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The Hottest Late Night Show In NYC Is In The Subway
By
David Colon
Published Aug 9, 2017
Modified Aug 9, 2017
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By
David Colon
Published Aug 9, 2017
Modified Aug 9, 2017
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We know that the subway is the place to be if you want to catch the hottest WWE action available without shelling out a premium for a ticket. But did you know that your $3 price of admission to the Helltube might also come with admission to the hottest late night talk show in the city? Ride the L train on the weekend and you just might find yourself in the audience of Derailed, the New York City subway's only late night talk show.
Derailed, which has aired five episodes on YouTube since 2016, is the brainchild of host Dean Dimitruk and writer Danielle Dweck. Dimitruk, a producer on Dr. Oz, told us in an email that he and Dweck, a comedy writer, always wanted to make a late night show that didn't just feature celebrities.
"We kept saying that everyday people can be just as interesting and it would be really fun to ambush them with a talk show," Dimitruk told us. That view, combined with his brother mentioning he always wanted to see a talk show on the subway led to the creation of the show.
The show is your typical late night fare, delivered in doses of five or so minutes at a time. Sitting behind a makeshift portable desk (with the necessary but empty mugs), Dimitruk welcomes guests who enter the car through a blue curtain to answer questions, play games and generally live the late night life, all with an infectious nerdy enthusiasm.
Dimitruk, a 27-year-old Philadelphia native and former child actor who now lives on the Upper West Side, told us that "even though the subways in NYC are SUPER reliable," the show mostly sticks to the L train because it works best for the show's crew logistically. Filming takes place on the weekends, since he and Dweck found people were a little more willing to let loose when compared to the more work-focused weekday crowds.
The guests, "totally random people waiting for trains" according to Dimitruk, are scouted in stations ahead of the rest of the crew, which lends the show an air of unpredictability. "When we get on the train, we try and get people excited by letting them know that they're about to be on a late night talk show and like them, we have no clue who is about to get on the train," Dweck told us.
Reaction from straphangers hasn't resulted in anyone getting annoyed and disrupting the show yet, and they've been largely met with indifference, according to Dimitruk. "People who ride the subway are immune to weird things happening around them, so our 'audience' ranges from completely apathetic to totally into it."
And while the immediate future of Derailed involves more MetroCard swipes, Dimitruk and Dweck told us that as long as there are other forms of public transportation, there are other places to hold the show.
"Our plan is to eventually expand it outside of just New York and go on other forms of public transportation and maybe even try popping up in random places above ground too." An above ground talk show? Only in New York!
Tagged
derailed
subways
talk shows
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David Colon
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