Carson Daly: "We are not ever going to be the traditional late-night show"

Movieline.com's Julie Miller scored an interview with Carson Daly, and the "Last Call" man says that his current format, which puts Carson in the field -- no band, no desk, no studio -- is "exciting." "We’ve committed to this — we are not ever going to be the traditional late-night show," said Daly. "I’ve been on the air now for I don’t know how many years now, and I have done the desk thing and there has been an evolution to my show."

For those who either don't stay up really, really late, or set the TiVo to record "Last Call," Carson is referring to the documentary-style footage that has reinvigorated the 1:35 AM broadcast. Daly roams L.A. to interview people, which, he says, leads to "that casual feel, where now, I just go have a beer with Matthew McConaughey and he tells me a great story about his dad dying while having sex with his mother. Things that just don’t happen in a studio audience with strangers." Indeed!

Daly notes that he has "always loved Bob Costas, who does great sit-down interviews. I love Charlie Rose’s in-depth interviews." However, in my opinion, the problem with Daly's show is that its half-hour, (usually) three-guest format does not allow for anything "in-depth." With its constant cuts and rapid switches of camera angle, it's seemingly aimed at people with ADHD who just happen to be up in the middle of the night. Even if you're sincerely interested in Daly's interview subject, chances are you'll come away unsatisfied.

"[T]he one thing that we really do well is offer a great discovery of new music," said Daly. "So let’s do more of that, shining a spotlight onto up-and-coming acts." That is definitely the show's strength -- he's willing to give some network air time to hip bands like Metric, Gossip, Arctic Monkeys and Citizen Cope. Carson's "Covers Week," which featured bands like Weezer doing songs made famous by other artists, was a good example of what this show can do when it slows down for a minute and focuses.