It’s not the greatest thing for a comedic talk show when your funniest opening-week moment is unintentional.
“Gutfeld!,”Fox News Channel's newlate-night entry whose conservative/libertarian take sets it apart from talk-show competitors, explored an intriguingtopic on its second night last week: the inability ofsome national mediato get over the departure of former President Donald Trump and the mountain of material – and ratings – he provided.
So it was LOL funny whenhost Greg Gutfeld turned to critique "post-Trump stress"with the night'smarquee guest: Trump’s sonEric. And that was one night after former Trump press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, the new co-host of Fox’s “Outnumbered,” was the premiere episode's big get.
Nowwho is it exactly that can't quit Trump?
Maybe "Gutfeld!" (weeknights, 11 EDT/8 PDT) sees Trump obsession only in terms of those who are critical of the former president.Thatpoints to what may be the biggest contrast between "Gutfeld!" and itslate-night competitors. It's lessabout structure – Gutfeld and guests riffing on the newsmore resembles"The View," minus the long desk – thanlead-in programming on a network intertwined with Trump and his supporters.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
While Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel come on after scripted dramas and local news, "Gutfeld!" followsthree hours of Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham hammering the left. It may be lighter in tone than those shows, but it servesthe same red meat: criticism of the media, liberal cancel culture and Hunter Biden.
As a political chatfest, "Gutfeld!" spends much time rehashing Fox talking points. As comic relief, it's not very funny.
Itslate-night rivals, who range from apolitical/centristto progressive,haven't been all thattough on President Joe Biden or New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo while suffering occasional bouts of embarrassingfawning(See Fallon and "Cuomosexuals"). However, they do makejokesabout both of those Democrats and others.
"Gutfeld!," by comparison, didn't go after right-wing sacred cows, including ahuge Republican target:scandal-plagued U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz. Of course, "Gutfeld!" viewerswho get all their news from Foxmight not even know Gaetz has a problem.
"Gutfeld!" appears boxed inby its opinion lead-ins, a contradiction for a show that cultivates a subversivetone but a potential path to ratings success.In its first fournights,"Gutfeld!" averaged1.6million viewers, up 400,000 from the hour's previous average with news programming. It outrankedCNN andMSNBC, tiedABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and fell behind onlyCBS' "Late Show with Stephen Colbert"(although bothtalk shows start35 minutes later).
"Gutfeld!" was disingenuous Wednesday when its host, a regular panelist on Fox's "The Five" and host of a former weekend show that is similar to "Gutfeld!,"laid out his credo: “The point of this show is to pull you and I out of these destructive 'Us vs. Them'narratives by trying to show you how the media creates false stories to keep us engaged and angry.”
That'sa point worth discussing, but it's ludicrous coming from a host on Fox, where Us vs. Them could be thenetwork’s motto.
Andwhile you'dexpect "Gutfeld!" to tilt conservative, it shouldn't make"Cancel Culture Just Got Cancelled!" its slogan if it's going to ignore intolerance on the right. Perhaps last week'sbiggest attempted cancellationwas Trump's proposed boycottof a broad swath of corporate America – Major League Baseball, Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines and others – over opposition to the controversialRepublican-passedGeorgia voting law. Kimmel did a fun bit on Trump's statement; nary a word on "Gutfeld!"
At the same time, “Gutfeld!” presentedmultiple segments targeting baseball and other businesses protesting the new law, which critics say will make it tougher for many to vote.The show's conversation focused more on people being called racist than the actual problem of racism.
If Gutfeld is really committed to hisslogan, hecould take a lesson from HBO's Bill Maher, an old-schoolfree-speech liberal who savages the censorious left as well as the right.
Adifferent political perspective is a goodaddition to late night: The field has showna tepidsameness at times, partly the result of gorging too long at the Trump trough. Establishment politicians and media can be condescending, so a sharp voice willing to puncture pompous egos would be welcome.
Jabs aimed at competitors, from ABC’s Kimmel to MSNBC’s Brian Williams, are fine – a little rough-and-tumble among the media elite is entertaining – but Gutfeld needs much better material.
If “Gutfeld!” takes on topics otherswon’t, that wouldbe a plus, too. But so far most of thechoices areobvious. Cuomo is easy to mockthese days, andthe program already needs time in comedy rehabafteroverdosing on Hunter Biden drug abuse jokes.
As president, Joe Biden is a necessary comedic target, and there’s room for a harder-edged take, but “Gutfeld!” so far has been weak. An actor impersonating Biden as adodderingold manseemslike an even staler version of whatHannity hasbeen trotting out for months. Colbert, hardly a conservative,did better lastweek commenting on Biden’s awkward conversational tangents, which offerplenty of good material.
A skit Wednesday featuring a faux Jen Psaki taking a Rorschach test, which skeweredthe Biden press secretary's semantic approach to immigration questions,showed morepromise.Thursday's show critiquedmedia coverage of the summer protests that followed George Floyd's death and Democrats' expanding definition of infrastructure,topics likely to receive less commentelsewhere in late night.
Comedy programs take time to gel. Gutfeld has a way with self-deprecating humor and an easyrapport with regulars Kat Timpf and Tyrus, who moved over from Gutfeld's weekendpredecessor series. There was more amusingconversation on some of the less polarizingtopics, such as a report on robotic dogs, but the show needs wittierguests and more focused discussion. Some of last week's rambling discourseshould give "Gutfeld!" pause about mocking old men.
But that's just tweaking around the edges. “Gutfeld!,” judging by its first week, doesn't seem interested in establishing a distinctivevoice. It seems morecomfortable just being a sheep in Fox clothing.
