Primetime TV audiences will get a closer look at late night next month.
NBC has ordered a primetime special of Late Night with Seth Meyers’ signature “A Closer Look” segment. And unlike the show’s regular tapings, this one will air live.
Closer Look Primetime will air just one day after the first presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, allowing Meyers to provide commentary on the much-anticipated event as soon as possible.
It’s another example of a late-night show pulling out all the stops to make their coverage as timely as possible this election season. Both The Daily Show and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert set live broadcasts following the Trump-Biden debate, RNC, and DNC this year (even if Monday’s episode of The Late Show got a very late start).
It’s not the first go-around in primetime for “A Closer Look.” The political deep-dive franchise also got a primetime special in 2020 (though Meyers has since noted that that special’s ratings were less than spectacular, joking to Deadline that it “under indexed with audiences”).
Even so, it seems NBC is doubling down on the segment, expanding its 30-minute runtime in 2020 to a full hour this time around.
“A Closer Look” is led by Sal Gentile, the head writer for the segment (and recent Mets first-pitcher), as well as Meyers and Late Night’s overall head writer Alex Baze. The segment has been a breakout part of Meyers’ show, drawing over 3 billion views since it debuted in 2015. New installments of the segment air three days a week.
Closer Look Primetime airs live on Wednesday, September 11 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, with next-day streaming on Peacock.
