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The last few weeks have been eventful and weird for late night.
TheCinderellaCrosswalk has beenrelentlessly mocked and memed on Twitter.
The Mulaney interview has beenobsessed overon TikTok.
It is the most people have cared about late-night TV since the presidential election.
Alas, the wordparasocialhas been bubbling around in my brain for the past week or so.
Lately,peoplehave beendraggingfolks who have parasocial relationships with celebrities, specifically Mulaney.
the smart kids say.
But people arent dumb to create parasocial relationships.
Just look at YouTube, Twitter, and Twitch.
How else can you get your fanbase to follow you from one dying platform to another?
This puts late night in a very weird spot.
Late-night talk shows used to be the main intimate relationship viewers had with celebrities.
He was the guy you knew, and he would mediate your relationship with all the other celebs.
He would introduce you to stars, friends of friends: Have you met my buddy Truman Capote?
Hes weird as hell, but hes okay once you get to know him.
They cant plugCinderellaif their particular brand of intimacy doesnt convey that friend introducing you to a friend energy.
But in the Mulaney interview, Meyers isnt the relatable guy with the famous friend.
Its two relatable guys.
You, the viewer, are another of those friends.
MulaneysLate Nightinterviewis, in many ways, a YouTubersapology video.
He isnt necessarily apologizing, but most YouTubers dont actually apologize in those videos either.
We are given an explanation for what happened a much longer explanation than the usual talk-show interview.
And we are given more behind-the-scenes information to keep the aesthetics of intimacy in place.
This is why we know the guest list of Mulaneys intervention, which included Meyers.
Many people became aware ofYouTuber culture and aestheticsduring COVID lockdown when traditional media was unsafe to make.
Its presentational versus representational aesthetics, the same reason stand-ups gain a following for being real.
