“Late Night Joy”
The first season of five episodes, which originally aired on TLC, is currently On Demand. No word on when the second season will begin.
Of all the entities on the television landscape, TLC may be one of the least likely to enter the late-night fray. But the network that brought you “Jon & Kate Plus 8,” “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” and the Duggars has done just that.
Joy Behar, longtime co-host of the ABC daytime talk show “The View,” is the centerpiece of TLC’s “Late Night Joy.” The weekly half-hour program has completed its five-episode first-season run, but is still available via the On Demand option of many service providers. No word yet on when the second season may begin.
The show is unlike any other in late night.
“Late Night Joy” is filmed entirely in Behar’s New York City apartment. There’s no studio audience, no band, no monologue — although there are plenty of laughs — just friends talking in a casual, relaxed setting. The show also features Behar’s longtime pal, comedian/actress Susie Essman.
As Behar explains in the show’s intro: “At the end of the day, my favorite conversations are the ones that happen behind closed doors, at my place, with my real friends.”
It’s that simple, but it works because Behar and Essman are very funny, they share great chemistry and comic timing, and they bring out the best in their guests.
When the guests for the night arrive, they ring the doorbell and Behar gets up to answer it, just as if it were someone arriving for a dinner party. Unlike other late-night talk shows, there’s very little talking directly to the camera — only in brief cut-away moments, in which Behar comments on something we just saw in the preceding segment.
Behar is such a natural as a late-night host, it makes you wonder why it’s taken this long for it to happen. The 73-year-old, who has long been the funniest, most entertaining personality on “The View,” was a stand-up comedian for many years before settling into her role alongside Barbara Walters and Co.
“Late Night Joy” represents a sort of blurring of the line between the late-night genre and reality TV.
In one segment, Behar sets up her former assistant with one of the cameramen who was shooting the show in her apartment. In the same way that reality TV hooks you and reels you in, this made for a compelling scene.
The show also features some touching, genuine moments. When guest Alex Guarnaschelli, of “Iron Chef America,” was lamenting the pitfalls of being single Essman responded with some heartfelt advice.
“You are absolutely breathtakingly beautiful,” Essman told Guarnaschelli. “You’re smart, you’re funny, you’re extremely accomplished. The right man will come along. But you don’t want to settle for the wrong one.”
On another episode, talk-show host Wendy Williams mentioned that she thinks it’s bad luck to purchase a house from people who had a tumultuous marriage.
“I guess I’m never buying my parents’ house,” Essman joked.
Essman, who stole many scenes during her years on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” is a key part of the appeal of “Late Night Joy.” A regular on each episode, Essman fills the role as a sort of sidekick.
“I know Susie almost as long as I know my husband, which is like 32 years at this point. We’re BFFs,” Behar told viewers. “I mean, we’re like Gayle and Oprah, same idea.”
Except there’s no studio audience to whom to give away cars.
