There's a fantastic profile piece in Vulture this week about how Seth Meyers has embraced his political voice and turned the show into must-watch late night TV under President-elect Trump. In addition to showing the process by which the show is put together, Late Night writer Sal Gentile described how Meyers and the writers want to fight the proliferation of propaganda and misinformation through segments like "A Closer Look," which is "well-suited to the period we're about to enter — we can be sort of a daily check-in with reality."
In this week's first check-in with reality, Meyers examined Trump's reaction to the CIA's report on Russia hacking the election, and his preference for giving away free hats over listening to intelligence briefings. Meyers also looked at Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson, Trump's just-announced pick for Secretary of State, and his close ties to Putin. "Stop telling us to, 'stay tuned,'" he said, referring to Trump's tendency to treat politics like a reality TV game show. "You're President-elect for the next four years. Like it or not, we're all fucking tuned."
"We're about to enter a potentially dangerous period: a president with a weird affinity for authoritarians and dictators, appointing plutocrats to his cabinet and fighting with America's own intelligence agencies," Meyers said. "I don't see how Trump can get away with all this. Unless he finds a way to distract us all for the next four years." Like with, say, free hats.
