Daly's 'Last Call' Goes Daily

Wednesday, August 21, 2002

Carson Daly © NBC

If Carson Daly seems to be everywhere all at once, that's because he is.

He appears on the daily MTV show "Total Request Live" and on NBC's late night talk show "Last Call with Carson Daly" Mondays through Thursdays, and starting on Sept. 6, Fridays as well. In addition to his television appearances, he has his own syndicated radio shows and a new record label distributed by Loud Records.

His NBC show was a way to branch out from his teen-centered career on MTV, but he still remains close to the network that gave him his start. "I hopefully will be in business with them for a long, long, long time," Daly says. "They really are kind of like my first family. It's sort of an ever-evolving relationship."

MTV has been more than generous about giving him time for other ventures, leaving some to speculate that the network is phasing him out. That's not the case at all, Daly says. "I'm not going anywhere from MTV. I might not be on every single day like I've been for five years, 365 days a year, because it's just impossible at this point."

After years of forced neutrality on "TRL," he's enjoying the chance to express himself more on "Last Call." MTV's power to influence record sales made it dangerous for Daly to voice his own preferences. He explains, "I was like Switzerland on 'TRL,' no one knew what political party I was, or if I liked rap more than rock. I think if you watch NBC you get a much clearer understanding of who I am as a 29-year old guy."

He describes the late night talk show as "a little bit late night, a little bit in depth, a little bit just goofy fun." His guests span a wide range of talent, including actors Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins and Rachel Griffiths; musicians Elton John, Snoop Dogg, Kid Rock; music moguls Sean "P. Diddy" Combs and Marion "Suge" Knight; and political analysts George Stephanopoulos and Bill O'Reilly.

For the moment, Daly is happy with his timeslot, but his eye is on the future. "I love that it's on in the middle of the night. Would I like to be on earlier? Yeah. But you know what, it goes Leno, then Conan, then my sorry ass, so that's a pretty good gig for me," he laughs.

"I've got a lot to learn, and hopefully I'll be here for a long time. If I can do this job better exponentially then maybe one day I might get a shot at the big time."

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