In the TV world I have always wondered why talk shows are so successful and why some talk shows have failed after next fall to make room for new talk shows. Is it because people have always liked talk shows because of the different subjects and celebrity interviews talk shows are known for? Or is it because the talk show genre is slowly dying and being replaced by cooking shows and game shows today? Take for instance in the 80's there were talk shows like Donahue which made Phil Donahue a huge successful talk show host and a big star in TV and then when Oprah Winfrey debuted her talk show in 1986 she became a star and one of the most popular celebrities in TV. Then when Sally Jessy Raphael debuted her talk show Sally Jessy Raphael became a success and her show scored a huge audience of fans. In the 90's while Phil Donahue and Sally Jessy Raphael and Oprah Winfrey were still huge celebrities with successful talk shows growing in popularity in syndication and with newcomers such as Jenny Jones Maury Povich and Jerry Springer debuting talk shows of their own the talk show world was indeed growing more popular in syndication. But we also saw a brand new type of talk show being introduced in the 90's that would continue to be a popular trend today which was celebrity talk shows that would introduce new hosts who would later be famous in other shows. Take for instance when The Mark Walberg Show debuted Mark Walberg became a huge star and after The Mark Walberg Show was cancelled Mark Walberg went on to be a successful star in game shows and now hosts Antiques Roadshow. A second celebrity that had a talk show was Danny Bonaduce and when he had his short-lived talk show Danny he was gonna be a talk show star and now ever since he was on The Partridge Family Danny Bonaduce is now a reality show star. And when Spanish talk show host Cristina had her talk show in English she was gonna attract a new audience of fans in English but it failed. And now with stars like Ellen DeGeneres and Harry Connick Jr. with successful talk shows of their own we just might be seeing a new breed of talk shows in the future and there should be a TV network that shows reruns of talk shows like Sally Jessy Raphael and Ricki Lake and Donahue and it would be a success for TV indeed. Do you think talk shows are changing their image to attract a new audience to TV?
Bestie

Late-night talk shows use a formula for writing a generic monologue joke (https://www.avclub.com/here-s-the-formula-for-writing-a-generic-late-night-jok-1823070220)
Slate made a video explaining the late-night joke writer's craft, identifying eight different triggers that result in audience laughter.

Four other talk shows in the 90's that suffered the same fate that could've been a huge hit were Gordon Elliott's talk show singer Carnie Wilson's talk show Carnie Tempestt Bledsoe's talk show Tempestt and The Bertice Berry Show and when Gordon Elliott's talk show debuted in the 90's Gordon Elliott was gonna be a big star coming off his success of hosting the 90's version of the game show To Tell The Truth but after Gordon Elliott's talk show got cancelled you never saw Gordon Elliott on TV again aside from appearing in Campbell's Soup commercials as a spokesman. Carnie Wilson's show Carnie was destined to be a hit but it too was short-lived and after that Carnie Wilson went on to be one of GSN's big stars and she is still a star. Tempestt Bledsoe was gonna appeal to to young adults with her talk show and it had a top audience but it suffered the same fate as the other mentioned talk shows and got cancelled too. And with celebrities making success in talk shows today I think this new type of talk shows are here to stay in the years ahead
Bestie