David Letterman retiring next year (2 Viewers)

[Aaron Silverman]

I think he'll probably have little segments where he does his satirical character, which would be fine. No way should he try to do the whole show that way, though. He can't even keep it up for a half hour anymore, never mind trying to maintain it for an hour five times a week. He breaks character to slip in liberal comments all the time -- once you notice this, it really stands out.

 

[Jeffery_H]

No one has crossed any lines...yet.

But let's not focus this discussion on personal political beliefs: our own or Colbert's.

There are plenty of other things to talk about.

That's missing the point entirely as I am sure you are well aware. You can't have it both ways, the person is one and the same so those are the facts we know about him in real life, not a "character". He is a self described "very liberal socialist" as he has put it. Regardless of what he does on the Late Show once he takes over, that much is known about the man and like it or not it will certainly divide a LOT of people depending on their personal views.

This is why I think it was a VERY POOR choice no matter what your views are. Too divisive to be a good host for a show like that, you need a middle of the road guy that doesn't have his baggage.

 

[TravisR]

Maybe I'm weird but I don't really care about the politics of a guy interviewing a millionaire about their upcoming movie. I just want to hear some interesting questions and answers.

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

That's missing the point entirely as I am sure you are well aware. You can't have it both ways, the person is one and the same so those are the facts we know about him in real life, not a "character". He is a self described "very liberal socialist" as he has put it. Regardless of what he does on the Late Show once he takes over, that much is known about the man and like it or not it will certainly divide a LOT of people depending on their personal views.This is why I think it was a VERY POOR choice no matter what your views are. Too divisive to be a good host for a show like that, you need a middle of the road guy that doesn't have his baggage.

Mike's not missing the point at all. And you indicate how Colbert describes himself but that can't be backed up by anything (that I have ever heard or could find).We can continue to talk about whether we think he's funny or the right choice and it certainly can be done without drawing political lines at this forum where that kinda thing has no place.

 

[mattCR]

Not political in the slightest here.. but a discussion we had last night at our house. We have a niece at MIT, a nephew at CalTech and a lot of our family is really 'science' oriented. We all geek out over things like Dr. Who and Science Fiction, but most of our topics of discussion sometimes sounds like The Big Bang Theory, and while I can't keep pace with some of the brightest in our fold, I always feel like I get something out of it.
One thing Colbert really had going for him is that the Colbert Report did a lot of interviews with real scientists. Not Mr. Wizard stuff, but well respected nobel candidate scientists. Brian Greene went on Colbert to talk about String Theory. Michio Kaku, theoretical physicist went on Colbert to discuss the direction of research. If you look under his list of Academic guests: http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/guests%C2 (On Guests, click down and choose 'Academic' you get an unbelievable list of major minds in our country.

Can Leon Botstein, conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra get an extended segment on the late show to discuss why keeping the art of American history alive? I doubt it...

Colbert will instead face down a lot of actors and the like promoting their latest movie. I still think it's a great pickup for CBS, but I do worry that we lose a lot from the discussion if what the Colbert Report came to the table with goes away. Last year, Colbert had an entire segment on the issues of breakthroughs from space research.. will we see anything like that on the late show?

I doubt it, and that makes me a bit sad, actually.

At least I've got Cosmos now and we can all chatter after it weekly..

 

[Mike Frezon]

That's missing the point entirely as I am sure you are well aware.

Mike's not missing the point at all. ...
We can continue to talk about whether we think he's funny or the right choice and it certainly can be done without drawing political lines at this forum where that kinda thing has no place.

Thanks, Neil.

Jeffery: I was clear.

We don't need to focus this discussion on personal political beliefs.

There are ways to make your point about the choice of Colbert without getting into the particulars of his politics or our own. And if people want to continue to do so, they will risk penalty here.

 

[Jeffery_H]

Thanks, Neil.

Jeffery: I was clear.

We don't need to focus this discussion on personal political beliefs.

There are ways to make your point about the choice of Colbert without getting into the particulars of his politics or our own. And if people want to continue to do so, they will risk penalty here.

Oh, I understand quite well, guys like you make my day and I love it.

All the best though and have fun watching YOUR guy when he takes over.

 

[TravisR]

^ Just a page back, Mike said "I have never seen the Colbert Report or any of his appearances on The Daily Show" so I don't think Colbert is his guy. And even if he was Colbert's biggest fan, he's still simply saying to not discuss politics all together. That rule isn't only applied in cases where the moderators disagree with the post and it isn't a conspiracy against your beliefs, it's a well-established rule at this board.

 

[Bryan^H]

I'm sorry to hear of Dave's retirement. I was his biggest fan in the late 80's on NBC, and followed him to CBS when he made his move. Letterman is a comedic genius. You apply that to being a good interviewer and you get some fantastic memorable tv moments. Like this one(making the best of an awkward guest






I haven't watched his show in about ten years but as far as I'm concerned he is still the only "Late Night" personality worth watching. An end of an era. Good luck Mr. Letterman!

 

[Mike Frezon]

Oh, I understand quite well, guys like you make my day and I love it.

All the best though and have fun watching YOUR guy when he takes over.

Jeffery:

I think you have completely misread me and my posts.

I am simply trying to divert this discussion away from the politics of the Letterman/Colbert situation...as such discussions generally tend to lead to problems in these parts. It's why the HTF has this very specific rule (a link to the rules can be found in my signature):

4. No politics or religion. We do not permit the discussion of politics or religion at HTF. However, there is a narrow exception to this rule. If the subject matter of a movie or television show includes politics and/or religion, then they may be discussed insofar as they pertain to that specific movie or television show. We stress, however, that such discussions are carefully monitored and will be moderated if it appears that any participant is using this narrow exception to introduce a broader political or religious discussion than is warranted by the movie or television show under discussion. Also, anyone who has not seen a particular movie or television show is disqualified from discussing its political and/or religious content under this rule.

I'm not sure what you think I'm trying to do here...but feel free to send me a PM and we can figure it out. I'd be more than glad to discuss it off-line.

 

[Walter Kittel]

If Ferguson leaves I am going to be pretty disappointed...

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/craig-ferguson-stay-cbs-2015-article-1.1754069

- Walter.

 

[Scott-S]

Wow, I guess I never knew how much influence Dave had on Craig Ferfusons show. To be honest, I love Craig, but I don't think he would be right for an hour earlier, on a mainstream network. So, I would hate to see him go, It might be a blessing if he is able to go to a less stuffy network. I wonder if he could make a show that replaced Colberts on Comedy Central.

 

[Mike Frezon]

But there were a lot of people who thought that Dave could never mainstream his peculiar sense of humor (Late Night) into a main stream 11:30 show (Late Show). But he did.

I'm surprised CBS isn't looking to re-up Craig. He is one of the best interviewers in the biz right now.

I could never understand how Leno never got better at the interview part of the business. All those years. All those guests on all those programs...and he still looked at his cards when he was asking questions.

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

But there were a lot of people who thought that Dave could never mainstream his peculiar sense of humor (Late Night) into a main stream 11:30 show (Late Show). But he did.I'm surprised CBS isn't looking to re-up Craig. He is one of the best interviewers in the biz right now. I could never understand how Leno never got better at the interview part of the business. All those years. All those guests on all those programs...and he still looked at his cards when he was asking questions.

I've always been a fan of Craig's (in part, honestly, because he's from my native UK), but he has an endearing wackiness that's hard not to be charmed by - and is, as you say, very good at interviewing.

 

[Mike Frezon]

And besides being wacky and charming, the guy seems honest...about who he is and where he's been. At least that's how he appears.

 

[Greg.K]

Craig would be great on Comedy Central, or perhaps HBO. He's a terrific standup comic.

I like his show but I can't really see him at 11:30, either.

 

[JoeDoakes]

But there were a lot of people who thought that Dave could never mainstream his peculiar sense of humor (Late Night) into a main stream 11:30 show (Late Show). But he did.

I'm surprised CBS isn't looking to re-up Craig. He is one of the best interviewers in the biz right now.

I could never understand how Leno never got better at the interview part of the business. All those years. All those guests on all those programs...and he still looked at his cards when he was asking questions.

I am not sure why Craig would be that upset. His show never managed to generate any buzz, and I do not think he could have realistically expected to get the main show. On the other hand, I heard he had a clause in his contract that CBS would pay him $8 million if he did not get the Late Show hosting job. That's pretty nice. As I too did not get the job, if anyone reading this is from CBS, I am willing to take only $4 million for not hosting the Late Show. Please pm me.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

The ideal situation would be for Craig to replace Colbert on Comedy Central.

As for politics, I think it's fair game to discuss the fact that Colbert is a liberal partisan, as that's a major aspect of his schtick. (And it'll be interesting to see how much of that carries over to the Late Show, sans his put-on persona.) It's discussion of the politics themselves that doesn't belong here.

 

[Walter Kittel]

It appears that the speculation regarding Craig Ferguson was not unfounded.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/29/business/media/craig-ferguson-to-leave-cbs-at-end-of-year.html?_r=0

Kind of sucks, but all good things come to an end. Hopefully this was more Craig's decision vs. CBS's.

- Walter.

 

[Mike Frezon]

That IS a shame.

But not altogether surprising. Hopefully, he'll end up doing something even better.

I like this from the NYT piece:

He won considerable critical praise during his CBS tenure for his quick wit and intelligence, and his often perceptive interviews.