Jokes Amber Can Tell (on CNN)

A few years before the late great James Earl Jones took over as the voice of CNN ca. 1990, on-air promos for the channel not so modestly referred to it as “the world’s most important network.” These days, however, CNN is taking itself a bit less seriously — at least on the weekends. Since March, the all-news channel has been airing next-day reruns of the HBO Friday comedy staple Real Time With Bill Maher. And now, CNN has decided to double down on laughs by launching Have I Got News for You, an American remake of the BBC’s iconic news satire.

Hosted by the Daily Show vet Roy Wood Jr., HIGNFY — which has been on U.K. telly since 1990 — is a blend of comedy and game-show elements along with what is essentially a review of the biggest (and smallest) news stories. CNN’s version, premiering this Saturday at 9 p.m. right after Maher, will feature Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black in the role of team captains who pair up with other comedians and celebs to make fun of the week that was. (First up: Robin Thede and libertarian pundit Matt Welch.) And while HIGNFY is being produced first and foremost for the linear audiences who still watch cable news, it’s hard not to think that the Warner Bros. Discovery–owned company isn’t also hoping it will play well with younger viewers who now get their news through streaming — and, specifically, from CNN Max.

Since launching a year ago this month, the digital news hub gives Max subscribers access to most of CNN’s major daily shows (such as Anderson Cooper 360°) as well as regular live breaking news via CNN International. While HIGNFY will not be simulcast live via CNN Max like many other CNN shows, episodes will stream on the platform just a few hours after their linear premiere, essentially giving HIGNFY two major distribution platforms. WBD has already seen the upside of multiple windows with Maher’s show: In addition to the 600,000-plus viewers who watch episodes on HBO’s cable channel live every Friday night, and the millions who stream on-demand via Max, Real Time is now averaging another 732,000 weekly viewers through its CNN rerun. Obviously, Maher’s talker was a hit long before streaming or the CNN encore came about, but adding these additional opportunities for audiences to watch has only expanded its reach.

To be sure, CNN hasn’t played up (or even really motioned at) the Max window for HIGNFY in its press materials for the show. In her announcement of the series, CNN Originals chief, Amy Entelis, focused only on its purpose for CNN linear audiences. “We are betting audiences will welcome the opportunity to laugh and find humor in this year of the unrelenting news cycle,” she said. But the fact that CNN Max exists means a swing like this — a bit outside CNN’s usual comfort zone — becomes inherently a little bit less risky than it would have been when there was no serious streaming option for CNN shows. Sure, the ratings HIGNFY earns on CNN linear will clearly matter most and likely determine whether it gets picked up beyond its initial run of ten episodes. (CNN is calling it a “limited series.”) But if the show manages to overperform on Max, that would likely make it easier for CNN brass to justify extending its run or ordering up additional seasons.

One big thing working in favor of HIGNFY doing well on Max is the show’s cast, particularly Wood and Ruffin. Via The Daily Show and Late Night With Seth Meyers, respectively, the two writers-performers have become superstars of the mock-the-news industry that took off during Jon Stewart’s first stint hosting TDS. Paramount Global’s decision to pass over Wood for permanent host of its Comedy Central series inflamed the internet and has, in a way, only heightened his profile. And Ruffin has become one of the breakout stars from the Meyers era of Late Night. Her signature segment, “Amber Says What,” regularly goes viral and performs strongly on YouTube, and for a few brief, glorious years, she even had her own weekly, eponymous talk show on Peacock. Earlier this week, I caught up with Ruffin to talk about her new role on HIGNFY, why she thinks comedy actually makes sense on an all-news network, and whether she thinks talk shows will ever succeed on streaming.

Tell me about how the deal for Have I Got News for You came together. This isn’t something you helped import from the U.K. or adapted for the U.S., right?
I wasn’t a part of bringing it here, and I also hadn’t really seen it. I’ve seen it a ton now, but I hadn’t watched it on the regular. When I lived in Amsterdam, I saw it sometimes, but they were talking about things — they’re like [extremely British accent], “Jordan Carlisle has finally split …” And I’m like, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know these people. [Laughs.]

So how did you end up getting hired as one of the team captains?
They had a bunch of us test for it, and it was just the most fun little reunion. It was everyone who’s kind of in this space. It was all the late-night people, the funny news podcasters, the people who had had late-night shows.

How do you see your job on the show?
Our job is to … win. [Laughs.] It’s a game show first, and I’ve got to win — no, I’m just kidding. Our job is to make sure to keep everyone abreast of the fact that everything that’s happening is silly. We will go over every last news story during the show. And through the lens of Roy, through the lens of Michael, and through my lens, you realize what is happening is utter chaos. It’s mayhem. It’s so silly. I think it’s our job to present our real takes on what’s going down and then letting the audience laugh about all the things we’re laughing about.

And each week you’ll be paired up with someone else from the comedy world, right? I imagine many of the people who showed up during the test process will be back as teammates?
I’m sure we’ll see a lot of people from the test. There’s no way we won’t. But sometimes we might have people who are more on the news side. We might even have news-makers themselves. We could have politicians. Who knows? We’re going to feel it out and see what we can handle.

News is hilarious. It doesn’t matter what channel it’s on.

I can definitely see, like, Pete Buttigieg on this show.
Wouldn’t that be so cool? I would love that.

Since you know so many people in this news-adjacent comedy world, will you be calling up your pals and trying to get them on your team?
No one is asking me who should be on the show. I do not have any control of who’s on the show or not or else it’d just be all my little friends, which I guess would be fine in this instance. But yeah, I have no idea. I don’t even know who’s going to be on this Friday. We did one test show before, and we found out when we got there.

Is that when shows are going to tape?
Yeah, it’s going to tape Friday and air Saturday.

So how will the CNN version differ from what you know of the U.K. edition? American audiences don’t have the same familiarity with panel shows that folks in the U.K. do, so it seems like there’d be some adjustment.
You know, what makes this show different is that instead of your traditional British panel show, it’s a little more game show–esque. It is overflowing with punch lines. The goal is to give your fastest answer, and many times that’s wrong or silly. And because we’re all comedians, it’s very much like an improvised late-night show. That is how it behaves. We’re spitting out punch lines that a team hasn’t sat down and thought through, which makes it more fun and truer than your regular show. It’ll be different in that the segments are way tighter than your run-of-the-mill British panel show. I think it’s very segment heavy and bit heavy, whereas other panel shows can get to yapping.

A little more meandering.
Meandering. That’s the word.

I did a bit of a double take when I heard this format was coming to CNN. I mean, news is in the title of both, so there’s some logic. But I would’ve thought an entertainment network or streamer would have done this. Were you surprised when you found out it was for CNN?
No, this is really unique. I would never have guessed that. I mean, I guess Gutfeld! was the beginning of it. [Laughs.] I think a lot of people saw that and were like, Oh, you could do this … But it is interesting to just admit it: News is hilarious. It doesn’t matter what channel it’s on. So it was really cool of CNN to be like, “You know what? We can go ahead and let comedy seep all the way in” — which is pretty cool.

You mentioned that this is basically a game show, so do they figure out who “wins”? Does Roy basically choose?
Roy is deciding who gets points — and he can be bought. Before every show, I’m going to give him $20. I’m going to try to win this shit. [Laughs.] It is on the whims of Roy. It’s how he’s feeling. So, yeah, I’m going to bring him presents. I want to win.

Where do you get your news from these days, by the way? And how do you get it?
I get my news through the first 20 minutes of the 7 a.m. network news. So when it’s actually news and not just “Mariah Carey saw a butterfly! Isn’t that a coincidence?,” I’ll watch one channel at 7 a.m. while I’m taping another channel. I’ll watch NBC and I’ll tape ABC and then I’ll go back and I’ll watch ABC. And if I could tape CBS, I would go back and then watch that 20 minutes. And I’ve always been this way. I have a news problem. But we can get headlines now from — your little phone will tell you. My phone has the audacity to text me when news has happened, which is so bold.

Do you watch cable news, too?
I’m pretty MSNBC. I’m a little CNN. Like, if something has happened, I will turn to CNN. If I feel like watching the news, I will watch MSNBC. And if it’s seven in the morning, I’ll watch network news.

It’s a little weird for me to be interviewing you about a CNN project since you have been so associated with NBCUniversal the past decade with Late Night and The Amber Ruffin Show and the prime-time development you’ve done for the company. Has your association with NBCU changed so that you’re now a free agent? Or did you have to get permission to work on this show?
I think when your boss is Seth Meyers, you can just do what you want. I feel like any other boss would’ve been like, “Absolutely not!” But I am doing so many projects at NBC, and this takes zero time and zero prep. I don’t have to write. And this is what is shocking: I can be on a whole television show and not have to write a word. It’s bananas. So, I mean, sure, it’s a different network, but it’s really “Do you have three hours every Friday?” And I do. So everyone’s just like, “Yeah, there’s no reason not to.”

I’ve got my old-fashioned cable box. I’m fucking TiVo-ing shit.

A few weeks ago on an installment of “Amber Says What,” you made a joke about something getting “unceremoniously” canceled like The Amber Ruffin Show. You confirmed many months ago on your socials that the show was no more, but it never really got a proper send-off, even though it got rave reviews and Emmy nominations. With some distance from your last episode, I’m wondering what your ultimate takeaway was from that experience.
I mean, it was a dream. It was the most fun I’ll probably ever have. Live or die, it was exactly what I wanted. Every minute of that shit was exactly the dream. It was so cool to work with people capable of reaching into my brain and taking out the sparkliest, funnest things and then presenting them to America. The fact that I got to do that still will make me catch my breath. It was dreamy. It was an absolute dream.

What will I take away from it? This is a crazy thing to say and not at all what you’re asking. But being someone’s boss is really easy when you love all those people. I loved all those people. And then slowly, as more and more responsibilities fall to you because you’re in charge, I realized, Oh, mean bosses and bad bosses just don’t like the people they work with. Whereas I would’ve punched a baby for any one of those motherfuckers. So I feel like we all had a great time because I want you to have a great time, because I love you so bad. I don’t know — that was what I learned. And yes, everything I say can be written on a rainbow, but I can’t help that.

Your show had to fight for an audience with multiple hands tied behind its metaphorical back. It launched during the pandemic, which meant no studio audience at first. It was on Peacock when Peacock was tiny — much smaller than it is today. But it’s also the latest streaming talk show to not work. Do you think your show might have had a better chance had NBC found a way to give it a window on the network — maybe instead of the Friday rerun of Late Night or the 1:37 a.m. slot? Do you just think talk shows just still work better on regular TV than on streaming?
I have no idea. I mean, shit, I’d love to know. Help me out. [Laughs.] I do think it is hard on streaming because you don’t come to streaming to find out what happened today. You specifically go to streaming to get away from today. You know what I mean? I feel like the way we ingest entertainment is so severely in flux. I mean, if you look at me, I’d say it’s 20 percent TikTok, 40 percent network, and 40 percent streamers. And I’m old. I’m the only person I know who doesn’t watch everything on Hulu. A lot of people just have Hulu. They have the live option and then they just can watch every channel from that. I’ve got my old-fashioned cable box. I’m fucking TiVo-ing shit.

Wait. You still have a DVR?
I’m DVR-ing stuff! I said to my friend who is a lot younger than me, “I’m DVR-ing such and such,” and she goes, “What do you mean DVR?” I was like, Oh my God, jeez. I’m so old. I might as well be videotaping it.

I’m not judging at all. I still have one too. If the internet goes out, we’re covered!
Thank you. I’m right. Also, I feel like if you write TV, you can have TV. That’s fine. You can have it as a little treat.

So The Amber Ruffin Show is over, but you’re still on Late Night. Are you currently working on projects for NBCUniversal beyond Seth’s show? Anything you can talk about?
Jenny Hagel and I still have our production company with Universal, so we’ve had a lot of stuff on the slate in the early stages. But it’s bad luck to talk about that stuff. And since The Wiz opened, I’m working on a musical about Bigfoot. So we’re going to try to get that slated for a New York run next year, because it’s turning out to be pretty cute.

Is theater going to be your next big era? Are you planning to reinvent yourself as a Broadway baby?
Wouldn’t that be cool if I was a Broadway baby? I feel like Broadway’s getting very cool now, because I used to have to be like, “This is how I can add value.” But now I can say, “This is what I feel like doing.” We’re going to just try to do exactly what we feel like doing and see how that turns out on Broadway.

I actually had no idea you were even in your mid-40s until I started prepping for this chat. You always felt like a millennial icon to me, but since you were born in 1979, generational nerds say you are one of us — and by us, I mean Gen X. How do you define yourself, though?
I believe I’m right on the cusp, but I would say Generation X because … Well, but then — gosh … I guess I’m socialized as a millennial. I would say socially I’m a millennial, but technically I’m Gen X. That’s what I would say.

So it seems wrong to not ask you at least a couple of political questions. What’s your take on the first 50 or so days of the “Kamala Harris for president” campaign?
I think the campaign has almost zero pressure on it, because look what this woman is up against: a fool. I mean, what are you going to do? I feel like she’s doing such a good job of not just utterly roasting him all day and night, which she could very eloquently and hilariously do, right? She could never stop and we would laugh ourselves sick, but she is just choosing to be chill. I mean, she is roasting him a little bit on socials, which is cute. But I truly think that — when does this come out?

After the debate, if that’s why you’re asking.
Yes. So I think during the debate, there’s going to be a murder, and she’s really going to have locked and loaded so many freaking quotables, man. Remember when Michelle Obama was like, “Looks like the job he’s applying for is one of those Black jobs”? It’ll be like a billion of those. That’s what the debate is going to be. It’s going to be beautiful. I’m going to absolutely love it.

I also didn’t realize this until today, but you’re from Nebraska. So is Harris’s running mate, Tim Walz. Anything about Nebraskans you think makes him suitable for the second-highest office in the land? Or is there anything in general voters should know about Nebraska?
It’s full of beef — I can tell you that right now. As am I. We all are, and that’s what makes us so sturdy. [Laughs.] No, but I do think Nebraskans are very neighborly and concerned with “Well, your grandma lives next to me. Can she even get to the mailbox to get her mail? You know what? I don’t care. Let me just take her her mail.” That’s Nebraskans. So I do feel like he has a healthy helping of that. And then he’s just multiplied it by being a politician, where you take that way of thinking and then you put it to good use and you make laws out of it, which is what we want every politician to do.