Last Call with Carson Daly
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Last Call with Carson Daly is a late night NBC talk show, hosted by former MTV VJ Carson Daly.
Last Call debuted January 2002, and transitioned from four nights per week to its current five nights per week schedule (after the cancellation of previous Friday night timeslot holder Late Friday) in the summer of that year. In both 2003 and 2004 it was nominated for a Teen Choice Award for "Choice TV Show - Late Night".
Unlike most talk shows, the producers pay a flat rate of $14 to anyone who attends the show. [verification needed] Tapings last anywhere for 1.5 to 2 hours. Last Call appeals to a younger audience than most other late night talk shows.
Previously, the time-slot was filled by Later with Bob Costas (1988-1994), Later with Greg Kinnear (1994-1996), Later (1996-2000), and SCTV reruns (2000-2002). The 1996-2000 run featured a 'guest host of the week' format for two years before Cynthia Garrett became the permanent host from 1998-2000. The show aired Monday-Thursday through these years due to Friday Night Videos/Friday Night holding the after-Late Night slot on Friday nights.
Last Call was originally taped in Studio 8H of NBC's headquarters. This required the producers to work around the schedule of the facility's main tenant, Saturday Night Live. The show relocated from New York to Los Angeles in September 2005.
Like Conan O'Brien's ending phrase "Stay tuned for Last Call with Carson Daly," Carson Daly's ending phrase is "go get some sleep" (Due to the fact that the show ends at 2 a.m or 2:30 Eastern Time).
Last Call with Carson Daly is a half-hour show, unlike the other late night talk shows (Leno, Letterman, O'Brien, Kimmel, Ferguson) which are all one hour. However, the show's Friday edition is one hour.
The most infamous moment on the show is magician David Blaine "pulling" his heart out and fainting, which was staged but still shocked the audience.
Last Call has a house band, Joe Firstman. Joe Firstman plays the role of a usual talk show house band (like Max Weinberg and The Max Weinberg 7 of Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Kevin Eubanks and the Tonight Show Band of the The Tonight Show with Jay Leno or Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra of Late Show with David Letterman), intermittently conversing with Carson and even occasionally bouncing back some jokes. Firstman occasionally has pulled double duty as both house band and musical guest.
[edit] Trivia
- Within the storyline of NBC sitcom My Name is Earl, Carson Daly provided the impetus for the show's ongoing plotline.
[edit] External links
- NBC's official Last Call Web site
- Last Call with Carson Daly at the Internet Movie Database
- Joe Firstman's Official Website
