Carson Daly Stays Up Later

ByABC News
August 17, 2001, 2:10 PM

August 15 -- Fans of MTV's Total Request Live host, Carson Daly, will have to stay up late to catch his new gig as host of NBC's Later.

The heartthrob with love handles will revive the half-hour late, late night show that has been on hiatus since early this year, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Sadly, calling it The Daly Show would apparently cause confusion with Comedy Central's The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, so plain old Later it remains.

"We're happy to add another Carson to our long line of late-night hosts," NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker says of the deal. "We are ecstatic that someone as bright and promising as Carson will be joining our lineup to ensure that NBC remains the late-night leader."

Later, a one-on-one interview program, will air Mondays to Thursdays from 1:35 a.m. to 2:05 a.m. in the post-Late Night With Conan O'Brien slot. Past hosts of the wee-hours show include NBC veteran sportscaster Bob Costas and smooth-talking actor Greg Kinnear.

Daly's Later gig is part of a three-year deal with NBC Studios. He'll also continue to host Total Request Live and his two syndicated music radio shows, notes the Reporter.

The young man with a microphone, whom some have compared to perpetually youthful American Bandstand host Dick Clark, had a previous development deal at CBS, where he hosted several specials for the network, including Super Bowl-related programs and the 2000 Miss USA pageant.

Daly began his career as a DJ for Los Angeles' influential alternative rock station KROQ-FM. He quickly developed a following of squealing girls when he was named the host of TRL in 1998.