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re: Letterman Final Show Thread
Posted on 5/21/15 at 3:27 pm to BilJ
Posted on 5/21/15 at 3:27 pm to BilJ
I voted for Bush twice and will admit that he's a funnier President than Bore-ach (see what I did there) Obama.
Plus you have the race thing. That alone cuts down on the humor.
Is there a popular comedian other than Dennis Miller that is publicly pro-Bush / anti-Obama?
Plus you have the race thing. That alone cuts down on the humor.
Is there a popular comedian other than Dennis Miller that is publicly pro-Bush / anti-Obama?
1
Posted on 5/21/15 at 3:30 pm to Fewer Kilometers
quote:
Plus you have the race thing. That alone cuts down on the humor.
I agree, this plays a big deal.
Sorry for the derailment.
I DVR'd so I can't wait to watch the episode tonight. Mon & Tues was a nice stroll down memory lane.
Posted on 5/21/15 at 3:36 pm to Oenophile Brah
I think that part of the love/hate thing for Letterman is his honesty. Honesty in that he doesn't (or can't) hide his feelings. Not that he isn't as shifty as the rest of us in real life.
Posted on 5/21/15 at 3:53 pm to wilceaux
quote:
You don't say. I would hope that none of us are the same person we were 30 years ago.
That point went right over your head.
The point was Letterman's comedy never evolved or progressed. He actually regressed. A lot of comedians are just as funny now as they were 20+ years ago. Carson was just as funny at the end of his time on The Tonight Show as we was at the start.
Doesn't really matter why, but Letterman just kind of lost it.
Posted on 5/21/15 at 4:27 pm to FairhopeTider
It is hard to remain counter culture when you become a standard of the culture
Posted on 5/21/15 at 5:33 pm to supatigah
quote:
It is hard to remain counter culture when you become a standard of the culture
I think that he would have had that same problem (if not bigger) on The Tonight Show.
Posted on 5/21/15 at 7:09 pm to blueboy
quote:
Leno was safe and bland and not controversial, just like Johnny's old fart demographic wanted.
And the old fart demographic is why Conan didn't work hosting the Tonight Show. Conan was a lot like young Dave.
Posted on 5/21/15 at 7:20 pm to The Boat
quote:
Leno was safe and bland and not controversial
So was Bob Hope. And he was the most beloved stand-up comic who ever lived. Leno modeled his style after him.
It paid off for NBC because they guessed correctly. Letterman got blown out in the rating's war for the vast majority of his time on The Late Show.
His finale even drew in fewer viewers then Leno's finale and that was with A-list star power at Letterman's command. But despite his largest audience since 1994, Letterman still couldn't beat Leno.
This post was edited on 5/21/15 at 7:22 pm
Posted on 5/21/15 at 7:22 pm to The Boat
It takes a company man to maintain the Tonight Show, which Dave wasn't and Conan isn't. I don't imagine many old farts tuning in to watch Fallon and his celeb friends mash eggs on their heads.
Posted on 5/21/15 at 7:23 pm to JombieZombie
quote:
I don't imagine many old farts tuning in to watch Fallon and his celeb friends mash eggs on their heads.
Fallon is #1 in late night right now and has been since he premiered last year.
Posted on 5/21/15 at 7:27 pm to RollTide1987
It seems weird that Leno came back in 2010 for less than 4 years. You think NBC would have tried everything to hold on to Leno for a long time after begging him to come back. That whole Leno-Conan-Leno-Fallon time frame is weird.
Posted on 5/21/15 at 7:31 pm to The Boat
The suits thought the public would grow tired of Leno and that his ratings would decline. Also Conan was threatening to leave the network if they didn't give him The Tonight Show within a reasonable period of time. So they made the decision in '04 to boot Leno in '09. The suits figured his ratings would have gone into the tank by then and the transition would be easy.
Come 2009, Leno was still #1 in late night and NBC was making it look like Leno wasn't being allowed to leave on his own terms (which is what he had earned at the very least). So they gave him his own variety show in prime time as compensation. Problem is...variety shows never work in prime time no matter who the comedian is and Leno's show was no different. After a solid start, his ratings hit the tank.
Conan came in and the ratings on The Tonight Show immediately tanked. Letterman re-runs were beating new episodes by the end of Conan's short-lived reign.
Come 2009, Leno was still #1 in late night and NBC was making it look like Leno wasn't being allowed to leave on his own terms (which is what he had earned at the very least). So they gave him his own variety show in prime time as compensation. Problem is...variety shows never work in prime time no matter who the comedian is and Leno's show was no different. After a solid start, his ratings hit the tank.
Conan came in and the ratings on The Tonight Show immediately tanked. Letterman re-runs were beating new episodes by the end of Conan's short-lived reign.
This post was edited on 5/21/15 at 7:33 pm
Posted on 5/21/15 at 7:33 pm to RollTide1987
Fallon captures most of the young demographic and that's of no surprise, but we can do the whole ratings equal quality thing all day.
Posted on 5/21/15 at 7:49 pm to RollTide1987
I got all that. What I was saying was the tonight show came crawling back to Leno and he only stayed for a little over 3.5 years. He was still a relatively young man when he hung it up in 2014.
Posted on 5/21/15 at 8:09 pm to The Boat
Story from Peyton
quote:
That day, I was working out at the Broncos’ facility, trying to get used to my new world and learn Denver’s offense. I got word that Dave was trying to reach me, and so I get on the phone with him. He explains that they’re going to have Andrew Luck on the show, and what they want to do is present him with his new Colts jersey, like they’d be the ones telling him he was a Colt.
He said to me, “I don’t want to do it if it makes you uncomfortable at all.”
I said, “Dave, it doesn’t matter what I think. You do what you feel is best for the show.”
Really, I didn’t care. Whatever Dave wanted to do was fine, but he said, “That’s it! We’re not doing it. Forget it. It’s done.”
Posted on 5/21/15 at 8:22 pm to RollTide1987
I'm actually glad nbc did what they did, if they weren't going to let Conan be Conan then it was pointless. Fallon and Leno are both vanilla ice cream. Not bad but just bland enough not to offend anyone's taste buds
Posted on 5/21/15 at 8:44 pm to BilJ
quote:
Fallon and Leno are both vanilla ice cream.
Difference is the paradigm shifted. Fallon has a large following of the young demographic. That's why he's #1. Leno had a large following of 80 year olds. They won't be around long.
NBC made a smart long term investment with Fallon.
I really liked the last Letterman show. Some of those NBC years were really good. Super Dave, Chris Elliot, Larry "Bud" Melman. I had a boom box with a small tv in it and used to stay up and watch letterman almost every night when I was a kid. He jumped the shark at CBS, but there was some funny shite on the NBC shows.
Posted on 5/21/15 at 8:47 pm to tigerpimpbot
Conan had a strong young following, but they didn't really let him appeal to them. They wanted to hang onto Jay's following.
At least NBC didn't make the same mistake with Fallon and let him continue to do what gained his popularity.
Posted on 5/21/15 at 9:05 pm to BilJ
Totally agree. I think they learned their lesson. Leno was insufferable.
Fallon gets hate on here, but he's fresh and I think he's funny. And the Roots are as good as it gets for a late night band.
Fallon gets hate on here, but he's fresh and I think he's funny. And the Roots are as good as it gets for a late night band.
Posted on 5/21/15 at 9:07 pm to tigerpimpbot
NBC Letterman= GOAT
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