‘Busy Tonight’ Bypassed the Awkward Late Night Premiere for a Cute and Confident Debut

The first episode of a late night show is almost always awkward — just ask Jimmy Fallon’s sweat-drenched suit after his first installment of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. But last night’s premiere of Busy Tonight proved that it doesn’t have to be that awkward after all.

Host Busy Philipps had a few things working in her favorite for her very first episode of the new E! talk show. One, she’s basically been conducting her own talk show through her Instagram stories for well over a year. Two, she’s an actress: if she was nervous and jittery, which in all probability she likely was, she knew how to hide it on her cozily designed stage. And three, she surrounded herself with people she trusted and felt comfortable with, in the form of her three female writers sitting in the front row and chiming in intermittently, and her guest and longtime pal Mindy Kaling there to get her through the interview portion smoothly (unlike Fallon who challenged himself with Robert De Niro as a first guest).

The first episode of Busy Tonight truly felt like meeting your social media friend IRL for the first time. It wasn’t 100% flawless as no first episode should be. But Philipps really found a way to translate not only her Instagram presence, but her overflowing charisma and excitement, not just for pop culture but for human beings, into a cute and comforting half hour of television. And sure, her Mr. Rogers moment — sorry, Mr. Nightgown — at the end of the show, signing off with an “I love you” to viewers was almost too cutesy. But after this past weekend, I don’t know a single soul who couldn’t use that positivity to send them off to sleep before another long week arrives.

Philipps also wisely addressed the fact that she’s yet another late night show in a crowded landscape, despite the fact that she’s only one of VERY few women to have the job, with a fun bit about “late night wars” including the participation of peers Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel and Sam Bee. It was a nice way for her to respect the other hosts, while blatantly proving a concept so few have grasped. Late night is no longer about institutions, it’s about personalities. There is no precedent for a show like Busy Tonight. Sure, having her writers around to chime in feels like a tiny nod in the direction of Chelsea Handler’s E! show, Chelsea Lately, but from what we the public know about Busy, this show felt VERY Busy. She can do a set tour and sip sangria and chit chat on the couch and end the show in her nightgown because there is no formula telling her otherwise. A monologue and a panel guest and a musical act? She could insert those segments if and when she wants, but there’s no pressure to whatsoever. That she’s largely avoiding those standards and creating her own is what makes the show feel as natural as it does.

Busy Tonight is not the kind of show begging to make headlines in the morning with a brutal joke or a shocking celebrity revelation (though finding out Kaling was in labor and still found the time to text Oprah is great), which is exactly what makes it a perfect way to end the day. It’s the television version of a snuggle in bed. It’s soothing and silly and respectful of early snoozers by airing at 10pm. Busy Tonight will surely evolve, but the fact that it presented one of the most self-assured premiere episodes of a late night TV show is both exciting and comforting at once, and a sign that we’ll be just as hooked on Philipps’ late night show as we are her Instagram stories.

Where to stream Busy Tonight