re: Spinoff: How did Norm not get to host "The Late, Late Show"?

I really like Norm. The best of his comedy is really really good. But he's not a workhorse IMO and doesn't have the energy to pretend to have a good time when he's not enthused about being there. That's fine as a guest when you can appear on Letterman or Stern and just kinda be funny by being a dick - but can wear thin on an audience (as Letterman sometimes did).

I completely get Letterman championing Norm because a younger Letterman had more in common with Norm than just about anyone else I can think of - his biting sense of humor tinged with mean and sense of the ridiculousness of his industry is not just a pretense. It would also be about as close as you'd like to come to imitating the original "Late Night with David Letterman" sensibility of the 80s. But executives hate it and audiences often go for softer fare (as Norm has seen with prior efforts he was given).