Exposing the Boys Club of Late-Night TV

The reported sexual harassment at "The Late Show With David Letterman" was slimy enough, but Nell Scovell's piece in Vanity Fair plumbs a new depth of workplace foulness in late-night TV. Wonder how many women actually write some of the stuff Letterman, Jay Leno or Conan O'Brien say? Scovell says there are none.

Sexual harassment is a universally understood offense, but so is unequal opportunity. Competent women should have the same chance to nab the job in any industry, just like capable men. But Scovell alleges that women rarely get that equal shot to compete and win jobs on Letterman's show:

"I was the second female writer ever hired at Late Night. When I applied for the job in 1988, I had no way of knowing how much the odds were stacked against me. In 27 years, Late Night and Late Show have hired only seven female writers. These seven women have spent a total of 17 years on staff combined. By extrapolation, male writers have racked up a collective 378 years writing jokes for Dave (based on an average writing room of 14 men, the size of the current Late Show staff)."

In late-night TV, white men often get the writing gigs and recommend other white males as job candidates, Scovell says:

"One frequent excuse you hear from late-night-TV executives is that 'women just don't apply for these jobs.' And they certainly don't in the same numbers as men. But that's partly because the shows often rely on current (white male) writers to recommend their funny (white male) friends to be future (white male) writers. Targeted outreach to talented bloggers, improv performers, and stand-ups would help widen the field of applicants. I'm also aware of several worthy females who have submitted material and never heard back."

Women writers seem to fare better in prime time. Among the bright spots: the popular "Mad Men" series is written by a team comprised mostly of women. And, according to a report by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, San Diego State University, the percentage of women writers actually increased from 23 percent in the 2007-2008 season to 29 percent in 2008-2009, Dr. Martha M. Lauzen, the center's executive director, writes in her report. But even that percentage falls short of the 35 percent high during the 2006-2007 season.

If Scovell's assertions are true, will standing on the moral high ground of equal opportunity persuade late-night TV shows to push for a greater number of female writers within their organizations? Will somebody have a revelation and realize that a writing team armed with a variety of perspectives could lead to new audiences (read: more profits for the show)?

Of course, all this chatter about uppity females joining the ranks of the boys' club of late-night TV could be ignored as hot air from the Estrogen Set. Fine. Let the men scrap about who will be the Ratings King. Every woman knows that the added value of smart female writers on the team would help the best show become the undisputed champ.