Trump, Williams, Jenner among TV’s most eye-popping in 2015
NEW YORK >> It’s been a year of shifting sands in late night. A year of broken trust in two vastly different TV personalities. And a year when presidential debates became must-see TV.
Here’s a rundown of 10 big television happenings in 2015:
SAY ‘GOOD NIGHT’: Late-night TV’s transformation began in January, when Larry Wilmore’s new “Nightly Show” claimed the Comedy Central slot previously held by Stephen Colbert’s “Colbert Report.” Then in February, Jon Stewart announced he was leaving Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” and, in July, he did. In March, James Corden took over CBS’ “Late Late Show” and Trevor Noah was declared the incoming host of “The Daily Show,” debuting in September. In May, David Letterman retired from CBS’ “Late Show” and, in September, Colbert arrived as its new host.
RATINGS EMPIRE: Fox’s “Empire” premiered in January and quickly became a rip-roaring success. Its audience grew every week through its May season finale — a virtually unprecedented feat — and it launched Taraji P. Henson’s fearless, outrageous Cookie
as the year’s breakout character, complete with a reallife fashion line. Meanwhile, stars from Mariah Carey and Cuba Gooding Jr. to Pitbull and Marisa Tomei were lining up to guest on the show. All in all, a rare case of a broadcast-network drama truly shaking things up.
STREAMS GLEAM: Streaming was where the TV action was this year as an increasing number of viewers gleefully cut the cable cord (or at least fantasized about it) while plugging into outlets like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu, which all upped their stake in original content. Newcomers kept viewers’ heads spinning, including the Spanish-language Univision Now channel and, now in beta, the comedy channel Seeso. Meanwhile, CBS’ All Access streamingvideo service grabbed viewers’ attention by announcing that early in 2017 it would be the exclusive U.S. home for a brand-new “Star Trek” series.
ANCHOR AWAY: Trusted NBC “Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams, who reported so credibly on wars for NBC News, got caught fudging his own stories as a guest on “Late Show” and elsewhere. His was a precipitous fall from grace (and the top tier of NBC News) as he was benched and replaced by Lester Holt. Though he would continue to be banned from NBC, he was eventually deemed sufficiently trustworthy to play on second-string MSNBC, where he quietly emerged from hiding in September.
A COKE AND A SMILE: May marked the end of “Mad Men,” a drama that made its network, AMC, golden while helping certify television as the artistic equal of film. After seven seasons plotting the style, agita and misbehavior of the ‘60s white-collar class, it concluded in properly shrewd fashion: Don Draper (series star Jon Hamm), who had dropped out of the ad game in despair, was struck with his own brand of consciousness-raising while he meditated at a yoga retreat, then returned home armed with a New Age epiphany for a classic Coke commercial. (Another beloved series, “Downton Abbey,” was winding down for its final season in early 2016.)
‘19 KIDS’ DOWN FOR THE COUNT:
Trouble hit the long-running TLC reality show “19 Kids and Counting” after the oldest of the Duggar brood, 27-year-old Josh, became the subject of revelations that, as a teenager, he had fondled four of his sisters and a baby sitter.