The Kid Mero’s new daytime talk show may be in its early stages, but it’s already shaping up to fill a void in the TV landscape.
The comedian and former late-night host held a test taping of a new daytime talk show in New York City late last week, and LateNighter was there.
The few details that were known ahead of time about the project—dubbed “A Work in Progress Talk Show”—were actually revealed by Saturday Night Live’s Michael Che. The “Weekend Update” co-anchor revealed on his Instagram Stories that he and Tim Robinson were producing the project, describing the test shows as “some fun one-offs to figure out the kinks before we tape the pilot.”
Che dubbed the show “the future of daytime TV” on Instagram, a notion he returned to when he took to the stage of the Comedy Cellar at the Village Underground to introduce The Kid Mero.
While TV viewers today probably think of Ellen DeGeneres, Drew Barrymore and Kelly Clarkson when they hear “daytime talk,” the team behind Mero’s new show seems to be leaning into the more conflict-focused talkers of days past. Che and Mero cited Maury and The Jerry Springer Show as examples of what they’re going for.
Once a popular format that saturated the daytime TV lineup, the daypart isn’t dominated by nearly as many shows with a sensational focus these days.
While sparks didn’t exactly fly between guests at Mero’s test taping, the host held his own throughout an entertaining hour that focused on the topic of polyamory. The comedian kept the audience engaged as he interviewed two guests—one who practices polyamory, and one who used to. He then let the audience ask his guests questions before concluding with his own “final thoughts.”
Mero’s last turn as a talk show host was met with critical and viewer acclaim. Desus & Mero ran on Viceland from 2016 through 2018, and then on Showtime from 2019 through 2022 (where it won a WGA Award for Comedy/Variety Talk Series in 2021). The show even found a fan in David Letterman, who guested in 2020.
Mero has a second “test episode” scheduled for Tuesday, September 17th at 6 p.m., again at the Cellar’s Village Underground location.
Meanwhile, Che has been staging tests for a late-night show of his own, titled Don’t Sleep with Michael Che. After holding the first at City Winery two weeks ago, he has since brought his show to the Cellar, too. On The Howard Stern Show Monday morning, Che revealed that his “Weekend Update” co-anchor Colin Jost would be his guest for last night’s show.
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