In the United States, late night television is the block of television programming airing after 11:00 pm and usually through 2:00 am. Traditionally, this type of programming airs after the late local news and features a particular genre of programming that falls somewhere between a variety show and a talk show.

Popular shows of the late night talk show genre include The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, the Late Show with David Letterman, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Famous former hosts include Johnny Carson and Jay Leno of The Tonight Show, Arsenio Hall of The Arsenio Hall Show, Tom Snyder of Tomorrow and The Late Late Show, Steve Allen, the father of the late night talk show and founder of Tonight (now known as "The Tonight Show"), Merv Griffin and Dick Cavett, early competitors with Carson, and Jack Paar, the man who followed Steve Allen as host of the Tonight Show and who is responsible for setting the standards for the genre.

Television networks typically produce two late-night shows: one taped in New York and one in Los Angeles. Most are taped late in the afternoon (with the exception of Jimmy Kimmel Live, which finishes taping about an hour before it goes to air). The fact that this limits accurate coverage of the latest news cycle is sometimes the source of ironic humor or notable delays (for instance, the death of Michael Jackson, a frequent butt of late-night jokes, on the afternoon of June 25, 2009 came after all but Kimmel had taped their shows, and as such, Kimmel was the only one to mention it that night).