David Letterman retiring next year (1 Viewer)

[Ejanss]

You whippersnappers! Letterman hasn't been funny since I watched him on Indy daytime tv. : D

I actually remember his NBC morning show--
Lots of kidding of Chuck Woolery, who had the network "Wheel of Fortune" right after, the show always ended with NBC's morning-news break at 10:55 as part of the show, and Dave had a running segment, "Coffee Cup Theater", where he would show one minute of a strange early-thirties talkie movie completely out of context. Not bad, considering he had mostly housewives in his audience, who would otherwise be lining up for Regis & Kathy.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

He definitely has an odd sense of humor.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Dave had a running segment, "Coffee Cup Theater", where he would show one minute of a strange early-thirties talkie movie completely out of context.

I remember when Dr. Phil first started getting big, that he'd do the same thing on the Late Show. He'd throw up a title card reading "Doctor Phil's Words of Wisdom" with some cute music underneath it, and then pull a quote completely out of context - like Phil saying, "You have absolutely no redeeming qualities" - and then smash cut back to the title card with the cute music. Never failed to get a laugh out of me.

I have absolutely no idea why I found it so funny, but I always loved "Will It Float?"

 

[DaveF]

One thing I never got about Letterman was that top 10 list. It was never funny and I was actually surprised to see recently that he's still doing it.

What little late-night TV I've watched the past ten or fifteen years has been Leno. But in High School, in the '80s, Letterman was it. And the Top 10 list was a cultural phenomenon. We'd be talking all week about a really good top ten.

The last time I turned on Letterman, it didn't do it for me. I'm not in High School and Letterman isn't a crazy upstart anymore. I guess I found Leno's smooth-jazz blandness over Letterman's bitter coffee more enjoyable when winding down at night (if I may mix and butcher metaphors).

But from a completely different perspective, I enjoyed Ihnatko's take on late night shows.
http://ihnatko.com/2014/03/28/my-1135-pm-tv-comedy-provider/

Dave is now in his Sixties, not his Thirties. He’s not the young punk who busts in and smashes up the furniture; now, he’s the legend who built something worth preserving.
I put it to you that there is nothing sillier than a man in his Sixties dressing in Velcro and launching himself at a wall, andnothing less sincere than a Kennedy Center honoree whose net worth can be expressed as a fraction of a billion dollars promising his audience that he’s here to rip The Establishment a new one.
Instead, the 21st-century version of Letterman’s show is brilliant. Dave portrays the part of the Establishment. He’s now the befuddled old guy who doesn’t understand why a staffer is walking on stage and doing something crazy. He’s the one who’s out of step because he didn’t go to rehearsal. He’s the guy who has to be told to take his pills, by an assistant who’s frankly tired of his nonsense by now.

 

[DaveF]

Did you ever see his interview with Maureen Dowd? Or Rachael Maddow? Tough interviews for him were fairly selective. Still, I always thought he did his best work with Charles Grodin. Every time Grodin was on the show it was classic.

There was an episode with Grodin, maybe 20 years ago?, I'm not sure, but it was maybe the funniest late-night bit I've ever seen. Charles Grodin was angry, melancholy, depressed, off his meds? Something. He was not a normal guest. Maybe it was all schtick; maybe it was real. But Dave worked it, as if Grodin was a hostile witness. I was knocked out. I've always wondered what was going on with that interview. I kinda want to see it again, but then, not really since it can't live up to my memories.

 

[Patrick Sun]

So I looked for Grodin appearance on Letterman via Youtube, and I was shocked at Grodin's change in appearance from 1994 and 2004, transitioning from somewhat young man to elder statesman between those 2 appearances.

 

[joshEH]

Apparently Colbert, Stewart and Ellen Degeneress are amongst the front runners. I'd be good with any of them.

As much as I would wish bigger success on Stewart and Colbert, the political/media landscape would suffer immensely, if either one were to leave their current positions.

With the possible exception of the new John Oliver HBO series(?), there are no other programs on TV that deal with the batshit-insane ideas that are modern-day U.S. politics.

I might be wrong, but I can't see the powers-that-be at CBS allowing Colbert or Stewart the same amount of editorial freedom that Comedy Central does, when it comes to their muckraking. For instance, CBS would have never allowed a segment like "Lazer Klan."

Personally, I'd love to see Ferguson get it...but only if Geoff is part of the package.

 

[TonyD]

I'd love to see Jay Leno replace him!

Stop.

His mood never rebounded after The Bonnie Hunt show.Fred Armisen would be a great choice. Bring some Portlandia stuff...

Armisen is already on Late Night. Anyway I'm a Dave Disciple. I never saw that daytime show but have watched him at night since 1982. Dave has been Johnny Carson for me. I still don't see why people call him grouchy. He's still the only late show I watch and still leave on during the interviews. Colbert is too much of a clown and I like Stewart but I only find his pre interview segments interesting. I guess it doesn't matter to me who gets it they're all the same now anyway.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Not to be a jerk, Tony, but Armisen is on Late Night with Seth Myers...not with Fallon.

 

[TonyD]

Oops, yes that right. That's what I meant to say.

 

[schan1269]

But he's a sidekick to the (so far) dreadful Seth. I hope Craig is winning that one.Besides, who wouldn't like Fred followed by Craig?

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Is Colbert ready to give up his Faux'Reilly schtick? It has gotten a little old, frankly.

But they should keep the Fergs at 12:30 and just give the Late Show to Geoff Peterson.

 

[SamT]

Stephen Colbert to Replace David Letterman as Host

http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/04/10/stephen-colbert-letterman/

 

[Mike Frezon]

Wow.

That'll be interesting to watch.

My concern is if Ferguson will react badly.

 

[SamT]

I like him a lot. Will he be in character or as himself? This is a completely different beast than Colbert Report.

 

[TravisR]

I'm surprised by that. I'm guessing that the Stephen Colbert character may still be in the monologue but he'll be himself (to some degree) when he's interviewing guests.

 

[SamT]

I'm surprised by that. I'm guessing that the Stephen Colbert character may still be in the monologue but he'll be himself (to some degree) when he's interviewing guests.

Interviewing guests in character is the best part! Imagine him attacking and confronting all the A-List people he receives.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Meh.

 

[Ejanss]

It's hard to tell where the rampaging-narcissist character of Colbert ends and the actual one begins.
My reaction to his being dumped into the late-night mainstream, where they're too busy booking celebrities and don't get cable-comedy shticks, is "Better him than Jon Stewart", so Stewart can at least carry on the Good Work.

(Besides, Stewart already had his shot at mainstream talk-show, and it wasn't much back then.)

 

[Citizen87645]

My concern is if Ferguson will react badly.

He'll get little sympathy if so: http://nypost.com/2014/04/04/craig-ferguson-will-make-a-killing-off-david-lettermans-empty-chair/