| Alt Name: | @midnight with Chris Hardwick |
| Genre: | Improvisational comedy |
| Presenter: | Chris Hardwick |
| Theme Music Composer: | Mike Farrell |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 4 + 1 pilot season |
| Num Episodes: | 600 |
| List Episodes: | List of @midnight episodes |
| Location: | Hollywood Center Studios, Los Angeles, California |
| Runtime: | 22 minutes |
| Channel: | Comedy Central |
| Related: | After Midnight (TV series) |
@midnight with Chris Hardwick (shortened to and formerly exclusively titled @midnight) is an American late night Internet-themed panel game show, hosted by Chris Hardwick,[1] that aired Monday through Thursday nights between October 21, 2013, and August 4, 2017, on Comedy Central.[2] [3] It was syndicated internationally in Australia on SBS2 and The Comedy Channel, in the United Kingdom on Comedy Central Extra, and in Canada formerly on MuchMusic and later on The Comedy Network.
@midnight received a nomination for Outstanding Interactive Program at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards.[4] It received a nomination and win for Outstanding Social TV Experience at the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards.[5]
On July 18, 2017, Comedy Central, Chris Hardwick, and Funny or Die mutually agreed to end @midnight with Chris Hardwick.[6] The final episode, the 600th, aired on August 4, 2017.[7] In February 2023, it was reported that Comedy Central's current sister broadcast network CBS was considering a revival of @midnight to serve as a replacement for The Late Late Show after the end of James Corden's tenure. On November 1, 2023, executive producer Stephen Colbert announced Taylor Tomlinson will be the host of the rebooted panel talk show, rebranded as After Midnight, accounting for the 12:30am timeslot.
Three guests compete in a series of Internet-themed improv games. "Rapid Refresh" is a game where contestants craft a funny response or choose 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.[8] Other games run daily include "Hashtag Wars" in which contestants buzz in with a phrase based on the given hashtag theme, and where fans can submit their own tweets which may show up in the game, and "Live Challenges" where the contestants write their answers over the commercial break. Hardwick would shout "Points!" and give the contestants arbitrary amounts.[9]
Towards the end of the game, the third-place contestant is eliminated (with some rare exceptions), the scores are erased with a gesture, and the remaining two contestants play the final round called "FTW (For The Win)"[10] 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 generates the most laughter/applause from the studio audience. The winner "wins the Internet for the next 23.5 hours".[10]
The @midnight website provided a complete list of guests who have appeared on the show to date with a leaderboard that indicated who appeared the most and who had the most wins.[11] [12]
The initial pilot for the show was called "Tweeter Dome" and was hosted by Thomas Lennon. It was revamped with Chris Hardwick as host, and trialed in the summer before airing at The Meltdown Comics store backroom. Lennon remained as co-executive producer throughout the run.[13]
The show was shot on Stage 2 of the Hollywood Center Studios, where the CBS series I Love Lucy was originally shot.[14]
See main article: After Midnight (TV series). In February 2023, Deadline Hollywood reported that CBS (which, following the re-merger of CBS Corporation with Viacom, had once again became a sister to Comedy Central) was considering a revival of the series to replace The Late Late Show, after James Corden concluded his tenure on the program later in the year. The network had explored replacing the Late Late Show franchise with other, more cost-effective concepts besides a traditional late-night talk show. The report indicated that Stephen Colbert (who hosts its lead-in The Late Show, and formerly hosted Comedy Central's The Colbert Report) would serve as executive producer, and that Hardwick would not be involved.[15] Pre-production of the series was halted due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes.
In a June 2023 panel hosted by Deadline, CBS CEO George Cheeks stated that the network wanted to "experiment and try new things" in the post-Late Show timeslot, and explained of Colbert's involvement that "in a world when you're trying so hard to sort of drive awareness of the show's launch, to have Colbert, the number one late-night show, as executive producer and the integrated support he's going to have, because he's actually invested in the success of the show."[16] On November 1, 2023, CBS announced the revival under the title After Midnight for a premiere on January 16, 2024, with Jack Martin retained as showrunner alongside Eric Pierce.[17] On that night's episode of The Late Show, Colbert subsequently revealed stand-up comedian Taylor Tomlinson as the show's new host.[18]
During its initial 2013 run, the series averaged 453,000 viewers in the 18–49 ratings demographic, putting it above Bravo's Watch What Happens Live, E!'s Chelsea Lately, and TBS's The Pete Holmes Show.[19] It also had the youngest audience of any late-night television show.[20]
The week of February 17, 2014, was reported to be the show's highest rated to date; the show had 731,000 total viewers, and it tied The Daily Show as the most-watched late-night program on cable in the 18–34 demographic.[21]
| Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 Creative Arts Emmy Award | Outstanding Interactive Program | ||
| 2015 Creative Arts Emmy Award | Outstanding Interactive Program | ||
| Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media Social TV Experience | |||
| 2016 Creative Arts Emmy Award | Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media Social TV Experience | ||
| Year | Episodes | Season Premiere | Season Finale | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 16 | |||
| 2014 | 160 | |||
| 2015 | 161 | |||
| 2016 | 161 | |||
| 2017 | 102 | |||