The right-wing chat show, The Talk Show With Eric Metaxas, has garnered attention not only for its content but for the secretive organization behind it. The Ziklag Collective, a Christian nationalist political group, worked tirelessly to promote the show. They wanted to reform cultural narratives broadly in order to get them more aligned with their understanding of Christianity. Even with the best of intentions, the show faced some huge hurdles. Despite strong aspirations, it failed to gain network support and was unable to find its intended audience.
Eric Metaxas, the show’s original host, wanted to do something different with late-night TV. He imagined a “faith-friendly, late-night alternative” that would stand apart from the typical talk shows. So he went after funding between $400,000 and $500,000. With this support, he set out to create five pilot episodes with notable guests such as prop comedian Carrot Top and filmmaker Ron Howard. The Ziklag Collective enthusiastically established itself as the first official sponsor of the event. It promised to host visitors who regularly face censorship on large platforms.
Metaxas aired his aspirations for the show in grand fashion. He has plans to “change that forever” and disrupt the late-night television landscape. The tone he envisioned mirrored that of iconic hosts like David Letterman and Dick Cavett, emphasizing humor without engaging in political conflict. Yet, as the pilot episodes were screened, it became evident that Metaxas did not engage in political discussions with his guests, which some critics argue deviated from the expectations of a right-wing late-night show.
The road to producing the pilot episodes was not without its challenges. Metaxas seemed ill at ease, even anxious as we filmed, which led to further questioning of his comfort level in this new role. Viewers of the pilot episodes included media outlets such as The Guardian, highlighting the attention surrounding the show’s launch despite its lukewarm reception.
The Ziklag team has already poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into the production. All of this financial backing hasn’t resulted in any networks taking it on. As critics have pointed out, the Ziklag crew was hoping to provide a third option to what they described as “partisan or ‘right-wing’ shows.” They say that the execution was not enough to produce the promised right-wing late-night home run.
The Ziklag group articulated their frustrations with mainstream late-night television, claiming that “for too long, the late-night talkers on network TV have filled the airwaves with progressive rants and outright mockery of anyone who espouses traditional American values.” They envisioned Metaxas’s show as an antidote to this trend, promising humor first and “no space for snark or ‘clapter’.”
In practice, as the pilot episodes stretched on, the humor we were promised sometimes came across as uneven or aimless. Metaxas made several quips during the show, including remarks about cultural phenomena and social issues:
“Barbie’s longtime companion, Ken, just turned 61 years old. Yeah. And he said the perfect gift for his birthday would be to finally get a prostate.” – Eric Metaxas
At another point during the show, he addressed a bizarre medical case:
“In India, doctors removed 526 teeth from a seven-year-old boy’s mouth. The boy is recovering nicely. However, the Tooth Fairy declared bankruptcy.” – Eric Metaxas
As a result, critics and policymakers alike found the tone to be condescending and patronizing. As funny as it was, it didn’t live up to Ziklag or even what one expected from Metaxas.
This Ziklag group has not been quiet about their intentions to change cultural narratives. They’ve lamented that those who are defenders of the old school values have been purged from the respectability politics of conventional wisdom.
“It’s kind of like Stalin has air-brushed these people out of the culture.” – Eric Metaxas
Their mission is to push back against what they consider to be an outsize liberal influence in the entertainment and media sectors. This frustration is only exacerbated by their claim that secular elites have taken over late-night TV.
Production costs continued to climb, and interest began to wane. His vision wasn’t catching on with people the way he’d planned. This lack of real political debate was decried by many critics who hoped for a stronger counter to the movement’s conservative talking points. The Ziklag Collective cast the show as an anti-establishment culture war. They misjudged the amount of sustained political work that these formats always seem to take.