Television

Abby Elliott and The Reductress Join Forces for Late-Night Talk Show at Comedy Central

Elliott on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon": YouTube

“Saturday Night Live” alumna Abby Elliott is teaming up with Reductress co-creators Beth Newell and Sarah Pappalardo. Comedy Central has ordered a pilot for “The Reductress Hour,” a late-night show “which will take on the absurdities of women’s news in the tone of the satirical website,” The Hollywood Reporter writes. Elliott will play an in-character host.

Those unfamiliar with The Reductress have hours of browsing to look forward to. The Onion-esque site’s recent headlines include “Woman Quits Job to Hydrate Full-Time,” “How to Lose Weight So you Can Spend Every Waking Moment in Fear of Gaining it Back,” and “Woman Makes Hobby Out of Over-Analyzing Stuff She Said 4 Years Ago.”

“The potential series will take on the absurdities of women’s news, trends, broader national subjects and entertainment television while tackling various issues of the week, original segments and field interviews,” according to THR.

Newell and Pappalardo are among the project’s executive producers.

Since launching in 2013, The Reductress has gained a cult following that’s expanded to 2.5 million unique visitors a month. The comedy site has also spawned the “Mouth Time” and “The Reductress Minute” podcasts, and hosts live events across the country. In 2016 HarperCollins released “How to Win at Feminism: The Definitive Guide to Having It All – And Then Some!,” a mock self-help book from the brand.

As the source points out, Comedy Central’s lineup skews very “male-focused,” with some titles such as “The Daily Show With Trevor Noah,” “The Opposition With Jordan Klepper,” “Tosh.0,” and “Nathan for You.” The network is also behind “Broad City,” but the beloved stoner comedy will conclude with its fifth season in 2019, and “Inside Amy Schumer” is on hiatus with no return date announced. Other female-centric shows on the channel include “Another Period” and “Idiotsitter,” though it’s unclear if either of those shows will be returning for new seasons.

“We try to satirize things without putting other women down, and that can be a little tricky when certain people are doing really insane things in media,” Newell has said. “We try to find a unique angle on something and a broader angle hopefully that points to a larger problem than that one person. We try not be too inflammatory or triggered by anything in the moment. Sometimes we have to process our frustration then come up with jokes.” Pappalardo added, “And a lot of it is just being as specific as possible in our satire, especially when it’s on touchy subjects or specific people. We’re not out to broadly demonize most women or people that we criticize, so we try to make sure our writing is specific and tight and not just a broad demonization. Unless it’s deserved.”


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