John Mulaney’s First Talk Show Guests Include Batman and Cypress Hill

My wife will often wax poetic about how malls will one day make a triumphant return. To be fair, many still exist, depending on where you live. I lived by no malls when I was an NYC resident. Just fifteen minutes away in New Jersey, I now live by two relatively active malls. One doesn’t open its doors until 11 AM most days and the other needs literal theme park rides to attract people, but they are both plugging along. Meanwhile, the mall I grew up visiting in Western Massachusetts is overcome by weeds and graffiti.

Most people would enjoy a mall if they had access to it, but the people in charge of them decided they weren’t financially viable. Online offerings overcame malls. People didn’t have to adhere to the mall’s schedule or limited selection, as they could find whatever they wanted on the internet. Still, when propped up by exciting attractions and unique stores, malls can pack them in, when they are available, to people willing to adjust their schedule. The same can be said for late-night talk shows.

I have spent plenty of time on this site discussing the slow but assured death of late-night talk shows. They dominated a corner of the television market for decades, and the proliferation of internet alternatives sped up their demise in a way that felt all but assured. However, they’ve still managed to hang on, with some hosts signing new contracts and others having to remove their house band to stay on the air. Podcasts also fill a need once held by talk shows, so how will they continue? John Mulaney, that’s how.

Mulaney has a lot of experience with late-night talk shows, some good and some bad. But the good is the most important. The former SNL writer took a lot of Netflix’s money last year to do John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in L.A., a riff on classic talk shows laden with guest stars and Mulaney’s comedic sensibilities. It was a massive success, reminding people why late-night shows are great (when they have appropriate resources and guests who aren’t forced upon them). So, given that Live TV has become the most valuable resource in the streaming era, Netflix ordered more.

Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney will stream live starting Wednesday, March 12th at 10 PM EST. It will be commercial-free when it’s live and feature ads when rewatched (unless you’re dropping them big Netflix bucks/forget to downgrade your subscription at some point). It will have all the same zaniness as Mulaney’s last effort, and the return of North American sexpot Richard Kind. The first guests will include Michael Keaton, Joan Baez, Fred Armisen, Cypress Hill, and personal finance columnist Jessica Roy because why not?! One of the strong aspects of the show is making sure Mulaney talks to people he’s actually interested in speaking to.

Most late-night shows can’t do what Mulaney is doing, for now. Streaming services have already toyed with recreating the magic of late-night, but Mulaney has been able to command what they need to get butts in seats. You need big guests and big bands. There’s no reason to adhere to a studio’s release schedules to book your stars. Talk to who you want to. If one of those people happens to be Batman, even better. But if regular shows want to keep up, they’ll have to pull out all the stops as well, lest they be reclaimed by nature.