Quote

I feel my shows are like a late-night talk show that we settle down and do every night.

The best thing that I bring in my live show is that it's not scripted. It's more of a conversation with my audience. And that's what people like about the show - it's very real. There are mistakes and laughter.

I think it's a lot easier to put together a reality show than to actually create a scripted show.

The truth is, we have this idea that late night is about creativity and being cool, but that's not our job. Our job is to get as many people watching the commercials in between our show. That's the reality of it.

What I find frustrating about scripted television is that it's rare that you are surprised by how you feel about the character, or how you feel about the show.

Then again, they're not scripted and I feel it's virtually impossible to be anything but yourself when you're in front of the cameras and cooking so there is a measure of truth in what you see.

I've been on shows where they're just setting it up, and they're trying to find the tone of the writing and performance. That's always a really chaotic period on shows.

Almost as soon as it aired, 'Late Night' became one of the most buzzed-about shows on television.

In my whole career, in fact, I can remember only two first nights when a show was at its peak on the first night. And I just wish we could devise a system where critics came not on a single evening but were given a choice of performances to attend.

All great reality shows have a very, very similar format. That's why it was so easy to parody.