Look out Brew City—Greg Gutfeldis rolling (and rocking) into town. The Fox News late night host is part of the wave of press crashing on Milwaukee during the 2024 Republican National Convention, unfolding at venues all over the Wisconsin metropolis from July 15-18. Gutfeld! will air live episodes at 11 p.m. from the Deer District entertainment complex during the RNC, the first time that the political comedy show has been a prominent part of a major election year event.
“It was an easy decision to make,” executive producerTom O’Connortells TVNewser about taking Gutfeld! to Wisconsin. “We’ve had success when we’ve gone on the road to places like Nashville and Dallas. There’s always a really good energy.”
The RNC shows will test that energy by adding the live component, something that the Gutfeld! has experimented with sparingly since the show launched in 2021. And O’Connor is well-aware of how comedy can kill—or be killed—in a live environment.
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“Sometimes you have a really hot crowd and sometimes you don’t,” he says matter-of-factly. “I talk to guys who write for stand-up comics, and they always say that a hot crowd can change everything.”
“Talk to me on July 19 about how it went,” he adds with a laugh. “There’s nothing like a live show—things go wrong, but that’s part of the charm. It’s exciting nonetheless.”
Gutfeld! will air live episodes from Milwaukee during the Republican National Convention. (Courtesy Fox News)
It’s no secret that Gutfeld! has been on a hot streak with the Fox News crowd, which explains why its factoring heavily into the network’s RNC coverage plans. The show consistently ranks among the network’s top programs among both total viewers and the Adults 25-54 crowd favored by advertisers. Gutfeld! ranked first in the demo in Q2 of 2024 and finished in the Top 5 among total viewers during that same period.
It’s also competitive with the broadcast shows that have long dominated the late night space—think Jimmy Fallon‘s Tonight Show, Stephen Colbert‘s Late Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live. Of course, those hosts put an emphasis on comedy over commentary and their shows also air an hour later than Gutfeld’s usual 10 p.m. timeslot. (Although Kimmel and Colbert also aren’t shy about expressing their opinions, especially during major political events like the RNC.)
Gutfeld’s more direct analogues are Jon Stewart andBill Maher, who make political satire the main event on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show and HBO’s Real Time, respectively. Taken together, the trio of shows represent the country’s three major political groups: Stewart is a longtime champion among progressives, Gutfeld’s brand of comedy leans conservative and Maher is the self-styled independent who delights in irritating both entrenched camps.
Notably, Maher and Gutfeld have shared screentime within the past year-and-a-half. Gutfeld appeared on Maher’s Club Random podcast in February 2023, and the Real Time host swung by Gutfeld! in May as part of his book tour. According to LateNighter, that episode brought in 2.9 million viewers—the show’s highest-rated hour in its three-year history.
Gutfeld! has also maintained a ratings edge over The Daily Show since Stewart returned to the desk in February. For the record, Stewart will be headed to Milwaukee during the RNC, hosting a live Daily Show episode from the Marcus Performing Arts Center on July 18. But O’Connor says that a closing night crossover—or any other on-camera conversation—isn’t in the cards right now [Editor’s Note: The Daily Show has since cancelled its planned Milwaukee shows in the wake of the assassination attempt on former PresidentDonald Trump.]
“You’d have to see how [Greg] feels about it,” he says. “I assume he’d be interested, but you never know. When we had Bill on, the two of them disagreed, but they also got along and it was a very healthy discussion. We certainly would be happy to do more of that on our show. But you’d have to ask Greg.”
Gutfeld’s confirmed guests for Milwaukee include his regular panelist Kat Timpf, as well asJamie Lissow,Michael Loftus,Harold Ford Jr.andMary Katharine Ham. “It’s people who Greg loves and has good chemistry with,” O’Connor says. “I don’t think it’ll be wall-to-wall RNC coverage for the whole hour, either. If there’s the kind of pop culture stuff that we do in the back half, we’ll still do that. That’s stuff that Greg always wants to talk about.”
One of the tests for Gutfeld’s team will be writing material ahead of the live shows without overwriting material. “There’s always magic in the extemporaneous stuff that Greg and his guests find in the panel segments,” notes O’Connor. “It’s going to be about finding that balance in how much you want to prep. You want to have stuff in place, while also keeping things loose.”
For O’Connor, taking Gutfeld! to Milwaukee is just the latest step in the show’s ongoing evolution—an evolution that has included adopting more traditional late night aesthetics, up to and including a version of a monologue. “We do more topical jokes at the top of the show now,” he observes. “That’s been an interesting change in recent months that’s really helped us. Within the first 30 seconds, Greg is telling you jokes from the day. It’s a quick pop of energy.”
“Greg is also just more relaxed now,” O’Connor continues. “You can tell that he’s comfortable. When you see him sitting in that chair, it’s like he’s with his friends in a bar. And that was always the goal.”
