All The Guests On The New Late Night Are On The Edge Of Their Seat

Even though Seth Meyers's new gig hosting Late Night was announced last May, close to a year before Meyers actually started the job, it's not as though Meyers was able to spend all that time preparing. He remained in his last job at Saturday Night Live until a few weeks before crossing into his new studio. And while I'm sure that Meyers did his best to keep track of all the decisions being made about his new show, given his schedule, it was probably unavoidable that one or two pretty big ones eluded him, including one we all have to look at in in every episode.

I am not a crackpot. I just think the Late Night guest chair is way too small.

For the first few episodes, I couldn't quite figure out what was making me feel so unsettled when the guests would come out from backstage and sit next to Meyers at his desk. I mean, when you look at this shot of Mike Birbiglia, nothing really jumps out at you.

But that's probably because Birbiglia is, like most actors, small. (His official height, per IMDb, is 5'8", which probably means he actually tops out around 5'6 1/2".) It wasn't until the 6'2" Ike Barinholtz stopped by that the truth became clear.

As soon as you put a person-sized person in it, you can tell how insufficient that chair is for its purpose. It is TINY. Look how awkward Barinholtz is sitting in it! You can tell he's scared he's going to break it -- and he should be! It's like someone went to PB Kids and bought it straight out of a playroom floor display. That thing was never supposed to seat anything with more heft than a couple of teddy bears and maybe a Cabbage Patch Kid.

But once you've seen it, you can't help noticing how very, very tiny the chair is. Check out this shot of Zosia Mamet from the latest episode.

We know from Girls that she's a pretty small person, but even she looks awkward in this thing. Why are her knees so high? Is it because the back of the chair is too low for her -- or anyone -- to get comfortable? How did any producer or network executive sign off on this piece of furniture?!

I understand that there are TV tricks to make sets look larger than they are. I know Meyers's studio is not exactly the palatial digs of, say, the Ed Sullivan Theatre where David Letterman does his show now. But it wasn't so long ago that Fallon's guests, in a comparable space, got to enjoy sitting in Jimmy Fallon's panel in what seems, compared to the Meyers era, like a luxurious Arabian palace. Look at Mark-Paul Gosselaar (5'11").

He could practically curl up in that armchair and take a nap! If the devil's advocate argument about Seth Meyers's guest chair is that the reason it looks like a toy is to make the studio look bigger, then why did Fallon's guests get to be so comfy? Why do Meyers's look like at any moment they might get out of that spindly prop chair and smash it over a stuntperson's back for a comedy bit?

If this show is going to work for the long haul, Meyers needs to give his guests a lot more cush for their tush, or they just won't want to come back. I mean, for God's sake, WOULD YOU?! I wouldn't. And I am not a crackpot.