David Letterman to retire in 2015. Stephen Colbert to take over.

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Poor Napoleon, Apr 3, 2014.

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  1. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    Mixed feelings....I mean, Conan did get a shot few ever get. It didn't work...now he is where he can do what he wants. He is just not mainstream material and they need that at 11:30. And where else could he tell people watching to turn the channel amd watch Letterman? He probably could have been fired for that...but as someone else said, quite classy indeed.
     
  2. mattdm11

    mattdm11 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cleveland, OH
    There are guys like Andy Richter and Ed McMahon (not that I am calling them equals) that add something at the right time and add to the show. Paul never got there.
     
  3. mattdm11

    mattdm11 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cleveland, OH
    Conan had his shot but got screwed. Let's be honest about that. Conan to me is by far #1 right now. Fallon gets too much hype and I just don't enjoy the show that much. I'm only 35 and I'd much rather watch reruns of Carson. Every time I see parts of the old shows I'm cracking up.
     
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  4. chacha

    chacha Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    mill valley CA USA
    Do you think Conan is a good interviewer? He's always looking at his cards and manages to make it about him especially with women. To me Kimmel is the best conversationalist at the moment in that he's really present with whom he's speaking to.
     
    MRamble likes this.
  5. Ty D. Tatman

    Ty D. Tatman Forum Resident

    Conan isn't a master interviewer and his "crazy bits" were never handled in the manner that a craft master like Dave would have. Another thing killer Conan is that on TBS he is bottom of the barrel on A and B type guests but still wants the show to focus on them. He seems to be mailing it in at TBS the same way Dave did at CBS.
     
  6. vamborules

    vamborules Forum Resident

    Location:
    CT
    According to you. For people that liked the show and "got" Paul, he was perfect and added plenty. I can't imagine anyone else in that role being nearly as good with Dave.
     
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  7. MRamble

    MRamble Forum Resident

    Exactly. And for the record there is probably no bigger fan of Paul than Dave himself. Read in an interview recently where it was Dave who insisted Paul keep doing the Rat-Pack/Old Hollywood shtick because he found it "hilarious" and also specifically instructed that Paul jump into the conversation often/whenever he could.
     
    Last edited: May 23, 2015
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  8. vamborules

    vamborules Forum Resident

    Location:
    CT
    My all time favorite Paul bit.

     
  9. mattdm11

    mattdm11 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cleveland, OH
    wow. :sigh:
     
  10. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    He didn't come close to those two...agreed! It was kind of an odd relationship. Dave would talk to him but it was the kind of thing where most of it was sort of a rhetorical talking...not much Paul could really say, and that wasn't really Paul's reason for being there anyway...he was supposed to be the musical director. If Dave wanted an Andy or an Ed, he probably should have got one. He kind of made Paul his sidekick and I'm not sure Paul thought that was what he signed up for at first. Not really Paul's fault imo. Dave was really good at what he did, when he wanted to be. Remember when Ed would sometimes talk a bit too much when on Carson...you could tell Johnnie didn't like that. I think Paul was careful not to cross the line. Dave seemed very moody. Paul was smart to say the minimum needed, and simply let Dave use him as a sounding board. At least, that is what it looked like to me.
     
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  11. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    Well, if that's true I sure got it all wrong in the above post! The Rat Pack thing is just too far in the past...like Dave the past few years, imo. He should have allowed the show to move forward a bit....it was like it was stuck in a time warp. Paul was a big part of that. Now I guess we know why.
     
  12. Gregory Earl

    Gregory Earl Senior Member

    Location:
    Kantucki
    Guys, I don't think Paul was Dave's sidekick because of a Rat Pack thing. He was there for the Saturday Night Live connection which is the style of comedy that Dave did and the audience he catered to. And Paul did it well when called on as we see in the above clip.

    Dave was the show and Dave was in control. He was the show piece. But he wanted a middle man like Johnny had but with more chops. He wanted a cross between Ed McMahon and band leader Doc Severinsen.

    Paul Shaffer was that in spades.
     
  13. Chip TRG

    Chip TRG Senior Member

    Need a fix? Here you go. In my own opinion this is easily one of the greatest episodes of Late Night ever committed to tape. John Cleese's opening line pretty much says it all.

     
  14. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    When the Late Night show started, Carson specifically prohibited Letterman from having a sidekick on the couch (one of several "rules" given to Dave to prevent his show from being too similar to The Tonight Show). Paul Shaffer as sidekick evolved from that prohibition.
     
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  15. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    I had forgotten about that...you are right! That explains a lot...guess I need to give Paul a break.
     
  16. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    Like the opening, music and announcer MUCH better. You know, I have about 100 8mm tapes of the last year of Letterman before he left NBC....probably 250 shows. I need to get those out and transfer them to DVD! Forgot how much I enjoyed those. Shows how far the show has moved from those days. Dave is a lot punchier and crisp in his delivery...understamdable given the age difference. Yes, it was time for him to step down. I forgot about the World Trade Center in the opening....creepy now!
     
  17. C6H12O6

    C6H12O6 Senior Member

    Location:
    My lab
    Letterman at the Indy 500. Again, it's a good bet that he's just retired from television. He won't be in the spotlight, but he's going to be around continuing his other interests like this.
     
  18. Ty D. Tatman

    Ty D. Tatman Forum Resident

    He is always at the Indy 500 but I suspect he will be at just about every race his team is in from now on - which was a rarity in the past.
     
  19. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Fallon's success in the time slot pretty much puts the lie to the notion that Conan unfairly wasn't given enough time to build an audience. Fallon had no trouble attracting an audience immediately and holding onto it. Conan's first few shows had big numbers, then his ratings dropped off a cliff, and steadily declined. Conan is funnier than Fallon, but he clearly lacks the mass audience appeal that Fallon has.
     
  20. OldSoul

    OldSoul Don't you hear the wind blowin'?

    Location:
    NYC
    Oh man, there are so many episodes on that channel! All the times I've looked, I could only find channels with a few episodes. Well, I know how I'm spending my summer. :D
     
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  21. Mirrorblade.1

    Mirrorblade.1 Forum Resident

    The problem I have with Fallon he tries to hard at the same time he acts
    like teenager which is fine small doses, but, the letter writing thing is getting old real quick.
     
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  22. Remurmur

    Remurmur Music is THE BEST! -FZ

    Location:
    Ohio
    Wow. That was a nice visit in the old Wayback Machine ..:)

    I love the fact that A Fish Called Wanda has not been released yet and Dave tells John Cleese that he hopes the movie is a big success !

    And that JAY LENO gets mentioned as an upcoming guest. Oh yeah. This one was awhile ago...;)

    Thanks for posting this. I really enjoyed watching it ....:)
     
    Last edited: May 24, 2015
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  23. swandown

    swandown Under Assistant West Coast Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    I felt bad for Conan but there's a limit to the amount of sympathy I can have for a TV host with terrible ratings. Whether it's fair or not, the bottom line is that Conan wouldn't have been kicked off "The Tonight Show" if he'd been able to produce decent ratings.
     
    kwadguy likes this.
  24. Combination

    Combination Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Orleans
    One guest that I thought would make a final appearance was Bonnie Hunt...I can't understand that one at all.
     
    Dan C likes this.
  25. I think most people don't know who she is. I had totally forgotten about her.
     
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