Actor Vince Vaughn joined Tuesday’s episode of the This Past Weekend with Theo Von podcast, where the conversation eventually shifted to the state of comedy and the late night comedy shows in particular. According to Vaughn, the late night shows have gone downhill because they’ve become “agenda-based” and feel like you’re being forced to sit in a class you do not want to take or next to an annoying person on airplane.
The duo was discussing how comedians have become too worried about offending people when Von applied that idea to the late night shows, “I think it's one of the reasons why, like, I've seen a lot—why a lot of the late shows have struggled, because all they did…the only person they can make fun of at a certain point was just like white, redneck, kind of people, and it fucking tanked, and then everything tanked after that.”
Actor Vince Vaughn diagnoses the problem with late night comedy, "And so people just rejected it because it didn't feel authentic. It felt like they had an agenda. It stopped being funny and it started feeling like I was in, fucking, a class I didn't want to take....And they all… pic.twitter.com/cNivNOWaEg
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) March 25, 2026
After playing up the podcast medium as an alternative, Vaughn agreed, “I think that the talk shows to a large part became really agenda-based. They were gonna evangelical people to what they thought. You know what I mean? And so people just rejected it because it didn't feel authentic. It felt like they had an agenda. It stopped being funny, and it started feeling like I was in, fucking, a class I didn't want to take.”
Vaughn continued by casting doubt on other explanations of late night’s downfall, “Do you know what I mean? I’m getting scolded. The phenomenon isn't what they say. They always blame technology. But the reality is it's the approach. You know, someone could go watch a stand-up at Madison Square Garden, and they want to go 'cause it feels dangerous. The crowd is alive. I don't know what Theo's gonna do or say, and I love taking that experience. So it's fun. I don't want to stay home and watch it on a TV because I want to experience that live.”
He further claimed, “And I think people are gonna tune into a podcast more so because they want to feel like people are having a real conversation. It's interesting to them. But if you look at what happened to the talk shows and why their ratings are low, it's got only to do with the fact of what you just said, which is they all became the same show. And they all became so about their politics and who's good and who's bad, and it's like, imagine sitting next to someone like that on a fucking plane.”
Von and Vaughn are largely correct. Liberal comedy preaches the idea that the comedian should not “punch down,” but instead “punch up” at powerful people or institutions. However, who is up and who is down is largely dependent on the perspective of the comedian. As such, the late night shows tell 82 percent of their jokes about conservatives when a Democrat is president and 92 percent when a Republican is president. That’s simply “punching right” for the sake of advancing a liberal agenda, and in a day and age where comedy material is everywhere, people who do not wish to be given a liberal lecture can get their comedic material elsewhere.
Here is a transcript for the March 24 show:
This Past Weekend with Theo Von: Vince Vaughn
3/24/2026
THEO VON: I think it's one of the reasons why, like, I've seen a lot—why a lot of the late shows have struggled, because all they did—
VINCE VAUGHN: Oh, bro. Bro. Bro.
VON: —During like, all they did, the only person they can make fun of—
VAUGHN: Bro.
VON: —at a certain point was just like white, redneck, kind of people, and it fucking tanked, and then everything tanked after that.
VAUGHN: Think about that, let's see, they never get it right. The podcasts have gotten so much more popular with less production, less writers, less staff.
VON: Oh yeah.
VAUGHN: The reason why is—
VON: I mean, we have two people working here and both of them are hung over and one guy has shingles.
VAUGHN: But the place is clean. I like that, you keep a clean place.
VON: Thank you, yeah, we did vacuum.
VAUGHN: But, yeah, because people want authenticity.
VON: Yeah.
VAUGHN: And I think that the talk shows to a large part became really agenda-based.
VON: Yeah.
VAUGHN: They were gonna evangelical people to what they thought. You know what I mean? And so people just rejected it because it didn't feel authentic. It felt like they had an agenda. It stopped being funny, and it started feeling like I was in, fucking, a class I didn't want to take.
VON: Yeah.
VAUGHN: Do you know what I mean?
VON: Oh, for sure.
VAUGHN: I’m getting scolded. A hundred percent.
VON: Yeah.
VAUGHN: A hundred percent. And so I think that's—the phenomenon isn't what they say. They always blame technology. But the reality is it's the approach. You know, someone could go watch a stand-up at Madison Square Garden, and they want to go 'cause it feels dangerous. The crowd is alive.
I don't know what Theo's gonna do or say, and I love taking that experience. So it's fun. I don't want to stay home and watch it on a TV because I want to experience that live.
VON: Right. And I want it pure.
VAUGHN: And when it appears where you're coming from. That's the main point. And I think people are gonna tune into a podcast more so because they want to feel like people are having a real conversation. It's interesting to them. But if you look at what happened to the talk shows and why their ratings are low, it's got only to do with the fact of what you just said, which is they all became the same show.
VON: Yeah.
VAUGHN: And they all became so about their politics and who's good and who's bad, and it's like, imagine sitting next to someone like that on a fucking plane.
