Rather than opening with a monologue, say, the host might start with a sketch.
To say it’s a “new take” on the format might imply some simple tweaks here and there. The series’ website calls PAUSE a “new take on the late-night talk show format,” but that feels like an elevator pitch version of what’s really happening here. This is most certainly a deliberate choice. PAUSE works because its formatting is also a bit queered up. If the previous sentence contains phrases you didn’t previously know existed, congratulations: the show is doing its subtle work of educating audiences about the multitudinous nature of queer identity. For example, Sam interviews people from the LGBTQ+ community from the white, “Subaru Gay” Communications Director of the National LGBTQ Task Force Cathy Renna and the Black “Studs 4 Studs” from Atlanta who prefer to watch straight porn. The show, co-created by comedian and Saturday Night Live writer Sam Jay is unabashedly queer. If, after viewing the first episode of the second season of PAUSE with Sam Jay, you find yourself thinking, “That show was really gay,” the series has done its job.
