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

Fortunately for America, it isn't up to me.

 

If she's willing to give up her daytime show, Ellen Degeneres could be a worthy competitor to Jimmy.

 

Isn't that a sign of the Apocalypse ?

 

The way things are going, Nickelodeon's 1990's show Super Sloppy Double Dare is the ONLY worthy competitor to Jimmy Fallon.

 

Aside from the age thing, I don't think she'd translate well to late-night.

 

He has my vote.

 

Conan (51), Ellen (57), and Craig Ferguson (53) are all too old to replace Letterman.

 

I think it's time for Dave to hang it up. Really I never even liked The Late Show, Letterman (well true Letterman) is his NBC days. He's always seemed a bit bland and too safe on his CBS show.

 

Letterman/Leno was in their early 40's when they both started their own 11:30 time slots.

Some of these ages are actually higher than I thought, some of them I was a full 7-8 years off. These network are picking someone they hope will keep their show for 10+ years. Look closely at Vidiots response above.

 

Letterman kicked Leno's ass!

 

True, a choice between the two, I'd pick Letterman but really it's because Leno's Tonight Show was so, so--I can't even think of a word, ha.

 

Not saying you are wrong, but what was FOX thinking when they hired a 53 year old Joan Rivers to go up against Carson?

 

Loved, loved, loved Dave on NBC. Brilliant, amazing show. On CBS, boring, staged, not funny to me at all. Great musical guests at first. Not much after 1997. Paul is the best musician ever and has the greatest band. They can play anything.

Going to miss Paul much more than Dave. Dave is a bitter old man who if you watch older shows, then new ones you can really see how he has completely lost it.

Great early musical guests that I taped.

Stay by Lisa Loeb



Possession by Sarah McLachan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAz3w3kQzMk

Sometimes by Midnight Oil

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BWRIDf1Qws

Brand New Cadillac by Brian Setzer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBoxSMjocww

AND the GREATEST musical performance ever on Letterman

You Oughta Know by Alanis. Taylor Hawkins is just nuts. Amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS3oLs1JF50

 

Joan had very high ratings when she guest-hosted Carson for a couple of years. In fact, the publicity was that her ratings were sometimes higher than Johnny's... though it was later pointed out that it was inconsistent. I think the reality was that (as the network dweebs say) Rivers was polarizing, in that people loved her or hated her, plus she was hard to take for a solid hour five days a week. She was great in short bursts; not great for five hours a week. Mainly because of that, I think, the ratings declined. It was a sad story.

People forget that the only person who ever came up against Johnny and beat him in the ratings wasn't Merv Griffin, wasn't Joey Bishop, wasn't Arsenio Hall, certainly wasn't Joan Rivers... but was Pat Sajak. For a few weeks anyway, Sajak's shortlived 1989-1990 CBS talkshow did beat the Tonight Show's ratings on occasion and sometimes tied them, but then started trailing off. (I vividly remember that the day Sajak was cancelled, a construction crew ran over to the corner of Beverly & Fairfax and started taking down a massive Pat Sajak Show billboard across the street from CBS.) I think Carson was a little shaken by the competition, and this was part of his thinking when he decided the following year, 1991, that he would retire in 1992. He didn't want an upstart like Sajak to manage to knock him off in the ratings, and I think that was a wise move.

 

I love Dave but I couldn't agree more. He should have left a couple years ago. Very tired show and I'm frankly surprised he does as well in the ratings as he does.

 

I hate that guy too! Used to be kinda okay in the old days, but as you said, he's incredibly annoying. Talk about someone riding on someone's coat tails. Not that he isn't a talented musician, but that is all he should be doing imo.

 

I would sure love to read a bio on Dave and his late night war stories....fat chance he would write one but maybe someone on his staff would after he retires. Seems to be little behind the scenes stuff written about him, which is understandable while the show is in production.

 

Funny because people that can't stand Dave think that Paul is the best thing about the show.

 

It'll never happen, but I'd like Elvis Costello. He did a great job filling in for Dave years ago, he smart and quick, and personable.

 

I was referring to the 11:30 shows...the 12:30 period is the "training" slot I was was implying.

 

Some of the comments in the thread are funny. Dave is criticized for recently not seeming to care but praised for his work on NBC for not seeming to care.

Anyway, I found the bird story to be touching and the perfect way to introduce the topic of his retirement. I think this will be a strong farewell year for Dave.

 

Why do they need to make these announcements so far in advance?

"I'm gonna retire sometime in 2015 but I don't know when exactly"...........what's the point?

 

The point is "I need to watch Dave while I can", "Who will come see Dave before he leaves?","Who will CBS get next?", and taking a last place show and making it a first place show by capturing and dominating attention for the next year at the expense of the competition.

 

Absolutely. She wouldn't stand a chance after 11pm. She's safe and kind of bland, and perfectly suited to where she is right now.

 

There are many ways to not care. Letterman went from being nonchalant and clever to detached and cranky.