We’ve come across quite a few progressives, including comedian Kathy “He broke me!” Griffin and director Joss “I think I’m broken” Whedon, who blame President Donald Trump for “breaking” them.
Save a tear, though, for those working behind the scenes in the entertainment industry who have also been broken by the election of Donald Trump. Some of them spoke this week during the Television Critics Association press tour, and Variety was there with the sad story.
Late-Night Writers Talk Trump: ‘I Don’t Want This Job’ https://t.co/6kOH7Z8XuK
— Variety (@Variety) July 29, 2017
That works out well, then, because we don’t want to watch late-night TV anymore either. Variety reports:
“I don’t want this job” was the general feeling among the writers who gathered Saturday at the Television Critics Assn. summer press tour in Beverly Hills for a panel titled “Has Politics Made Late-Night Great Again?” Panelists included Ashley Nicole Black, a writer for “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee,” Christine Nangle, head writer for “The President Show,” Hallie Haglund, writer for “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,” and Jason Reich, head writer for “The Jim Jefferies Show.”
“I just find it exhausting. It’s hard to find it fun,” said Reich of the pressure to keep up with the constant news cycle generated by the administration.
So it’s really boring, exhausting, and upsetting to be a late-night TV writer? Maybe it would be healthy for everyone to shake things up a bit and, you know, write something funny.
Recommended
TV comedy writers have it so bad right now. https://t.co/85tOGAYZrc pic.twitter.com/3HYrN20cXX
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) July 29, 2017
"We could go weeks without making fun of Obama but with Trump we're just so exhausted"
The real heroes
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) July 29, 2017
Maybe the problem is they choose not to make fun of or joke about anything else? The entitlement in this piece is breathtaking
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) July 29, 2017
Only boring writers get bored
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) July 29, 2017
https://twitter.com/gregb94/status/891389434217734144
https://twitter.com/SterkenDraak/status/891389830369869824
Politico Magazine managed to write essentially an identical piece, only one centered around a stand-up comic instead of TV writers.
Is Donald Trump Funny? Iranian-American comic Maz Jobrani talks about the future of jokes in the Trump era https://t.co/QxrygsIjh6 pic.twitter.com/MZOU1eX2FO
— POLITICO (@politico) July 29, 2017
We knew the sick, poor, women, and minorities would suffer under Trump, but we never stopped to think about how tough it would be on the nation’s comedians. Politico Magazine reports:
Comedy has always had a political edge, but never like this.
On late-night shows, in stand-up routines and scripted sitcoms, the opposition to President Donald Trump is more intense than a rally full of pink pussy hats. He’s an endless source of material for joke-writers, but also a five-alarm crisis, with barely a voice in mainstream or alternative comedy that isn’t against him. Punchlines morph into earnest manifestos about diversity or health care. The jokes and jeremiads give Trump opponents the release they need—never mind how they might alienate Trump supporters on the receiving end.
Maz Jobrani wants you to feel his pain: “Even though I’m not trying to do Trump jokes, I end up doing Trump jokes,” he sighed. “But I’m exhausted of Trump jokes.”
* * *
Related:
America, you were warned: Big holiday party cancelled, fashion industry in crisis mode after Trump victory https://t.co/PUttPvyZ3C
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) December 4, 2016
Join the conversation as a VIP Member