[AdamCalifornia]

Who is/was your favourite Late-Night TV Talk Show Host:
Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, David Letterman, ......?

Who is/was the Greatest: Johnny Carson, Dick Cavett, Merv Griffin, Steve Allen, Jack Paar,
Jay Leno, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, ....?

King of Late Night - Johnny Carson

Do you watch any American TV Talk Shows in Canada, Britain, Australia, ...?

We only consider entertainment/variety type Late-Night TV Talk Shows.
For instance "Nightline" (with Ted Koppel) is not of this type.

Have Fun!

P.S.
By the way, Craig Ferguson is Scottish.
He became a U.S. citizen on February 1, 2008.

 

[GAD]

Carson - hands down.

I rarely find Conan funny. I like Leno, but he's no Carson.

GAD

 

[plainsong]

Props to Carson of course, but I do love Conan. Letterman has passed his peak and even in his new stuff I see throwbacks to what he used to do during that writer's strike in the 80's. We stopped getting Letterman anyway, and I don't miss it.

But I do miss me some Daily Show. Canal+ used to show it, but they've cheaped-out. CNN's Daily Show Global Edition is a Reader's Digest of TDS. I remember Jon Stewart all the way back to the days of Short Attention Span Theater.

We don't get Craig Ferguson, but wish we did. He's a naturally funny guy. Mr. Wick FTW!

 

[roadtonowhere08]

Stephen Colbert is the MAN. Quick and funny as hell. It does not get any better than his interviews. Pure gold!!!

 

[choomanchoo]

Where's Jerry Springer? oh and Arsenio, woof! woof! woof!

 

[chadbang]

Cavett. Never pandered for a laugh or belittled himself for one like the other bozos.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Carson. He was the original and much more versatile than any of the others.

I like Leno better live. He usually performs Sunday nights in Hermosa Beach, and he's great. Television makes it tough to tell a 5 or 10 minute story, but that's no problem in the club. He also tests Monday's monologue on the audience - anything that gets a good laugh will show up the next day.

 

[EyeAmEye]

None of them are ever funny in their monologues, but most are quick in the interviews, though I do suspect a lot of that is somewhat scripted. The conversations flow a bit to easily to be completely on the fly, IMO, so it dampens it somewhat.

None of them can shine Morton Downey Jr's shoes. RIP, great one.


Honorable mention to Magic Johnson. (OK, that one was a joke, but his show was legendary!)

 

[Old Pa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chadbang /img/forum/go_quote.gif Cavett. Never pandered for a laugh or belittled himself for one like the other bozos.

X2

 

[ken36]

I'm always asleep and it's not worth a Tivo to me.

 

[GlendaleViper]

Conan for me.

I really can't stand Letterman, Kimmel is out if his element and I rarely catch Ferguson (although I love his wit and delivery). Leno is a riot (though like others, I prefer his comedy off of the show - he's a wonderful comedic storyteller) and I can appreciate him on a number of levels, notably his zest for the car hobby.

Between Stewart and Colbert, I much prefer Stewart but I do love both of their programs and I'm glad Colbert took the approach he did for his show, since they end up complimenting one another, rather than competing.

I have no idea who Dick Cavett is, but now I'm intrigued.

 

[bada bing]

Funniest guest host episode ever was Steve Martin in for Johnny - before Steve was big, he was just a stand up comic, no movies yet. He embarrassed guest John Denver so badly that Steve wasn't invited back to guest host again until he got hot. Sumbiotch that was a funny show.... or maybe it was the dope smokin back in those days.

Don't watch TV anymore - except for an occasional "bug show" on discovery. I don't even know who a couple of the hosts mentioned are.

 

[plainsong]

Too bad Craig Killborn didn't make the list. Remember him as the first host of the Daily Show, and then the Late Late show. I remember Jon Stewart being the new guy. Good times.

 

[zotjen]

Johnny will always be King. The problem I have with Letterman is that it's the same schtick over and over and over. Of the current hosts, I prefer Leno but I do wish he'd do something about his writers. I though he was much funnier during the recent strike. I also think Kimmel has great potential.

 

[GlendaleViper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by plainsong /img/forum/go_quote.gif Too bad Craig Killborn didn't make the list. Remember him as the first host of the Daily Show, and then the Late Late show. I remember Jon Stewart being the new guy. Good times.

I had absolutely no idea there was a predecessor to Stewart on The Daily Show! Kilborn was a riot, but his show just couldn't seem to hold a candle (overall) to Conan, so he was usually relegated to "between ads" duty.

I still remember every guest, no matter who it was, coming out to "Me So Horny" by 2 Live Crew. Classic.

When he decided to pursue acting, though... yikes. I wonder what he's doing now?