Posted by TJ on Wednesday July 18, 2007 @ 02:49 PM
[Tags: tv, opinion, guide]

Here is my take on the various Late Night Talk Shows.
I dedicate this to the late Tom Snyder who died on July 29, 2007 from complication with leukemia. Snyder was one of early pioneers of late night talk shows with "Tomorrow" in the 80's and 90's and was host of the CBS's The Late Late Show in 1990's.

CBS - The Late Show with Dave Letterman
I find Letterman extremely funny. Being from NY definitely makes his show even better to watch as he frequently does local stuff involving the city and surrounding area. Dave has a way of making ordinary people into comic geniuses as he has done with stage manager Biff Henderson, Handyman George Clark and Deli owner Rupert Jee, these sketches are what make the late show original and funny. What I do not like about the show is the numerous pointless unfunny skits that are done from time to time like "will it float?" , stump the band, and "Is this Anything", and most of Alan Kaulter's skits. Dave's show is well known for the Stupid Human Tricks and the Top Ten list.

NBC - The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
This is most watched late show and has surpassed the late show every year since the 90's. I am not sure why as I don't really find Jay funny. He gets old ripping on the band leader Kevin Eubanks. I find that the writers for the show aren't that good as his jokes often get no laughs and Leno is not that great with covering it up. His most popular feature is headlines on Monday and this a rip off of David Letterman's skit "Dumb Ads" that Dave introduced in the 80's. Yes that is right, Leno is actually ripping off Dave, not as you may have thought as Letterman re-introduced this skit under the name "Small Town News" in 2004 to compete with Leno's segment.

CBS - The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson Craig's Gig is "Let's repeat the same sayings every episode that make people laugh" This is how a normal episode of CBS late late show goes. 1. Craig Ferguson enters saying to the audience "Enjoy the show, sit down , lay down...take off your pants." 2. Craig opens email bag tell audience to email him at "Craig@internet........com" 3. Craig Calls voice mail and pertains to dial 10,000 numbers just to get to his voice mail as if this demands laughter every single time. I do not know how people can watch his show every day with out getting annoyed at the amount of the stuff he repeats each day. I get tired of it after watching twice in a week. This show would be funny if it didn't have the repetitive crap.

NBC - Late Night with Conan O'Brien When I heard that O'brian was replacing Leno on the Late show in 10 years (less now) I was not that excited. Conan to me was the combination of "Let's act stupid and people will laugh" and "Lets make of fun of myself so people laugh". However Conan has some great monologue's and skits and they never get old.

Last Call with Carson Daly, NBC There is nothing much to say about this show. When I watch him he always look as if he doesn't even know why he's there, and with good reason. The show does not have much content and Carson is just so bleh. The only good thing about this show is it pulls in some good music talent.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Comedy Central I think Jon Stewart is great and I'm not sure why but I do not watch his show much. I think a lot has to do with the fact his show is on Comedy central and not a major network. His show is more geared toward turning current news into humor and does a great job at it! I feel Stewart would make a great replacement for Letterman.