Ukraine, Israel, a brutal election campaign; not a lot of laughs on CNN.
Except maybe when Donald Trump says, “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs!” Or when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is revealed to have dumped a bear cub in Central Park because he couldn’t get him home in time to have for dinner.
But, generally speaking, CNN is not a place people regularly turn to for levity.
So that’s one thing a new original show premiering on the cable news network this weekend might seem to have going against it. But it has certainly been a bumper crop year on late-night television for comic skewering of the madness in the news. It’s hard to blame actual news channels for wanting to get into the act.
Have I Got News for You is the apparently incongruous attempt of a real news organization to play in the same sandbox as The Daily Show. And according to Michael Ian Black, one of the CNN series’ three regular stars, the format of the show proves there are plenty of laughs to be extracted from the news headlines of the week.
“I love the format for a lot of reasons,” Black tells LateNighter of the panel-style show. One reason being his conviction that the traditional late-night format—monologue, desk piece, guest interviews, musical act, ‘goodnight everybody’—is, to put it as bluntly as he did, “dying.”
Black later qualified that comment by suggesting that maybe late night is more slimming down than going away, with tighter budgets and fewer nights in production. But his argument was that the new CNN show would bring a different spin to the genre.
First, let’s examine how I’ve Got News for You—which will run as a 10-episode limited series—would even qualify as a “late-night show.” It will be on at 9 p.m. on Saturdays, which every student of communications (even undergrads) knows puts it in “prime time.”
But Black argues that the new show has “a late-night vibe.” That means topical humor, fast pacing, and witty remarks. It’s also airing on the weekend, which separates it from regular late-night scheduling. SNL can be seen live at 8:30 p.m. on the west coast now, which also isn’t technically late night. But SNL? Come on.
So what exactly is the format for Have I Got News for You?
It consists of a host—true late-night star Roy Wood Jr., former correspondent and occasional host from The Daily Show—introducing topics from the news to a panel. That panel includes two regulars: Amber Ruffin, recently a host of her own sadly un-renewed late-night show on Peacock, and Black, a comedy writer and performer who has been in and around late night for decades, including guest-hosting CBS’s Late Late Show, where he was a finalist for the host job eventually won by Craig Ferguson.
So yes, Black is familiar with “late-night vibe.”
Also included in the format are two guest panelists from the world of current events, politics, sports, entertainment, etc. As Black put it, “We want people from all walks of life, as long as we can make fun of them.”
That would come about because of the “game” element of the show. The panel gets points assigned arbitrarily by Wood, though nobody really wins or loses and there are no prizes of any kind. Black said he had little concept of the game element because “it doesn’t seem to matter much; maybe at some point they’ll keep track of who wins each night.”
His assessment is based on two things: a test show he and the other regulars recorded, and multiple viewings of the original British television series. Yes, the format is an import. The British version has been on the air since 1990. In fact, Black said he has previously auditioned twice for earlier efforts to adapt the show for American audiences, going back as far as 2009.
The BBC version, typically referred to as HIGNFY, is indeed fast-paced and witty, even if it’s hard to enjoy fully without knowing the news stories being mocked or the Brit lingo that flies by.
Black acknowledges that familiarity with the news may be essential to enjoying the American version fully, but that’s where placement on CNN may be an advantage. Black notes that viewers who know where CNN is on their remotes likely have some passing awareness of the news.
The format has a few things in common with CBS’ After Midnight—especially the faux game, meaningless points bit. That shouldn’t be entirely surprising considering that its predecessor, @midnight, was inspired by British comedy panel shows like HIGNFY. (Although After Midnight goes for news that wouldn’t make CNN’s most generous “Breaking News” designation.)
CNN’s HIGNFY will deal with the big stuff, Black says, which may account for its premiere at the end of a week that saw a “critical presidential debate.” Though lesser, offbeat subjects will also come in for some attention, especially if they’re funny on their own. “Roy may have some visuals about a story that we’ll then deal with,” Black explains.
Notably, Black stresses, he and the other panelists will not be told in advance what the topics will be, nor will they have jokes written for them (whereas After Midnight seems considerably scripted). Black says spontaneity will be a big part of the CNN show, “rather than regurgitating some previously written thing.”
That will certainly add some tightrope tension: be quick and funny or face uneasy silence from a live studio audience. “The key will be the dynamics of the panel,” Black says, again suggesting that cross-mocking will be encouraged.
The show will be reasonably up to the minute, taping on Friday evenings. Of course it will also be subject to interruption at a moment’s notice in case real news—the unfunny kind—breaks out somewhere.
Will it work?
Black describes his own initial reaction to having this show on CNN: “I thought it was bizarre.”
But he heard CNN out: The network was looking to branch out, especially on weekends, where it had already imported Real Time with Bill Maher to air a day after it premieres on HBO.
If Have I Got News for You has a true late-night vibe, it should expect the usual pattern: rocky start, followed by either steady acceptance or swift rejection. At least it starts out with some confidence that some dog or bear consumption may break out during any given week.
Have I Got News For You premieres on CNN Saturday, September 14 at 9 p.m. ET. It will air regularly air in that time slot and will be available to stream on Max the following day.
Promos for CNN's new weekly comedy series Have I Got News For You have begun running in heavy rotation on the cable channel. Here's one now: @ambermruffin @roywoodjr @michaelianblack pic.twitter.com/KMPzbxObrh
— LateNighter (@latenightercom) August 28, 2024
