Late Night Talk

[CrypticVillain]

I don't watch any late night shows... But I do find myself watching Fallon clips Ib the internet a lot. Dude is funny and very talented.

[pjfootballer]

Of course like everyone, we used to watch Letterman in our dorm in college.  But that got old and I don't think I've watched a full episode of any late night talk shows in 25 years. I'll occasionally be changing channells and look for a bit. 

[Warhead36]

Of course like everyone, we used to watch Letterman in our dorm in college.  But that got old and I don't think I've watched a full episode of any late night talk shows in 25 years. I'll occasionally be changing channells and look for a bit. 

Yeah I don't actually ever sit down to watch any of them. If I can't fall asleep though I may channel swap, but usually end up sticking with Tonight Show.

 

Occasionally I catch Fallon, and he's pretty funny. Conan's got the best interviews though. Letterman is a snooze fest. Kimmel is meh.

[LeesburgSkinFan]

I don't think Leno ever looked back in the ratings after scoring the post arrest Hugh Grant interview in 1995.

[The Evil Genius]

IMO, night in and night out Craig Ferguson has the best shows with the best interviews (even if they are entirely too short).

[balki1867]

I don't think Leno ever looked back in the ratings after scoring the post arrest Hugh Grant interview in 1995.

 

I think I read somewhere that he never once beat Letterman before that interview (not even a single night), and never once lost to him afterwards (again, not a single night).  You talk about a game-changer in a business where people freak out about tenths of percentage points.

[88Comrade2000]

Nothng special this time with Leno's final night. Actually, I didn't know Jimmy Fallon still had 2 more episodes of Late Night.  His final episode of Late Night is tonight.

[Springfield]

I like Conan and Fallon is really growing on me.

[HogNose]

Jimmy Fallon is a natural and was born for this tonight show gig.  Great rapport with an audience and very likable.  

 

I loved his Joking Bad skit and the Doors reading rainbow. 

[MattFancy]

I really like Fallon alot. Hard to imagine him not being successful on the Tonight Show.

[chipwhich]

Why did they leftys fire Leno?

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

 Letterman is a snooze fest. Kimmel is meh.

 

I think Letterman loves his show but would eliminate 90 percent of the interviews if he could. When he gets engaged with someone, he's still the best ever. When he's trapped in an Ana Faris anecdote that he does not care about, he might as well turn to the camera and say, "I hate my life."

 

Part of what made the old Late Night with David Letterman so great was that NBC didn't care who he booked. So he could put an unknown Howard Stern on or Warren Zevon or Harvey Pekar or give Albert Brooks two segments or have a young Leno show up once every two months to verbally spar. At 11:30, he has to have Selena Gomez show up to promote whatever and I think he'd rather have David Sedaris.

 

I barely watch any late night now, but I can think of ten or eleven fun segments with guests that Dave has had over the last few years. Hell, in the last two months, he and Stern got into a shouting match over whether Brad Grey was a "weasel." Aside from that one Hugh Grant question a million years ago, name one memorable Leno interview.

[Switchgear]

 Aside from that one Hugh Grant question a million years ago, name one memorable Leno interview.

 

Here's one:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/15/kimmel-leno-show-appearan_n_424295.html

 

 

...Leno invited Kimmel on his show last night. Done via satellite for Leno's recurring "10 at 10" feature, Kimmel didn't pull any punches. When asked for the best prank he ever pulled, Jimmy responded:

"I told a guy that 'five years from now, I'm going to give you my show.' And then when the five years came, I gave it to him. And then I took it back almost instantly. I think he works at Fox or something now."

"Ever order anything off the TV?" Leno asked next.

"Like NBC ordered your show off the TV?" cracked Kimmel.

Kimmel also joked that Leno had "$800 million, for God's sake," and advised him to leave other peoples' shows alone.

[lovetoaster]

Did anybody watch Leno last night? I watched it for the first time in a while, and man, it felt like a downer. I knew that Leno's farewell at the end would be emotional and it certainly was. And that is fine, it is to be expected. But having Garth Brooks sing "The Dance" near the end of the show? Great song, but man...that is not an upbeat one.

 

Usually shows like that feel triumphant, even the one where Conan left NBC with that weird situation was more of a celebration.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

The Tonight Show with Jay as host has been an odd institution. He's treated it more like a museum curator than as a host. Johnny was distant and aloof, but a ton of young comedians treated him with reverance and a lot of those old Hollywood types treated him like a drinking buddy.

 

I don't know if Letterman actually has any "friends," because he seems like a deeply weird man. But there is a ton of affection for him from a lot of people. When Steve Martin shows up on Letterman, it feels like two guys who really really know each other talking. I don't know if he and Bill Murray have ever exchanged a word outside the show, but those two share this long and interesting history and obviously amuse each other.

 

Billy Crystal was probably the perfect choice for Jay to end with, because he actually does seem to know Jay as a human being on some level and not just the joke and plug machine he has been for 20+ years. They go back a million years to The Comedy Store.

 

In all honesty, the only person who has ever really made Jay seem like a human being and not a conduit for the business of show is David Letterman. Steven Hyden on Grantland pointed out, that those old Leno bits on Late Night are not that far removed from the joke-setup-joke-setup routine that Leno still uses. It's just that Dave was always there to call attention to the artifice of it all and could occasionally get the real Jay to slip through.

 

Here's a prediction: Within a year, Jay is going to be a guest on Letterman and the internet is going to explode with posts saying, "Where has that Jay been hiding for 20 years?" 

[The Evil Genius]

Letterman on the final show would have been the best FU to NBC that Leno could have given. That was a major missed opportunity for Leno last night.

[Dan T.]

-For a man who made a living for 22 years interviewing people, Jay Leno always seemed very socially awkward on camera in his interactions with people. 
 

- The late night "monologue, comedy-bit, guests, music act" format with the sidekick and house band feels like a stale anachronism to me.  That goes for all the late night shows, not just Jay's.

 

A question popped into my head last night as Leno was talking about the loss of his mom, dad, and brother... does Jay Leno have any children?

[Dr. Do Itch Big]

-For a man who made a living for 22 years interviewing people, Jay Leno always seemed very socially awkward on camera in his interactions with people. 

 

- The late night "monologue, comedy-bit, guests, music act" format with the sidekick and house band feels like a stale anachronism to me.  That goes for all the late night shows, not just Jay's.

 

A question popped into my head last night as Leno was talking about the loss of his mom, dad, and brother... does Jay Leno have any children?

Craig's is a little different. He always talks about how he is trying to destroy the late night format. I haven't watched in it a while, but I always found it enjoyable. 

[Dan T.]

Craig's is a little different. He always talks about how he is trying to destroy the late night format. I haven't watched in it a while, but I always found it enjoyable.

 

 

True. He pokes fun at the whole premise.  His show is refreshing in doses.

[lovetoaster]

 

A question popped into my head last night as Leno was talking about the loss of his mom, dad, and brother... does Jay Leno have any children?

 

 

Apparently not, according to his Wiki:

 

Leno has been married since 1980 to Mavis Leno; they have no children, by mutual agreement.

[The Evil Genius]

Some epic comments last night..and I think Conan said it best.

 

 

Issues aside, 20 years at #1 is a remarkable achievement. Congratulations and best wishes to @jayleno on an incredible run - Kimmel

 

 

 

 

To Jay, we say thank you very much. He's been a great guy. We're going to miss him. - Fallon

 

 

 

The Olympics start airing tonight on NBC. It's very cool. That's right, NBC has the Olympics, It's a big deal. NBC will finally get to show somebody who is OK with passing the torch. - Conan

 

 

Congratulations on a wonderful run, and I'll tell you something-If I was Jay Leno and I was retiring, you know what I would do? I'd go out and buy myself a car - Letterman

[PeterMP]

Here's a prediction: Within a year, Jay is going to be a guest on Letterman and the internet is going to explode with posts saying, "Where has that Jay been hiding for 20 years?" 

 

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/02/how-great-would-it-be-for-leno-to-go-on-em-letterman-em-one-last-time/283636/

 

How Great Would It Be for Leno to Go on Letterman One Last Time?

[fullnelson9999]

if letterman retires, the job is Craig's.

 

I'd like it to be Craig, but there's no way he does well in Letterman's spot.  You can get away with a whole lot more "weird" in his current time slot than an hour earlier.  And his shtick is based on weird.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

 

- The late night "monologue, comedy-bit, guests, music act" format with the sidekick and house band feels like a stale anachronism to me.  That goes for all the late night shows, not just Jay's.

 

It is, but the format is over 60 years old now, and is locked in.

 

You can play in the margins some: Letterman made his original show some weird ironic version of The Tonight Show. Conan in his early years basically turned his show into a live action cartoon at times. Fallon's entire purpose seems to be to create 3 minute viral videos to be watched the next day.

 

Here is something to ponder: the most innovative late night talk show host since Letterman is....wait for it.....wait for it....Arsenio Hall.

 

His original show was completely and totally different at the time. Not just because it was "black" or "urban" or whatever the word was in 1990, though that helped. Carson and Letterman did not seek the audience's approval. Carson simply expected it. Letterman often rejected it. Arsenio begged for it. That was a show where he was going to entertain you, goddamn it, and if he wasn't entertaining you, could you please let him know what he could to do entertain you and he will incorporate those requests immediately. In some ways, Leno copied Arsenio more than he copied Carson.

[Dan T.]

The most iconic part of the Tonight Show format, or at least the part most rhapsodized about by those who chronicle the impact of Carson and Leno on American culture, is the monologue.  Jimmy Fallon's monologue always felt like a perfunctory afterthought to me.  It was never a strength of his.  I'll be curious to see how that changes as he moves up to the 11:30 time slot.  Will he try to beef it up in order to live up to its history, or will it continue to be a mediocre chore that he has to muddle through?