The Tonight Show

Worrying about Leno's "legacy" is about as first-world as first-world problems get. And the opinions are just that- -- opinions.

For me, Leno was comfort food. Reliable to have a few jokes in the monologue that would make you smile, if not laugh. Jay-Walking and Headlines were reliable for laughs.

I don't think The Tonight Show is where you turn to if you're looking for "edgy."

And for anyone wanting to compare him to Carson, just give it a rest. The times for the medium were so radically different there's no way anyone was going to be another Carson. It's like complaining that the current president of AT&T shouldn't get any credit because he's not Alexander Graham Bell.

Letterman is edgier, but Letterman has always carried a chip of bitterness on his shoulder. I'm from the newspaper industry. I see enough bitterness already.

Based on what I've seen, Kimmel might have the best show of them all. But it was never appointment TV for me. In today's age, you can catch up with the good bits you missed the next day on your Facebook feed.

All that said, when the 10 o'clock news ends, I'm usually watching a Seinfeld rerun.

 

A sign of these times we live in...

In 1995, I read Bill Carter's "The Late Shift" and found it a tremendous read. He references so many of the events during various shows that can now be seen on YouTube clips.

 

He owns the show, not the time slot. If Dave retires and the show shuts down, CBS ought to be able to replace him with whoever they want. New show, either farmed out to someone else or network-owned.

 

I think one of the reasons NBC pulled the trigger on Leno now might have been a) the Comcast people wanted the old NBC management to make the move on their watch (with their approval of course) so their hands would be clean and b) they saw Kimmell's rise and figured Letterman wasn't going anywhere, but didn't want to have Leno tap out when Letterman did. This wasn't like with Conan where his contract was up and NBC was worried about him going elsewhere.

 

Jimmy Fallon's show is good, but it's the piano bar of late night shows ... and I'm not into piano bars. A lot of people are, and because of that, he'll do well. Just not my cup of tea.

He's miles better than Leno, whose jokes are more obvious and stale than a vintage Hee Haw episode.

Truth is, I really don't watch any of them regularly anyway. I don't care anymore.

 

Yes, CBS isn't ready for a youth movement just yet

 

Really did not like Fallon on SNL, but from what little I have seen, he fits very well in the talk-show world. And he is extremely talented, His stuff with Timberlake has been tremendous. He's a very personable guy and people like him, so he'll do fine. And how the hell he got a group as talented as The Roots to be his house band for this long I will never know.

 

I rarely watch these days, but Letterman has been God awful for the past 15-plus years. Kimmel can be funny, but for me, there is something very unlikeable about him. I pretty much watch Stewart and Colbert the next day on DVR.

 

Perhaps it's the usual bit of once you hit the mountain top, you play it safe. Leno was hilarious in the 1980's on his guest spots/guest hosting. Letterman was revolutionary television on NBC with Late Night.

But, once you hit that 11:35 slot, it does change. You have to broaden it out. Your hook goes from edgy and funny comedy bits to interviewing the same two immigrants who work across the street from the studio.

 

Yeah, but if they go that route it won't be at the Ed, and either way, it's not going to be Leno.

 

More than anything, I think Letterman is bored and on autopilot. On the rare occasions I see him he seems tired and just going through the motions. If something happens to jostle him out of his routine, he's still the best in the business. His shows after 9/11 and his heart attack showed that. Even little stuff, like Paris Hilton pissing him off, and he can be right back on his A game.

I'm kind of surprised Dave hasn't gone the Carson route, with a lot of vacation time and guest hosts. (Late night fact: Carson hosted 8 years longer than Leno, but did fewer shows overall.) It seems to me it would make a ton of sense for Dave to scatter 4 or 6 weeks of vacation through the year with Ferguson filling in for him, and try out guest hosts on Ferguson's show those weeks. Dave gets reinvigorated, Ferguson gets a trial run at 11:30, and they get a look at other potential late night hosts in the process. Everyone wins.

 

I think that after he got 11:35 and was on top, he just stopped working as hard. My older brother was a huge Letterman fan, and we used to stay up late and watch him all the time at 12:30. He was so funny back then.

Leno just wanted 11:35 more and when he got it, he just returned each serve softly down the middle. It worked.