David Letterman retiring in 2015...

Serious Business 107 replies 3,424 views
salto's avatar
salto
Posts: 2,611
Apr 4, 2014 4:04am
se-alum;1600730 wrote:I also like Craig Ferguson, he's basically just like a drunk guy having conversations with celebrities.
Craig is a nut and damn funny.
fish82's avatar
fish82
Posts: 4,111
Apr 4, 2014 8:37am
Dave probably should have packed it in about 5 years ago...that's about when he started leaving the reservation.

Back in his NBC days...he was literally untouchable.
Devils Advocate's avatar
Devils Advocate
Posts: 4,539
Apr 4, 2014 9:16am
I looked all around and found no fucks to give.
Automatik's avatar
Automatik
Posts: 14,632
Apr 4, 2014 9:33am
SportsAndLady;1600669 wrote:I think Conan is retarded. I can't laugh at that guy.
Loved his old stuff, but now he's unwatchable.

Fallon is the new king of late night.
T
Tiernan
Posts: 13,021
Apr 4, 2014 9:33am
Ferguson blows Arsenio away. Hell the skeleton robot is funnier than Aresenio.
ernest_t_bass's avatar
ernest_t_bass
Posts: 24,984
Apr 4, 2014 9:35am
Automatik;1600807 wrote:Loved his old stuff, but now he's unwatchable.

Fallon is the new king of late night.
I think things will change if Conan is back on Network TV.
O
ou1980
Posts: 877
Apr 4, 2014 9:52am
I agree, can't watch Conan on tbs for some weird reason.


Moving the show to LA would be huge though. Would cut into bigger names that can compete with guests who are not in New York at the time. Kimmel is the only one who has that advantage right now
Z
Zoltan
Posts: 1,003
Apr 4, 2014 10:06am
reclegend22;1600701 wrote:That coke joke is great.

As for Conan, I don't think he's all that cool or hip or whatever. He's an awkward 50-year-old with an orange pompadour. I like him because he's an entertaining interview with a wicked sense of wit. I'm also a big fan of surreal humor, which has always been a function of his late night shows.
When he was in the controversy with Leno it seemed he had all the social media support from the "younger" viewers, and was made to be the cool new guy. He just doesn't seem to pull any ratings.
sherm03's avatar
sherm03
Posts: 7,349
Apr 4, 2014 10:12am
Zoltan;1600818 wrote:When he was in the controversy with Leno it seemed he had all the social media support from the "younger" viewers, and was made to be the cool new guy. He just doesn't seem to pull any ratings.
He also had to start from scratch. All of his bits, characters, everything was property of NBC. When he went to TBS, the writers had to start over. It takes time to find new bits that work after using the ones that got you famous for so long.

That's why Fallon was so successful. His show was painful at first until the writers figured out what worked. And when it started working and he moved to the Tonight Show, they allowed him to continue to run the same type of show. That wasn't the case with Conan. He was asked to tone down how weird he was and that led to his time on the Tonight Show being awkward and uncomfortable to try to appease the old people who just don't get his humor.
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gut
Posts: 15,058
Apr 4, 2014 1:29pm
sherm03;1600820 wrote:That wasn't the case with Conan. He was asked to tone down how weird he was and that led to his time on the Tonight Show being awkward and uncomfortable to try to appease the old people who just don't get his humor.
Pretty much spot-on.

I'll miss Leno (though I'm not sure he's done). His monologue just blows all these others away, and that's normally all I care to watch. A lot of Fallon's stuff is fun and, ehhh, mildly humorous.
SportsAndLady's avatar
SportsAndLady
Posts: 35,632
Apr 4, 2014 1:35pm
None of these guys are funny. Who the fuck watches late night comedy shows?
sherm03's avatar
sherm03
Posts: 7,349
Apr 4, 2014 1:40pm
SportsAndLady;1600903 wrote:None of these guys are funny. Who the fuck watches late night comedy shows?
People with DVRs.
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gut
Posts: 15,058
Apr 4, 2014 1:45pm
SportsAndLady;1600903 wrote:Who the fuck watches late night comedy shows?
People with real jobs and families.

And Leno is funny. He's one of the great stand-ups of his generation.
reclegend22's avatar
reclegend22
Posts: 8,772
Apr 4, 2014 2:22pm
I never found Jay Leno that funny. He always sounded like he was reading from a joke book. Too stale for me. Absolutely no edge.

Conan on Late Night was awesome. I agree with ETB that once Conan gets back on network television and is able to do the show the way he wants, he'll regain the popularity he once enjoyed early on at NBC. The final month of his run on The Tonight Show was some of the best material he's ever delivered. It was so surreal the way he was giving the network the middle finger on air every night while cutting Leno down limb by limb for basically stabbing him in the back. Conan was so good in those final episodes because he no longer cared what NBC wanted and had reverted back to his old brand of dark/absurd comedy.

His target audience is definitely the young adult crowd (20s and 30s), but now that the Conan brand is approaching 25 years he'll have no problem pulling in a wide audience base on CBS.
like_that's avatar
like_that
Posts: 26,625
Apr 4, 2014 2:27pm
gut;1600908 wrote:People with real jobs and families.

And Leno is funny. He's one of the great stand-ups of his generation.
Gut, you must watch over 40 hours of tv a week. Do you ever get out?
G
gut
Posts: 15,058
Apr 4, 2014 2:41pm
like_that;1600935 wrote:Gut, you must watch over 40 hours of tv a week. Do you ever get out?
LMAO....40 hours? Insightful isn't a word commonly used to describe you, is it? There might be 15-20 shows I watch regularly, but because of staggered seasons it's probably only like 10 hours a week without commercials. And some sports, not a ton but mostly college football and basketball.

And I still get out, but I'm no longer in my 20's so I don't go out every Thurs/Fri/Sat any more.
SportsAndLady's avatar
SportsAndLady
Posts: 35,632
Apr 4, 2014 2:44pm
I don't understand. People with families and real jobs watch late night comedy shows?
ts1227's avatar
ts1227
Posts: 12,319
Apr 4, 2014 3:58pm
SportsAndLady;1600942 wrote:I don't understand. People with families and real jobs watch late night comedy shows?
Old people watch them.

Gut just decided to state it like a typical Baby Boomer
G
gut
Posts: 15,058
Apr 4, 2014 4:35pm
SportsAndLady;1600942 wrote:I don't understand. People with families and real jobs watch late night comedy shows?
Not all, but I think it's the bulk of their audience, at least prior to the DVR (and explosion of the internet). Basically people run ragged by work and family, and on a pretty set routine and watch a bit after their local news before going to bed. Have a few laughs, which is supposed to be good stress relief, call it a night and then wake-up and do it all over.
Heretic's avatar
Heretic
Posts: 18,820
Apr 4, 2014 4:37pm
ts1227;1600966 wrote:Old people watch them.

Gut just decided to state it like a typical Baby Boomer
I think the only time I watched any of them was Letterman back in college occasionally. Part of the "get drunj/high with friends and watch TV" thing during non-bar nights. Nothing we made a point to do, but just did some nights, particularly if a guest was someone any of us were a fan of.

And then I graduated and pretty much completely stopped watching any of them.
DeyDurkie5's avatar
DeyDurkie5
Posts: 11,324
Apr 4, 2014 4:41pm
gut;1600982 wrote:Not all, but I think it's the bulk of their audience, at least prior to the DVR (and explosion of the internet). Basically people run ragged by work and family, and on a pretty set routine and watch a bit after their local news before going to bed. Have a few laughs, which is supposed to be good stress relief, call it a night and then wake-up and do it all over.
Sounds incredibly depressing
Q
queencitybuckeye
Posts: 7,117
Apr 4, 2014 4:45pm
DeyDurkie5;1600984 wrote:Sounds incredibly depressing
Compared to what?
DeyDurkie5's avatar
DeyDurkie5
Posts: 11,324
Apr 4, 2014 8:33pm
queencitybuckeye;1600988 wrote:Compared to what?
Crack and herpes
M
MontyBrunswick
Apr 4, 2014 9:42pm
It goes in the following order:

Conan > Letterman/Kimmell> Ferguson > everyone else > Leno > Fallon
SportsAndLady's avatar
SportsAndLady
Posts: 35,632
Apr 4, 2014 11:05pm
dlazz;1601082 wrote:It goes in the following order:

Conan > Letterman/Kimmell> Ferguson > everyone else > Leno > Fallon
This guy watches late night comedy shows