Why 'Late Night's' Seth Meyers has 'nothing but sympathy' for debate moderators

Nov. 10, 2015 3 AM PT

Reporting from NEW YORK — Since taking over “Late Night” in early 2014, Seth Meyers has transformed a show once known for its oddball, absurdist sensibility into a destination for smart, topical punchlines.

In August, the host made waves by switching to a seated monologue, which lent his show a newsier feel and brisker pace. Meyers has also introduced a recurring segment called “A Closer Look,” in which he expounds on such contentious issues as the Syrian refugee crisis, funding for Planned Parenthood and LGBT rights.

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The changes clearly play to Meyers’ strengths: The comedian spent 12 years at “Saturday Night Live,” where he anchored the faux news broadcast “Weekend Update” and wrote dozens of political sketches, and emceed the White House Correspondents’ Assn. dinner in 2011.

On the day after the CNBC Republican debate, Meyers sat down in his office at 30 Rockefeller Plaza for a chat about the 2016 election, his show’s take on politics and why he thinks late-night hosts can no longer be neutral.

What did you think of the debate?

It got off the rails so quickly as far as being informative in any way, shape, or form. I also just think it’s impossible. I do feel for any candidate that has to be out there with nine other candidates. It’s not, at this point, a helpful exercise.

The consensus seems to be that Marco Rubio was the night’s winner.

I always kind of thought when things shook out for this sort of first act of this Republican field that Rubio would sort of rise above. Based on what’s happened for the Republican party over recent years, I think that they’d be wise to sort of choose somebody who feels a little bit more young and vibrant.

Have you always been interested in politics?

Growing up in New Hampshire, you’re sort of surrounded — especially presidential politics. Even as a child, you are excited by the fanfare of presidential elections, and all the attention gets focused on where you live. They give you this false sense of your importance. I was recently watching [the documentary about Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign] “The War Room.” I had never seen it before. I was like, “Oh, I know all these streets.” I grew up in a town called Bedford right next to Manchester. I remember I introduced Jerry Brown because I was a class officer in high school.

What lessons did you learn about political comedy while at “SNL”?

Obviously it’s a lot easier when people are paying attention, when you have that base coat of knowledge, which I think you have a lot more during an election year. It’s easier than sitting down and trying to write a sketch about the debt limit or anything that’s sort of more procedural than it is personality-based. ... Sometimes you get really lucky with an election — 2008 would be a great example. In 2004, when I was playing John Kerry, that was not a time where you felt like the whole world was watching.

I think historically there’s been an expectation that late-night hosts, at least those on broadcast TV, be politically unbiased, almost like news anchors. But you’ve taken pretty firm positions on your show.

People these days want to know your point of view. You want to be fair, but this idea of being completely unbiased can sometimes take the teeth out of it to a point where it doesn’t really feel worth doing. Again, I think that’s a real credit more than anything else to Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. They really showed everybody it’s not the worst thing in the world if people sort of see what you are and aren’t passionate about.

Do you ever worry about making the same jokes as other late-night shows? With topical comedy, it seems kind of unavoidable.

What you sort of say to yourself is, “Well, not a lot of people are going to watch all of these shows.” You know? Ultimately what you have to be the most responsible to are the people that are tuning in to see your show every night. For those people, you sort of think, “Oh, I bet two to three other shows will make a joke about Jeb Bush mentioning his fantasy football record, but I don’t want to leave it out just because of that.”

You recently began to deliver your monologue sitting down at a desk instead of standing up. Why the change?

So many of the people who watch our show have just finished watching “The Tonight Show.” To do a monologue an hour later, when Jimmy [Fallon] has done an excellent monologue. … One of the things that pushed us to do it is, how could we do something different so that people don’t feel like they’re just watching the same version of a similar show that’s shot in the same building?

I always felt like when I was doing a monologue, I was serving as the warm-up comedian for my own show. Once I sat at the desk, then I felt like the show was starting. Now for me it just feels like the show starts a lot faster, which I love.

You’ve had a few candidates on, including Carly Fiorina and Bernie Sanders. How do you feel about having them as guests?

Sometimes it’s great. Then other times you can tell they’re locked into talking points. You just realize how good Jon [Stewart] got at it over the years. Democrats, Republicans, when you interview them, if you don’t cut them off, they’ll talk the whole time. They love uninterrupted airtime. I have nothing but sympathy for people who have to moderate these debates. Don’t get me wrong, some do it better than others, but when they say the rules are 60 seconds for an answer, you can tell all the candidates take that as a suggestion more than an instruction. It’s a weird thing when you’re talking to someone who is a congressman or a senator. They hold these high offices and you are a talk-show host, yet you have to cut them off.

As an entertainer rather than a journalist, how do you decide when to keep pushing political guests on an issue and when to retreat?

The one thing I found about all candidates — and again, this is not unique to one party or the other — [is that] you’re never going to say anything that gets anybody to go, “Um, you know what? You’re right. We do need more gun control. I’ve never thought of it that way.” Ultimately you just want a spirited discussion. That’s about all you can ask for. This is at most a comedy show about politics. You want to talk to them about issues, but you also want to provide the chance to have sort of a human discussion with them that they wouldn’t have if it was just a news show. That’s the quid pro quo to some degree.

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‘Late Night With Seth Meyers’

Where: NBC

When: 12:37 a.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays

Rating: TV-14 (may be unsuitable for children under age 14)