Lateline was a spoof of Nightline that aired on NBC in 1998, starring Al Franken as a reporter who was more interested in being on-air than actually doing any journalism. It actually launched the same year as Dateline, NBC's news magazine program. Guess which one survived? Lateline made a mid-season appearance in 1998, and was renewed for another season, but then cancelled about a year later. As a college student in broadcast journalism, I LOVED this show. Al Franken's character was a spoof on reporters who are in it for the glory, rather than doing any journalism. He was always gunning for the anchor's job. Unfortunately, I think the funniest episode of the series was the third episode where the entire show is a tribute to Buddy Hackett, because one of the reporters saw on the internet that Hackett died. They do a whole tribute to him, only to find out he's still alive. Ha! The show also managed to get real politicians like Dick Gephardt, Michael Dukakis, Jerry Falwell, and G. Gordon Liddy...but I honestly don't remember any of their appearances. Maybe that's why it was cancelled.

Interestingly, there is actually a news magazine program on an ABC affiliate in Australia called Lateline.