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Host
Chris Hardwick
Broadcast (Comedy Central)
@midnight-chris-hardwick-comedy-central-funny-or-die-600x369
@Midnight withy Chris Hardwick
Pilot Season: 10/21/2013 – 11/14/2013
Official Series: 1/6/2014 – 8/4/2017
Packager
Funny or Die

@midnight (also known as @midnight with Chris Hardwick) was a late night comedy competition strip that used the day's biggest stories in social media and pop culture to challenge three comedians to make witty and outrageous comments, as they competed to be crowned the funniest of the night.

Format[]

Three guests competed in a series of Internet-themed improv games. "Rapid Refresh" was a game where contestants crafted a funny response or chose an answer based on an Internet meme or trending news headline. On Thursdays during the run-up to the 2016 presidential primaries, this round was alternately referred to as "Panderdome" and focused on the candidates' gaffes and antics.[1] Other games run daily included "Hashtag Wars" in which contestants buzzed in with a phrase based on the given hashtag theme, and where fans could submit their own tweets which could show up in the game,[2] and "Live Challenges" where the contestants wrote their answers over the commercial break. Hardwick would shout "Points!" and give the contestants arbitrary amounts.[2]

Towards the end of the game, the third-place contestant was eliminated, the scores were wiped with a gesture, and the remaining two contestants would play the final round called "FTW (For The Win)".[3] Hardwick would read a question and the contestants would write down a response. The responses would then be read back anonymously and the winner would be decided by one whose response generated the most laughter/applause from the studio audience. The winner "won the Internet for the next 23.5 hours".[3]

Recurring games[]

  • Audio Quiz – The panelists had to identify the source of a sound from a list of possibilities.
  • Confession Bear – Hardwick would give the panel partial confessions from Reddit that used the Confession Bear meme, and the panelists had to complete them.
  • Cringe-Worthy – Based on the popular Reddit forum of the same name, the panelists would come up with three-word phrases to make Hardwick cringe.
  • Defriend Me – The panelists would create Facebook statuses that would lead to Hardwick removing them as friends.
  • eBay Price Is Right – The panelists would attempt to guess the "buy it now" price of strange items for sale on eBay in the style of The Price is Right.
  • Etsy Pitchmen – The panelists would write taglines to boost the appeal of bizarre Etsy products.
  • Free on Craigslist – A sixty-second game where the panelists would list things they would give away for free.
  • Goth Confessions – The panelists had to guess which admissions goth kids made in their YouTube videos.
  • Iron Sheik: Real or Jabroni – Hardwick would read a topic that The Iron Sheik had tweeted about, and the contestants had to decide if the wrestler loved or hated the subject. The tweet was read after the contestant was told they were right or wrong.
  • JuggalOK Cupid – The panelists had to figure out which bizarre OKCupid dating profile description of a Juggalo was real.
  • Linked Out: The panelists would come up with ridiculous job titles that one might find on LinkedIn.
  • Name That Vine – The panelists would name the shown Vine video.
  • Photobomb – The panelists would decide if an edited out photobomb was creepy or cute.
  • Rich Cat or Poor Cat – The panelists would decide if it was a cash cat or a cat being humiliated someone else on the internet.
  • Sweet Emoji – The panelists would translate emoji sentences.
  • Texts from Last Night – The panelists would respond to embarrassing drunk text messages.
  • Thug Life or Hug Life – The panelists were shown the image of a child from a YouTube video and had to guess whether the video content would be thug or cute hug worthy.
  • Troll Your Luck - The panelists spin on a Press Your Luck-like board full of celebrities and whammies, if they stop on a celebrity, they have to roast one of their tweets, if they stop on a whammy, they have to roast one of their own tweets.
  • TumblReality – The panelists had to figure out which bizarre Tumblr blog title was real.
  • Tumblr? I Hardly Know Her – The panelists would think up new Tumblr blogs that were just strange enough to be real.
  • Yahoo Answers – Hardwick would ask the panelists to come up with funnier responses than the ones on Yahoo! Answers.

Other gimmicks[]

The @midnight website provided a complete list of guests who had appeared on the show to date with a Leaderboard that indicated who appeared the most and who had the most wins.[4][5]

Guests[]

  • Doug Benson
  • Natasha Leggero
  • Kumail Nanjiani
  • Kurt Braunohler
  • Andy Daly
  • James Adomian
  • June Daphne Raphael
  • Kyle Kinane
  • Tom Lennon

Future Reboot[]

On February 7, 2023, it was announced that a remake of this show is expected to replace the late night talk show The Late Late Show with James Corden[6][7]on CBS when its' host Corden leaves (along with ending the franchise itself running for 28 years which was on April 27, 2023) produced by fellow late night talk show host Stephen Colbert as a maneuver that would cut costs and also revive a programming concept controlled by the network's parent company Paramount Global. In addition, Chris Hardwick is not believed nor expected to be in the running to host the new edition, according to one of the people familiar with discussions. CBS is said to prefer a female host and is also pushing to make sure that talent in front of and behind the camera is diverse and hails from a range of backgrounds. On November 1, 2023, it was announced that the reboot of the show will be re-titled After Midnight[8]and will be premiered somewhere in early 2024. In addition, three comedians named Taylor Tomlinson, X Mayo & Ricky Velez were in the running as one of the three candidates[9]as the new hosts. On the same day, it was announced that Tomlinson[10]will be the permanent host of the future reboot. On January 4, 2024[11]it was official titled After Midnight with Taylor Tomlinson Or @fter Midnight with Taylor Tomlinson is set to debut on January 16, 2024.

Studio[]

Hollywood Center Studios

References[]

Link[]

Official Site

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