In 1977, a live television broadcast goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation’s living rooms. A film by Colin Cairnes and Cameron Cairnes, starring David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss, Fayssal Bazzi, Ingrid Torelli, Rhys Auteri, Georgina Haig, and Josh Quong Tart.
Late Night with the DEVIL
Written and directed by Australian filmmakers Colin and Cameron Cairnes, Late Night with the Devil takes us on a trip down memory lane to a 1970s late-night talk show hosted by Jack Delroy who was once said to compete with The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the Tonight Show franchise. The show debuted in October 1962, and aired its final episode in May 1992. Carson received six Primetime Emmy Awards, the Television Academy’s 1980 Governor’s Award, and a 1985 Peabody Award. The series has been ranked as one of the greatest TV shows of all time.
The first episode of Night Owls airs on 4 April 1971. The network’s hopes for a late-night hit ride on the shoulders of the host, a popular Chicago radio announcer, Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian). Jack is married to the beloved stage actress Madeleine Piper (Georgina Haig), and they are considered one of showbiz’s happiest and most enduring couples.
However, after four seasons, Night Owls’ ratings still don’t match Johnny Carson’s. Despite having several nominations, Jack also fails to win any award. There is also a rumor that Jack is a member of The Grove, a men-only club established in the 1800s. Upfront, The Grove portrays itself as a summer camp for the rich and powerful, but speculation swirls around its taste for arcane ceremonies and its power to make or break careers.
Jack’s world crumbles when Madeleine is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Despite her illness, Madeleine makes a special appearance on the show a month later. That episode becomes the highest-rated episode in Night Owls history, but still falls one point short of Johnny Carson’s. After Madeleine’s passing, Jack flees New York to an unknown destination, disappearing from the media.
A month later, Jack returns to Night Owls. Jack and his longtime producer, Leo Fiske, (Josh Quong Tart) go out of their way to court controversy in an attempt to improve audience share. But the show’s ratings still keep falling far behind. Sponsors are nervous, and Jack’s contract is set to expire. Everything is on the line when Sweeps Week begins. Jack desperately plans a special episode, hoping it will turn his fortunes around.
Nielsen Ratings Sweeps Week refers to the specific weeks when Nielsen Media Research conducted surveys to measure television viewership habits in the United States. During these sweeps weeks, Nielsen interviewers asked households to participate in filling out a diary of the programs they watched for a one-week period. These ratings were crucial for determining local advertising rates for the entire year. The Nielsen Ratings system has been the primary source of television ratings in the United States since the 1950s, measuring what audiences are watching and influencing local ad rates. Higher ratings correlate to higher ad prices, motivating networks to boost their ratings during Sweeps Week.
In the sixth-season episode of “Night Owls with Jack Delroy,” which aired live on October 31, 1977, special guests included psychic Christou (Fayssal Bazzi), former magician Carmichael Haig (Ian Bliss), parapsychologist and author June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon), and June’s subject, Lilly D’Abo (Ingrid Torelli). Unexpected by anyone, this episode is about to become a live TV event that shocks the nation.
Late Night with the DEVIL is diabolically entertaining. The filmmakers know how to play with audiences’ expectations and deliver us a twisted and satisfying climax; all when we least expect it. Since the film plays itself off as found footage, there’s no need for explanation about the origin of the evil entity or its objective. It’s a fun rollercoaster ride from start to finish and could easily become another instant cult classic.
Late Night with the DEVIL premiered at SXSW on 10 March 2023. The film was theatrically released in United States and United Kingdom on 22 March 2024.
