The difference between Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon never felt more clear than it did during the past week, when Jimmy Fallon welcomed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump onto his show, joking with him while messing up Trump’s hair, which was followed by Seth Meyers interviewing Bernie Sanders and digging into Trump.
CNN Money sat down with Meyers and asked him how both shows could diverge so much and if there was friction between them for it. Clearly, Meyers is taking a stance and isn’t afraid of the repercussions, while Fallon was able to sit down with Hillary Clinton right after Trump and conduct another softball interview with the candidate. Meyers made it clear that there was room for both kinds of shows in not only the world but on NBC.
“I think when you look at the 11:30 shows, they’re different kinds of TV shows. Some people want to turn on TV… and they want to see hard takes on politics and they want to be reminded of everything that’s going on in the world. Other people use it for escapism.”
Essentially, Meyers doesn’t see the problem with someone like Fallon simply entertaining on his show and leaving the more hard-hitting news, satire, and analysis to someone like himself. The Tonight Show also draws a much wider viewership, with Fallon assuming the role that Jay Leno made popular with his rather benign and inoffensive sense of humor. Meyers has more freedom and attracts a different audience to his show, which is why he believes that it’s okay for both shows to be so different.
(Via CNN Money)
