Seth Meyers’ new Netflix special lets you skip the Trump jokes
Seth Meyers thinks some comedy fans may be burned out by DC politics, so he asked Netflix to help him do something about it.
The late night host’s new comedy special “Lobby Baby” debuts on Netflix on Tuesday, and in it there will be a segment in which Meyers shifts from jokes about his personal life to punchlines about President Trump, one of his favorite targets on his NBC talk show “Late Night.”
But for those who are sick of comedy that’s tainted by politics, Meyers told CNN Business that he asked Netflix to create a button for viewers to opt out of watching that segment, in the same way Netflix users can bypass the introduction credits with the “skip intro” button at the top of some of its programs.
“It dawned on me that because it was on Netflix, there would be this opportunity to put in technology that would allow people to skip it,” he said. “It was a way to build in the response to anyone who would say, ‘Oh, let me guess there’s going to be jokes about the President.'”
Robbie Praw, Netflix’s director of original standup comedy programming, told CNN Business in an email that Meyers came to the company with “this clever idea” and “we’re thrilled he was able to take advantage of the Netflix experience in such a funny and innovative way.”
Meyers, formerly a writer and cast member on “SNL,” has a history of lampooning Trump that started long before the President made it to the White House and Meyers became host of “Late Night.” At the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Meyers and President Obama took jabs at the then-host of “The Apprentice,” who watched stone-faced from the audience. Some speculate that Trump’s road to the White House was spurred by the mockery he faced that night.
The Trump jokes continue to be a regular feature on “Late Night,” which Meyers started hosting in 2014. The following year, Meyers introduced the longform segment “A Closer Look,” which takes a deeper dive into political stories in the news. He told CNN’s Jake Tapper last month that he had to hire more researchers after Trump was elected to help him parse through the deluge of political news.
With Trump taking up so much of the news, does Meyers need his own “skip politics” button in real life? Not really, according to the comedian.
“I’m burned out from some politicians,” he said. “But I’m not burned out on politics.”
The skip button is not meant to be taken seriously, according the Meyers, calling it “another joke in the special.” And he doesn’t think viewers of “Lobby Baby” will actually skip over his Trump jokes.
“I think, look, sometimes at a fancy restaurant they’ll put parsley on your plate and you’ll think, well, that’s a nice touch, but you’re not going to eat the parsley.” he said.
