Generic Criticism: Late Night Comedy Shows

Generic Criticism

Since late night comedy shows are often broadcasted in a daily or weekly schedule, late night shows will often begin their shows with dialogue on breaking news or current events.
This therefore means that if the current event is political (which it can frequently be) political commentary is a general characteristic of the genre.
One of the most important characteristics of late night comedy shows is that the hosts are central to the show (their names are guaranteed to be in the title).
While the host is central to the show, there are also a variety of guests that are invited which provides structure to the show. These guests can range from musicians, to actors, to politicians, and even social media influencers when taking into account the contemporary moment and the popularity of influencers.
Another unique aspect of late night comedy shows is that the camera is often focused on the host and/or the guest present, while laughing (or the absence of it) can be heard in the background.
Music is often a media that is used in the genre of late night comedy shows. This can be showcased in usually two ways

1. Musicians are either invited as guests or are invited to perform after recently making a comeback or debut. This does not deny the possibility that the musicians can both be interviewed and showcase a performance.
2. A band is used to emphasize the humor that the host performs.

The show often starts with a monologue of some sort, and the genre entails that it will often have humor or comedy involved.

The host will often try to engage with the audience to produce laughter as an outcome, and their comedy and humorous jokes are the medium through which they achieve that.
The producers of the show keep the larger general audience in mind when choosing guests to invite to appear in the show. This means that trend are often followed and align with the choices made by production teams of the show. Social media can often me a method used to track these trends.

Example: Constance Wu, an actress, was recently featured on the "Late Night Show with Seth Meyers", and she has recently been trending due to the book that was recently published where she recounts her experiences of sexual harassment on the set of a popular show she was the lead actress on: Fresh Off the Boat.

The characteristics of the genre outlined above relating to dialogue and attention to current events or breaking news is important when considering how these characteristics are rhetorically used, because they serve as an element of the genre where much variety can be found. Some shows choose to bring light are humor to current events, whereas others may take a serious moment to reflect on a serious or tragic event, whereas others may do both. This demonstrates the array of representations of late night comedy shows and how these shows participate in the genre in unique ways.

I think that Generic Criticism is a unique and vital form of rhetorical criticism because it highlights how pieces of rhetoric, while unique, can also be connected so deeply to other pieces of rhetoric that they can constitute their own genre.
Generic Criticism is important because it can spark discourse about whether a piece of rhetoric can be considered as participating in a genre. This can allow for communication and debate between critics about their perspectives.
Discussions of Generic Criticism can cause the creation of an entirely new sub-genre, which demonstrates the complexity of genre as a category.