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Washington Post
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Something about John Mulaney's Netflix talk show isn't working
I won't disclose how many times I've rewatched a wild TV moment that aired during the third episode of 'John Mulaney Presents: Everybody's in L.A.,' the six-day live talk show John Mulaney hosted for Netflix last May. But it clarified for me why 'Everybody's Live with John Mulaney,' the 12-episode weekly sequel airing now, feels distinct — in good ways and bad — from the show's friendlier and messier first draft. Mulaney's show was proudly unpredictable from its inception, a retro-punk version of late-night sheared of all the tiresome beaming. In lieu of prebaked segments in which celebrities promote projects, Mulaney gathered people together to riff on a particular theme. The show was (and remains) live and mostly unscripted, save for the monologue, some preplanned bits and a smattering of funny and bizarre taped segments. When it debuted, Mulaney's experiment came across as niche and unpolished but also communal, warmly defying expectations (it doesn't even live up the 'late' part of 'late-night'; it airs at 7 p.m. Pacific time). It's fun to watch how a brilliant comedian who's a few years into a tricky public pivot handles himself in real time. In his 2023 special 'Baby J,' Mulaney, who cultivated an 'open and vulnerable' stage persona in his earlier stand-up, thematized his effort to break free of the 'likability' jail that public figures deal with by showing audiences his uglier, meaner side. On 'Everybody's Live,' both stage versions — the pushover and the schemer — are present, but they oscillate more than they integrate. I've thought often of Mulaney's account (to podcast host Theo Von) of how a psychiatrist summed him up when he was 17: 'Half of you is this really nice guy who wants to, you know, do the right thing and be a good person, and the other half of you is a gorilla whose sole purpose in life is to destroy the first half.' Sometimes, as in the 'Everybody's in L.A.' segment I kept rewinding, that tension produces delightful results. Both Mulaney's original show and this newer, weekly version tend to feature one 'expert' on the theme of each episode. For the 'Helicopters' installment I'm talking about, Mulaney smuggled in two. The first was Zoey Tur, the helicopter pilot who became the first to broadcast O.J. Simpson's attempt to flee in the white Bronco. Tur and comedians Nate Bargatze and Earthquake were eventually joined on the big, brown leather couch by Marcia Clark, who famously prosecuted Simpson for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Clark's presence — and area of expertise — soon established not only that the episode's secret subtheme was the O.J. Simpson trial, but that Mulaney was seizing his chance to revisit a quintessentially L.A. story from a fresh angle. The first inkling of how much Mulaney was relishing this encounter between two major players in that case came when he asked, a little too innocently, whether they'd met. They hadn't. 'Oh,' Mulaney said, an impish gleam in his eye, 'so this is the first time.' Tur greeted Clark by saying, 'I caught your criminal.' 'I really wish you had, you know, but never mind,' Clark replied, grinning. It was a terrific little beat. Both women were perfectly genial. But as seasoned veterans of a particularly vicious version of L.A. media, they were also squaring off. It's easy to imagine the pleasure with which Mulaney booked these guests. 'Well,' he said, back in decorous host mode. 'It's water under the bridge.' The juicier exchange came later, when Mulaney asked Clark how she felt about journalists like Tur, and Tur whether she ever got a scoop 'that might have blown a case or an investigation?' Tur replied with an explosive anecdote about a predawn call she received from a cop at the crime scene. The anecdote directly challenged a narrative Marcia Clark had advanced as prosecutor. The tone was cordial, but the air was charged. Marcia opened her mouth to reply. I leaned forward, eagerly. Then Mulaney said, 'Nate Bargatze, YOU love candy,' followed by a noise that sounded like 'eurgh.' It was perfect television. The theme (helicopters) blended perfectly with the obnoxious, seedy L.A.-ness of this chapter in true crime, all of it heightened by the brewing tension between the two women on the couch. The subject was meaty, the context rich. There was lore to unpack. And then Mulaney, playing a well-meaning Goody Two-shoes, deflated the moment he'd instigated and trollishly spoiled the fun. Even Bargatze was so absorbed in the moment that he fumbled Mulaney's invitation to redirect. 'Yeah,' he replied before objecting: 'I was listening to this whole thing!' 'I know, but we're trying to cover a lot of different topics. I thought it was a good pivot,' Mulaney said. The exchange stuck with me, in hindsight, because it practically overflowed with two elements I've found myself missing in the show's newer iteration: shared curiosity and genuine tension. It also demonstrates how nimbly (and frequently!) Mulaney flips between the conflict-avoidant, vaguely transatlantic host persona and the savagely observant, gossipy, judgmental chaos agent. It's like witnessing a tennis match where one guy plays both parts. There's Wily, Acerbic, Kind of Mean John (heretofore known as WAKOM), who gleefully set up the awkward first meeting. Nice Host John sails in to dispel the awkwardness. WAKOM asks a question aimed at pitting Clark against Tur. Nice John acts like the answer is an emergency he must defuse rather than a conflict he directly elicited. It's virtuosic, the perfect way for Mulaney to use his two personas. But in the new season, Mulaney sometimes forgets how to aim the gorilla. That John Mulaney has long wanted to do a talk show is basically the closer for his 2023 special, 'Baby J,' which chronicles his struggles with addiction and culminates with the comic reading excerpts from an interview he gave while high. 'I always wanted to do a talk show where the guest is always someone from a job that I don't understand,' Mulaney said (to GQ's Frazier Tharpe) shortly before going to rehab. 'What is that like? How do you feel about yourself?' he imagines himself asking a dogcatcher. 'I'm not judging, but I am a little. How do you feel rounding up dogs and taking them to the pound?' I'd love to watch that show, and 'Everybody's in L.A.' sometimes approached it. Mulaney, who doesn't fake curiosity well, is genuinely fascinated by Tur's work, for example, even if he also asks pointed questions about its ethically dubious side. It's fun to watch him explore L.A.'s coyotes and palm trees with folks and experts who (mostly) seem game to play along, and it's fun in a different way when they resist. Mulaney's musical numbers for 'Saturday Night Live' about New York, such as 'Diner Lobster' and 'La Guardia,' prove how good he is at skewering cities he loves. With L.A. as his new canvas, Mulaney built a show stuffed with deep cuts (comedically speaking) that was also (mostly) convivial and collaborative. It capitalized on his gift for inviting others into whatever game he's playing — here, the project of defining the city's whole deal. When the show returned as 'Everybody's Live,' Mulaney claimed they dropped the Los Angeles part of the show because it tested poorly. But the failure to swap something else in might have been a mistake. Excluding the city as an umbrella category has by default left Mulaney (and his interests) as the show's focal point. And he's trickier for guests to rally around than L.A., for all the reasons I enumerated above. Mulaney's flexible identity has become part of his charm. As he said in his 2018 special, 'Kid Gorgeous': 'Fourteen years ago, I smoked cocaine the night before my college graduation. Now I'm afraid to get a flu shot. People change.' (In 'Baby J,' he revealed that he, in fact, routinely got unnecessary flu shots from a shady doctor who supplied him with drugs.) Part of the fun of that Clark-Tur segment was the delight Mulaney took in the encounter and in the multiple identities he got to occupy while arranging (and later, neutralizing) a conflict. That sense of mischief has been lacking in the talk show segments. Not even Mulaney can muster much interest in some of the subjects he chose, or in the experts discussing them. Some (like cruises) feel phoned-in. And his obvious anxiety over whether an exchange will pay off sometimes trumps his interest in any particular contribution; he frequently truncates conversations that were just getting going. It doesn't help that there's so much amiable agreement between Mulaney and his guests. Absent some fiddly onstage dynamic he can provoke and stage-manage, WAKOM Mulaney — who needs something to do, especially when things are too friendly — turns all that surplus energy (and vitriol) on the poor callers. There's a sense, then, that where 'Everybody's in LA' joyfully invited folks in, 'Everybody's Live' kicks them out. The eccentricity that makes Mulaney's stand-up so good is precisely what makes it hard for many guests and callers to chime in. His dinosaur bit, for instance, is so genuinely weird that no guest managed to really join him in that headspace. Conan O'Brien tried hard. So did Tina Fey (before she reverted to uncomfortably defending science). When an actual world-class expert (paleontologist Jack Horner) called in and tried to play along, Mulaney — who seemed not to know who he was — hung up on him. Some guests, like Molly Shannon and Robby Hoffman, come to the show prepared, armed with research and ready to play on their own terms. But most default toward mirroring Mulaney's energy as best they can — which often means more joking about the callers, which creates a feedback loop that tilts the balance toward Wily, Acerbic, Kind of Mean John. Acerbic John can be fun. It's instructive to watch Mulaney's snap judgments in action, as when he hung up on a caller in the 'Cruises' episode because his anecdote sounded too rehearsed: 'You've added little tags, it's become a yarn and we don't have time,' he said. But his gorilla side needs more absorbing work. (Maybe the key is inviting two experts instead of one and setting them up to disagree?) As it stands, the speed with which Mulaney flips from one persona to another, which so impressed me in that delicious Clark-Tur segment, has started to seem more arbitrary than skillful. Half the suspense in 'Everybody's Live' is whether a caller is going to get Nice Host John or WAKOM John. At present, WAKOM is winning. That's fine, I guess, but it feels a little too easy. I wish he'd go back to using those powers on the city. Or his guests. Everybody's Live with John Mulaney airs Wednesdays on Netflix.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Tracy Morgan Wheeled From Knicks Game After Shock Medical Scare As ‘Sopranos' Star Steve Schirripa Looks On With Concern
Actor Tracy Morgan was wheeled out of Madison Square Garden during the New York Knicks game Monday (March 18) evening after vomiting at his court side seat. As he was taken away from the venue, Sopranos star Steve Schirripa stood nearby, watching Morgan be escorted from the game. Though the details surrounding Morgan's condition are limited, a photo was shared on social media of the actor throwing up in his court side seat, beside MSG Network broadcasters Kenny Albert and Walter Clyde Frazier. The photo showed Morgan being tended to by someone who appeared concerned. The incident caused a delay in the third quarter as Morgan received medical attention by arena staff and the area was cleaned up. A video later shared on social media also showed Morgan being escorted away from the court in a wheelchair and holding a towel to his face as he reportedly began suffering a nose bleed. According to the user, Morgan 'could barely stand up.' Schirripa could also be seen standing nearby as MSG staff tended to Morgan with a concerned expression on his face. Morgan, who recently appeared on John Mulaney's live Netflix talk show Everybody's in L.A., is a diehard fan of the New York City Knicks and can be regularly seen sitting court side at their Madison Square Garden games. 'We hope Tracy feels better soon and look forward to seeing him back courtside,' an MSG spokesperson told The New York Post. Knicks player Josh Hart also said, 'We hope everything is good with Tracy Morgan, avid lifetime Knicks fan, so prayers go out to him and his health and safety.' Ben Stiller, who is also an avid Knicks fan and has been photographed court side with Morgan, also wished the comedian well. 'Sending good thoughts to Tracy Morgan,' he wrote on X. In 2014, Morgan was the victim of a near-fatal car accident that left him in a coma with a broken leg and claimed the life of his collaborator and friend, Jimmy Mack. The comedian later said in his 2017 Netflix special Staying Alive that he suffered a 'traumatic brain injury' and several injuries. 'I broke every bone in my face, my ribs. I pulverized my femur. I'm from the ghetto, and after I came out the coma I was blind for a week, and where I come from you don't want to be blind for a second. All kinds of s— started coming up missing in my hospital room,' he said, per Entertainment Weekly. It was recently announced that Morgan would be reuniting with his 30 Rock co-star Tina Fey for a new NBC series following a disgraced former football player on a mission to rehabilitate his image. Daniel Radcliffe, Bobby Moynihan, and Erika Alexander will also star.
New York Times
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
John Mulaney Says His New Show Is Netflix's Mistake
Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night's highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now . Netflix launched its new late-night show, 'Everybody's Live with John Mulaney,' on Wednesday. In his monologue, Mulaney promised 12 episodes of a 'jazzlike, unpredictable talk show.' 'I'm not gonna lie — we've been working on this episode all day. Some crew got here as early as 9 a.m.' — JOHN MULANEY 'I can't do coke or Adderall anymore, so I'm making it your problem. Will this show get my heart rate up to the level where I feel alive? We shall see.' — JOHN MULANEY The comedian reminded viewers that he'd had an earlier show with a similar concept: a six-episode live series called 'Everybody's in L.A.' that ended last May. While fans enjoyed its unpredictability, the show's name was a turnoff in Netflix screen tests, he said: 'It turns out that people around the country don't like L.A.' 'After the fires, I said, 'Maybe they like us more now,' so we tested it again, and it turns out, no. People still didn't.' — JOHN MULANEY 'Netflix actually picked up this show by accident. They thought that it was a true-crime documentary because I look like a disappeared boy.' — JOHN MULANEY Mulaney also referred to his much-scrutinized personal life with his wife, the actress Olivia Munn, and their two young children before moving on to the night's guests. 'Yes, I have two children now. One was controversial; one you all seem to be cool with, so thank you so much for that.' — JOHN MULANEY 'Trump just announced he's firing 50 percent of the Department of Education. Even worse, Trump said, 'Don't worry, the other 60 percent will still have jobs.'' — JIMMY FALLON 'Trump, really, he's Thanos-ed the Department of Education.' — JIMMY KIMMEL 'The new secretary of education is Linda McMahon, who's married to Vince McMahon of the W.W.E. Could you imagine getting fired by the wife of the disgraced wrestling meathead? Don't let the folding chair hit you on the way out.' — JIMMY KIMMEL Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
NBC News
12-03-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC News
Netflix dives into the talk show realm with 'Everybody's Live With John Mulaney'
Live from Los Angeles, it's John Mulaney. The comedian's new talk show debuts on Netflix on Wednesday night, marking the streaming giant's latest push into live broadcasting. 'Everybody's Live With John Mulaney' will run weekly for 12 episodes with its first featuring musician Joan Baez, actors Michael Keaton and Fred Armisen, and San Francisco Chronicle personal finance columnist Jessica Roy. Live programming has been a hit for Netflix, but Mulaney enters the late-night scene at a time when the biggest shows have found serious competition for attention from a rising crop of internet-native voices who are increasingly making their way to TV screens. Celebrities remain a mainstay on talk shows but are just as likely to generate buzzy moments when appearing on popular podcasts like Alex Cooper's 'Call Her Daddy' or 'The Joe Rogan Experience.' The comedian appears unfazed by the challenges of the late-night format. 'We will never be relevant,' Mulaney joked to reporters at Next on Netflix in January. 'We will never be your source for news. We will always be reckless. Netflix will always provide us with data that we will ignore.' The data for most of Netflix's live programming has been pretty good. The platform drew in huge audiences for its first NFL games on Christmas Day (which featured a halftime show headlined by Beyoncé), as well as its hyped boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul. Last year, Mulaney's six-part live comedy special, 'John Mulaney Presents: Everybody's in L.A.,' also proved to be a hit for Netflix, helping pave the way for the new, nonlimited series. With its new talk show, there's few live TV formats Netflix hasn't tried. 'It was inevitable that Netflix was going to do this,' said Robert Thompson, a professor of television and pop culture at Syracuse University. 'I think just like anything else, streaming companies are saying: 'We've done dramas very successfully. We've done comedies. What about this other major genre, which is late-night comedy?' Others have already seen success. HBO's "Real Time With Bill Maher," for example, is now in its 23rd season. For Netflix to stand out, it will likely need to experiment with the format, Thompson said. The show has to 'figure out, how do we do this differently when people aren't simply watching it at 11:30 at night?' Thompson said. If Mulaney is successful, he can help transform the old-fashioned familiar genre. Having Mulaney's show 'air' only once a week is part of that effort. Like with 'Everybody's in L.A.,' Mulaney plans to feature a mix of celebrities, comedians, experts and academics with his new show. Richard Kind will return as Mulaney's sidekick and emcee. Saymo, the delivery bot from 'Everybody's in L.A.,' will also be featured. Mulaney said he will continue to take calls from viewers. The streaming service has a long-standing relationship with the Emmy - winning Mulaney, who has had five of his stand-up specials on the service. In recent years, the former 'Saturday Night Live' writer has become even more of a household name, elevating his comedy with candor about getting sober; falling in love with his now-wife, Olivia Munn; and fatherhood. Mulaney serves as the new talk show's host, co-showrunner and executive producer through his company, Multiple Camera Productions. Late-night shows have been a mainstay for the broadcast networks going back many decades but suffered declines in viewership and ad revenue in recent years. Some shows have downsized. And while the internet has eaten into the relevance of late-night shows, it has also offered them a new way to reach people. Some of the genre's success now comes when it repurposes standout moments from episodes for the internet. 'Late-night television shows have managed to survive because you can slice and dice, chop them up and put them onto streaming,' Thompson said. 'We've had over 60 years of real success with this type of programming,' Thompson added. 'Streaming is going to have to adjust how we watch it, but it seems too rich of a mine to not to continue to try and get stuff out of.'
Los Angeles Times
10-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
John Mulaney returns to late night with Netflix's ‘Everybody's Live.' Here's what we know
John Mulaney is returning to late-night television after the success of his oddball, one-week-only show 'Everybody's in L.A.' which debuted on Netflix last year. Although he was clear that the first show was strictly a six-episode gig, it appears its popularity enticed both the streamer and the stand-up comedian to invest in a series with a more regular cadence. Titled 'Everybody's Live With John Mulaney,' the live show will premiere Wednesday at 7 p.m. PT and run for 12 consecutive weeks. On Monday, Mulaney announced via social media that the first episode will feature actor Michael Keaton, legendary folk singer-songwriter Joan Baez, comedian pal Fred Armisen and personal finance columnist and former Times editor Jessica Roy as guests. Hip-hop group Cypress Hill will be the musical guest. In an interview with 'CBS Sunday Morning,' Mulaney said the live aspect of the show was what excited him the most. The stakes make it a fun challenge, he said. 'It's a fun feeling to know that, hopefully, a lot of people are watching and it's live globally with no delay, and you could really damage your career,' he said. Mulaney is serving as host, co-showrunner and executive producer through his company, Multiple Camera Productions. Netflix's tagline for the show jokingly dubs it 'the first-ever celebrity sit-down talk show.' 'We will never be relevant. We will never be your source for news. We will always be reckless. Netflix will always provide us with data that we will ignore,' Mulaney told press after the show's premiere date was revealed at a Netflix presentation in January. The comedian, whose brand was, at one point, largely tied to being a New Yorker, now resides in Los Angeles. He showed off his interest in the city in 'Everybody's in L.A.,' highlighting local experts and issues and taking live calls from Angelenos. 'Everybody's in L.A.' had a starkly '70s aesthetic, from the living room decor adorning the stage to Mulaney's suits. The show also drew upon the sketch humor of 'Saturday Night Live,' where Mulaney worked as a writer for several years before making it big in stand-up. A brief promo for 'Everybody's Live' shows Mulaney standing outside a studio lot next to an old car running with the door open, indicating that this series will match the randomness of its predecessor. 'Netflix just made a deal with the devil,' Mulaney says as the ultra-wide shot zooms in on him. ''Everybody's Live With John Mulaney' starts March 12, Wednesday night. Talk show!' The camera then shoots into a tight shot of him whipping his sunglasses off (it's pitch black outside). A second teaser features the same wide shot as Mulaney asks off-camera crew to let him know when the shot is tight enough for him to start talking. Beyond the aesthetic, other elements of 'Everybody's in L.A.' will bleed into 'Everybody's Live.' That includes his sidekick and emcee, Richard Kind, and the show's delivery bot, Saymo. 'We're having trouble finding Saymo, so we just keep ordering Shastas and ginger ales and hoping that he'll roll up,' Mulaney said at the January presentation. 'Richard and I met through a real-life 'Baby Reindeer' scenario. He kept showing up where I worked and I decided to incorporate him into my life.' The new series also will feature a mix of celebrities, comedians, experts and academics, as 'Everybody's in L.A.' did. Many of Mulaney's comedy peers made appearances, including Jon Stewart, Jerry Seinfeld, Nate Bargatze and Sarah Silverman. They joined seismologist Lucy Jones, paleontologist Emily Lindsey, hypnotherapist Kerry Gaynor and other specialists on Mulaney's guest couches, creating some unexpected pairings and unpredictable conversations. Mulaney promised more odd couples will join him for the new show. 'Everybody's Live' will be the latest in a long-standing collaboration between Mulaney and Netflix. The show will join his comedy specials, a 2019 variety special called 'John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch' and other projects on the streaming service.
