On the slate of June 16, 2025 Late Night, Seth Meyers had an honest, funny, and inspirational story about how he dealt with all that pressure. That ebbed over an eight-day stretch without his longtime showrunner, Michael Shoemaker. The recovery of Shoemaker from knee surgery really created a void. This lack of support drove Meyers to his breaking point as he struggled under the weight of expectations in his position. To mark this special challenge, we’ll be installing a commemorative plaque in the studio itself. It would be a fitting tribute to the time he had to serve without his faithful sidekick.
Whenever Meyers gets overwhelmed or mad, he frequently retreats to Shoemaker’s office for a moment of solace. There, he shares his frustrations and finds solace. He’ll usually spend a full 30 seconds screaming in the office alone, which becomes the emotional release. In Shoemaker’s absence, Meyers had a hard time keeping it together.
I was still mad about the pants story so I picked up a Uniball pen. Then I launched it across the room, and BOOM, it burst against the wall! And it’s a great Rorschach. You couldn’t ask for a better inkblot, Meyers recounted during his monologue. He was in the process of creating a “Corrections” segment for Late Night when the incident happened. This case exemplified how small annoyances can lead to large-scale eruptions.
Meyers, for the most part, keeps his cool around the team personnel. Oh boy, does he complain behind Shoemaker’s back. “This commemorates the eight days that Seth had to work without Shoemaker,” he noted, emphasizing the importance of their working relationship since they began collaborating in 2001.
The plaque serves as a testament to those difficult days. It highlights just how essential communication can be while working with highly stressful or time-sensitive situations. “We’re gonna leave it as a memory of what happens when Shoemaker is gone,” he added, reflecting on the impact of their partnership.
Meyers has a long track record of taking his frustrations out on innocent victims. He first became famous when he punched a hole in the dressing room wall of Saturday Night Live. This came just after a particularly funny sketch about suicide prevention was pulled entirely from production. Shoemaker refused to fix the destruction, thinking that it would act as a lesson for Meyers on how to cope with stress.
Meyers does a masterful job avoiding the grind of late-night television. He relies on Shoemaker’s trust and their one-of-a-kind working relationship to help him navigate the hectic world of state politics. The new plaque will serve as tribute to their long history of collaboration and the hardships they still jointly labor to overcome.
