Comedy legend Jay Reno has spoken out in a debate about the partisanship of late-night television, questioning why performers choose to alienate half of their audience.
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The former host of “The Tonight Show,” Leno, 75, made a statement recently while sitting with President David Trurio of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. The iconic host has contemplated why some comedians are content to just court one political aspect of the aisle.
“Well, why do you shoot for half the audience?” Reno said. “You know, why not try and get the whole thing?”
He continued. “I like to bring people to the big picture, I don’t understand why you alienate certain groups or why you know or don’t do it at all.
After Trulio noticed an analysis of Leno’s work, he found himself balancing his criticism of Democrats and Republicans, the former night star recalled how he frequently gets “letters of hatred” from people on both sides of the aisle, Fox News reported.
Some accused him of being so comfortable with Democrats that he was accused of others as a Republican. For Leno, this meant he was hitting the right balance.
“And I’m going, well, that’s good,” he said. “That’s how you get the whole audience.”
However, Leno said that when comedians were driven by their opinions, only half of the audience could court. Ultimately, comedians believe that people will come to comedy shows to escape “life pressures” and other issues.
“I love political humor. Don’t get me wrong,” he said. “But that happens when people feel too comfortable on one or the other.”
Reno believes that comedy can unite people because “funny is funny,” and ultimately, “no one wants to hear the lecture.”
It should be noted that Leno’s predecessor, Johnny Carson, took a similar perspective.
In fact, he said trying to shake people wasn’t something he believed he was trying to do in his role.
Leno’s interview was reportedly recorded before CBS announced the cancellation of “Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” Colbert took over in 2015, and former host David Letterman.
Despite citing economic reasons for cancellation, CBS believes politics could be a factor.
As CNN pointed out, Colbert and other late-night hosts were extremely critical of CBS’ parent companies, Trump and Paramount.
On SkyDance Media buys Paramount, critics argue it Cancellation may be politically motivated. Anyway, networks and businesses reserve the right to choose the content they present, and there is no conclusive evidence that politics is the main factor at the moment.
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