Late night talk shows

[bhsup]

I get the impression that they are generally considered to be classy and hilarious

Classy? Ha, not since probably Steve Allen at least. Hilarious? I am not sure I would even go that far. Slap-sticky and frequently low-brow, yes.

 

[shadowplay]

Late night shows like Letterman, Conan and Leno leave me very very confused.

You see, when I watch moronic American day time stuff a la Dr Phil, Springer etc, I get it. It's just dumb Americans being dumb and good luck to 'em. I don't fall for the whole "American's are idiots, look at their TV". I've met idiots from all over the globe and I'm sure many of you guys cringe at the aforementioned TV shows.

But the late night stuff. That's not considered unfunny and lowbrow is it? I get the impression that they are generally considered to be classy and hilarious and it's just a matter of personal preference whether you are a Conan or a Leno guy. But they aren't hilarious?? They are lame. I often sit in stunned silence thinking "Why are you all whooping going berserk"?.

Please tell me I'm wrong.

These shows pretty much only work late at night when people are trying to knock themselves out before bed, in which case I think a little cornyness goes a long way.

The studio audience are told to yuck it up btw. They're effectively a part of the show.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Late night shows like Letterman, Conan and Leno leave me very very confused.

You see, when I watch moronic American day time stuff a la Dr Phil, Springer etc, I get it. It's just dumb Americans being dumb and good luck to 'em. I don't fall for the whole "American's are idiots, look at their TV". I've met idiots from all over the globe and I'm sure many of you guys cringe at the aforementioned TV shows.

But the late night stuff. That's not considered unfunny and lowbrow is it? I get the impression that they are generally considered to be classy and hilarious and it's just a matter of personal preference whether you are a Conan or a Leno guy. But they aren't hilarious?? They are lame. I often sit in stunned silence thinking "Why are you all whooping going berserk"?.

Please tell me I'm wrong.

I find Letterman revolting. Conan is too juvenile; he acts like he's 12. Leno... well, I enjoy the comedy bits like Headlines, Jaywalking, and the photo booth. The gas station news guy was funny, too. Other than that, it depends entirely on who the guests are. I enjoy the animals. But as mentioned, I no longer watch this stuff. I'm just not up on current TV or movies or popular culture to get why something might be funny or interesting.

Years ago, Pat Sajak had a late-night talk show. At first it was pretty good - much better than the others. But then something went wrong, and it tanked horribly. At the end, Sajak wasn't even hosting.

I watched Arsenio Hall's talk show occasionally, but his inane giggling really irritated me.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Isn't Pat Sajak the 'let's get an eightball and some hookers and go crazy' guy? That was probably part of why he wasn't hosting the show

 

[Quackers]

RLF is right. These programmes are terrible.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Isn't Pat Sajak the 'let's get an eightball and some hookers and go crazy' guy? That was probably part of why he wasn't hosting the show

I never heard that about him. All I know is that in the first few months, his talk show was really good (yes, he was hosting at the time). Then he had some kind of falling out with somebody - the studio? Network? Various other Suits? I don't know what happened, but he stopped hosting it, guest hosts were brought in, and it really went to hell.

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

Cool. My faith is restored.

Now get to Mars you lazy bastards.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I never heard that about him. All I know is that in the first few months, his talk show was really good (yes, he was hosting at the time). Then he had some kind of falling out with somebody - the studio? Network? Various other Suits? I don't know what happened, but he stopped hosting it, guest hosts were brought in, and it really went to hell.

I have to look it up to see if it was him I was thinking about, but he started calling some co-worker and leaving her a string of really obsene voicemails that she then published. His career nose dived at that point.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

But isn't Sajak still hosting Wheel of Fortune? He has alluded to his failed talk show once or twice that I heard over the years, but never any kind of sexual harassment.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

The worst I remember hearing about Pat Sajak was that back in the 80s he did a bunch of shows while too drunk to know the difference between a consonant and a vowel.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I was totally wrong, it wasn't Sajak. My bad

 

[shadowplay]

I have to look it up to see if it was him I was thinking about, but he started calling some co-worker and leaving her a string of really obsene voicemails that she then published. His career nose dived at that point.

You're confusing him with somebody else. Sajak's show rated terribly and that's why he was canned.

EDIT: X-post

 

[hobbsyoyo]

It was Pat O'Brien and it was such a dirty voicemail(s) I can't link to it. Google him though, it's funny

 

[shadowplay]

It was Pat O'Brien and it was such a dirty voicemail(s) I can't link to it.

O'Reilly did the same thing about a decade ago and it didn't hurt his ratings any.

 

[Antilogic]

I haven't watched any for years. I used to like Letterman.

As far as the shows go in the poll, this. I used to watch the Letterman monologues and comedy with my mom and brother when I was still living at home and going to high school, but that was a long time ago.

Recently, it's J-Stew and Colbert.

 

[_random_]

The studio audience are told to yuck it up btw. They're effectively a part of the show.

Craig Ferguson's frequent mockery of this is one of the reasons he's awesome. I do wonder if there is free chicken. And he uses puppets:

Link to video.
And he did this bit of standup:

Link to video.
In general, the guys who are on later at night, after 12:30, tend to have a lot more creative freedom, and thus funnier shows. There was a pretty noticeable decline in Conan's quality once he went from Late Nite to The Tonight Show (although he's still better than Leno.)

 

[Gucumatz]

Stewart/Colbert

 

[CivCube]

Ferguson has just the right sense of humor for 1:00 AM. And I dig his patriotism. And his gay robot skeleton. His monologues and bits tend to be funnier than the interviews though, but there are exceptions. And his Desmond Tutu interview was concentrated awesomeness.

Spoiler :

Link to video.

Link to video.

Link to video.

Link to video.

 

[shadowplay]

Craig Ferguson's frequent mockery of this is one of the reasons he's awesome.

I like Craig but his show is a little too repetitive for my tastes. It'd be nice if he mixed the bits up more instead of reading tweets/emails every night.

Love the Kraftwerk jokes though.

 

[de Maistre]

Ferguson, although I haven't watched any of them in several years. One thing I remember fondly about Ferguson was that when Britney Spears was having a rough time, instead of ridiculing her he did a monologue about his experience with alcoholism, which I thought was sweet of him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZVWIELHQQY