History Series / AfterMidnight

* WalkingShirtlessScene: Bert Kreischer. What else is new.

** Spread out over multiple shows: Taylor offers as a prize a "haunted doll" (an odd-looking, boyish doll with a grey beard) that her brother gave her. Why multiple shows? Because every time someone wins the doll -- Sasheer Zamata, Pete Holmes, W. Kamau Bell -- they simply refuse to take it, no matter how much Taylor begs them to. It kept coming back for months until April 16, 2024, when Marcella Arguello actually insisted on taking it from a relieved Taylor.[[note]]And that wasn't just for TV; according to Marcella herself, she proudly took it home after the taping.[[/note]]

* {{Zonk}}: The prizes for winning an episode are always underwhelming or just plain odd. Prizes have included: a creepy doll (offered multiple times because the winners keep giving it back), a fresh batch of socks, a broken rolling chair, Taylor's father's approval, a pair of jeans with the security device still on them [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial that Taylor swears they did not steal,]] a dental goodie bag, a bunch of ketchup packets Taylor was keeping in her fridge, and a free trip to Loomis, Nebraska.

-->'''Adam Ray:''' You give me a bed, I'll clean the desert dust from just about anywhere. Slow zoom on my face? ''[cameraman complies]'' And I mean ''anywhere.'' And I'm not gonna tell you what I'm talking about but it rhymes with "taint." ''[[AintTooProudToBed I'll clean your taint for a bed!]]'' Hi, my name's Adam Ray and I'll clean your asshole for a bed at Coachella!

* CloudCuckoolander: At this point, if you book Reggie Watts on your show, you know you're in for some outside-the-box thinking, and Reggie's appearance on February 6, 2024 saw him in peak (weird) form, with plenty of AntiHumor.

* OffTheRails:
** Happens occasionally, such as when [[https://youtu.be/yfz7njo6DvM?si=3DLCRm3cnDkh6v9J&t=360 Jerry O'Connell took off his shirt and danced]] as the answer to a question, leading to Arden Myrin and Mary Lynn Rajskub dancing around him, ending the round in complete chaos. Taylor gives them all points anyway.

* PopculturalOsmosisFailure: Creator/TigNotaro's February 28th, 2024 appearance sees her fall victim to this repeatedly. Taylor makes a reference to the Baha Men's "Who Let The Dogs Out" which Tig tries to pretend she gets, and fails when Fortune Feimster and Mae Martin call her out for this trope. Tig then proceeds to whiff on references to ''Film/HocusPocus'' and ''WesternAnimation/CatDog,'' to everyone's amusement.

* DragQueen: ''@midnight'' was no stranger to drag performers as contestants (Creator/{{Katya}}, Creator/GingerMinj, Creator/AlaskaThunderfuck and Creator/WillamBelli had all done the show). For this version, on February 6, 2024, notorious InsultComic Creator/BiancaDelRio shows up, and her revolting sense of humor brings down the house. A month later, on March 5, Monet X Change shows up with a razor-sharp wit of her own.

!!Comedians, you have 60 seconds to name as many #tropes that fit the hashtag and go!:

** Spread out over multiple shows: Taylor offers as a prize a "haunted doll" (an odd-looking, boyish doll with a grey beard) that her brother gave her. Why multiple shows? Because every time someone wins the doll -- Sasheer Zamata, Pete Holmes, W. Kamau Bell -- they simply refuse to take it, no matter how much Taylor begs them to. It kept coming back for months until April 16, 2024, when Marcella Arguello actually insisted on taking it from a relieved Taylor.

-->'''Sophie:''' Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist.\\
'''Paul:''' Film/{{Blackfish}}.\\
'''Carl:''' Film/MayDecember.

* LargeHam: Marcella Arguello, Creator/WayneBrady and especially Dulcé Sloan are big presences that devour all their respective episodes. None of them win.

'''Brendan:''' You did that in the wrong order.

* OnceAnEpisode: "These are the stories on the internet today," at the beginning of the Group Chat, the first segment. Hashtag Wars is always the second.
* OverlyLongGag: ''@midnight'' veteran Marcella Arguello appeared on January 25, 2024, and was eliminated before FTW, so Taylor instructed her to deliver an "acceptance speech" for losing. Marcella, [[LargeHam one of the least subtle comedians in America,]] takes out a folded up paper despite saying she never expected this, descends into InelegantBlubbering, yells at the backstage crew trying to play her off, and eventually collapses on the floor in a weeping, wailing mess, right through Taylor introducing FTW. When the show comes back from commercial, ''Marcella is still on the floor.''
-->'''Taylor:''' Thank you, Marcella; have a wo- \\

The format from the original show, while now extended to a full hour, remains essentially the same. Rapid Refresh is still around in the form of the Group Chat, Hashtag Wars also remains, and the show still concludes with For The Win (FTW), the final game where the audience applause chooses a winner out of the remaining two contestants. They compete for [[{{Zonk}} a completely random and anticlimactic prize,]] such as a creepy doll Taylor's sibling gave her, a package of socks, a broken rolling chair, or in one case, Taylor's father's approval. ("It's rare, but winnable.")

The show also introduced the arbitrary Talk Show Portion, a StylisticSuck of an interview segment created solely to spite internet trolls complaining that the show wasn't another late night talk show. This version has a game usually played mid-episode that allows contestants to go out on the floor and do something more physical, like recreate meme images, or dig through garbage to find Taylor's phone charger.

** Spread out over multiple shows: Taylor offers as a prize a "haunted doll" (an odd-looking, boyish doll with a grey beard) that her brother gave her. Why multiple shows? Because every time someone wins the doll -- Sasheer Zamata, Pete Holmes, W. Kamau Bell -- they simply refuse to take it, no matter how much Taylor begs them to.

** The Talk Show Portion is this. Taylor goes down the panel and asks pointless questions of each panelist, and it usually goes nowhere.

* TheStoner: Doug Benson, as usual. A game was played on the January 23, 2024 edition where Taylor plays a clip from a random old VHS tape, and afterward a panelist has to buzz in with what the next line could be. One was a PSA with a mom telling a son "Getting high is artificial. Any fool can get high." Doug is ''practically salivating'' ready to buzz in with the next line.
-->'''Taylor:''' Doug's ready! What's the next line? ''[chime]'' Doug! \\

''After Midnight'' is a PanelGame on Creator/{{CBS}} hosted by stand-up comic Taylor Tomlinson, in which three comedians compete in a series of internet-themed and social media-themed improv games, and earn points for their joke answers. If this format sounds familiar, it should -- it's a revival of Creator/ComedyCentral series ''Series/AtMidnight,'' brought back to fill the timeslot after the conclusion of ''The Late Late Show With James Corden'' (and thus ''Series/TheLateLateShow'' as a franchise). The show premiered on January 17, 2024, six and a half years after the original ended, with ''Series/TheLateShowWithStephenColbert'' as the lead-in (like the old days of the original show following ''Series/TheColbertReport''), and the premiere had panelists Creator/AparnaNancherla, Kurt Braunohler and Whitney Cummings, who have all been contestants on the original version.