‘Late Night’s’ Sal Gentile on the Writers’ Strike

The Last Laugh

The Daily Beast

Comedy Interviews, Comedy, Interviews, Tv & Film, Society & Culture, Tv, Movies, Film

4.6 • 661 Ratings

🗓️ 9 May 2023

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

One week into the WGA strike, it’s time for a closer look at what’s at stake for the writers who entertain us on a daily basis. And there’s no one better to break it all down than ‘Late Night with Seth Meyers’ writer Sal Gentile. In this episode, the man behind Meyers’ “A Closer Look” segments talks about both the immediate and potentially lasting impact of the strike on late-night TV, what it’s been like out there on the picket lines, and how long he thinks this thing could last. Gentile also shares the story behind his unique path from cable news to late-night, reveals how he ended up creating the most consistently funny and informative segment in late-night and recalls the time he got to go “toe-to-toe” with Larry David in a behind-the-scenes sketch.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	My guest this week is the secret weapon behind the most consistently funny and informative
0:06.0	segment on late night television.
0:08.2	When you pull back from the craziness of this week, one thing is clear.
0:12.5	Trumpism is a giant loser for the GOP.
0:14.7	It's not working.
0:15.7	People don't want it.
0:16.7	And they keep making that clear in election after election after election, and the Republicans
0:19.2	won't give up.
0:19.8	I have no idea what people like Marjorie Taylor Green
0:21.7	are thinking. I can't get inside her head. Although if I could, I bet I would say it was...
0:25.9	Repulsive. It smells bad. And I just, I think it's a terrible place.
0:30.9	This is then. I close your life.
0:36.6	This is the last laugh.
0:42.9	I'm Matt Wilstein from The Daily Beast,
0:45.0	and that was Seth Myers, delivering his signature a closer look segment.
0:49.1	No, Seth is not on today's show.
0:51.2	That will have to wait for another time.
0:53.1	But I am very excited to have
0:55.0	as my guest, the man who writes every single one of those pieces, Sal Gentile. As you may have
1:00.9	heard, we are about one week into a writer's strike that is already having an enormous impact on the
1:05.8	entertainment world, most immediately on late night TV, which has gone dark as WGA members like Sal hit the picket lines to protest for fairer wages and a more secure future.
1:16.5	It's an incredibly important issue that I did not want to ignore on this podcast, so I'm thrilled that Sal agreed to take a break from his work on the front lines of this fight
	...

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