Seth Meyers is going to continue being your special 12:35 a.m. (11:35 p.m., Central, of course) talk show pal for a long while. The SNL alum has sorted out a new contract with NBC that will keep him hosting Late Night all the way through to 2021. After 2021? Who knows? It’ll be the future so maybe a laser visor will be involved or something.
The reveal of Seth’s extension (a thing that sounds naughty but it’s not) was provided through the time-honored tradition of the press release. Citing his role in “NBC’s late-night dominance,” the network that’s employed Meyers for decades expressed all sorts of excited feelings about having him around into the 2020s. NBC also trumpeted some flattering data that showed how Late Night manages to sometimes outdo The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in the ratings despite Colbert’s sexier timeslot and regularly outperforms The Late Late Show in their head-to-head battles. Here’s some glowing words from the NBC brass.
“As a writer, performer and host, Seth has a rich history at NBC and we are thrilled that he’ll be at the helm of ‘Late Night’ for many more years,” said Robert Greenblatt, Chairman, NBC Entertainment. “His knowledge of both current events and pop culture is unparalleled and he brings that expertise to ‘Late Night’ every night. The show couldn’t be in better hands.”
Said hands will be asked to juggle a few more responsibilities this year. A 10 p.m. Late Night New Year’s Eve special is earmarked for 2016, with this additional piece of programming focusing on the year’s news and current events. We would have also taken a TV movie starring Conner O’Malley’s interpretation of The Blacklist, but no one asked us so here we are.
Meyers, who took over the Late Night reins from Jimmy Fallon in February 2014, sounds fairly jazzed to stick with Late Night.
“I can’t thank NBC enough for continuing to support our show and this more than makes up for my disappointment in not getting cast in ‘The Wiz,’” said Meyers.
