what they are — they process the day, much as our own brain is said to do in sleep — but I am enjoying them mightily. I wouldn’t suggest for a second that a deadly pandemic is worth it, but if we have to have one, I’m glad these shows are keeping us company. Stephen, Jimmy, Jimmy, Samantha, Noah, Conan, Seth, John and James — thank you. You are doing essential work, and I do not need a studio audience to tell me when to laugh."