The 10 Late-Night TV Moments That Defined the Decade
Ten years ago, the “late-night wars” were at their peak. Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien were battling for The Tonight Show as David Letterman chuckled from the sidelines. Jimmy Kimmel was still that immature dude from The Man Show who had trouble booking A-list guests. And Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert were at the top of their game on Comedy Central.
A lot has changed in the decade since.
Letterman walked away from network TV and now produces about six interviews a year for Netflix, paving the way for the “real” Colbert to dominate the late-night ratings in a way he never could before. In an oddly prescient move, Stewart stepped down before he was forced to cover the Trump era. And a new generation of late-night stars, mostly culled from The Daily Show’s ranks, has descended on cable and streaming to fill the void Stewart left behind.