How much longer will Dave Letterman be on the air?

Booze.

 

When I first saw Chelsea Handler, she was supposedly 33 or 34 at the time. I doubted she was that young, I thought she was at least ten years older.
Anyway, I missed out on appreciating Johnny Carson. I was too young, but I was the right age to like Letterman starting in the early 90s. I still prefer Letterman to the youngsters like Fallon.

 

Exactly! I was his biggest fan....but every night it is the same thing. No wonder he seems bored, as someone else mentioned....he probably is. And so are many of us. Don't get how his ratings are as good as they are.

 

For a slight perspective on how Carson's exit went down, here's the local newscast from the NBC affiliate here in Joplin, MO. that aired before the final show. Most of the entire broadcast is here, but I'll try to link to the right time. If it doesn't work, you can skip ahead to around 23:09 to get there. A couple of the younger people spoken to either don't even know who he is or mention they thought he was boring.

 

Conan and a whole bunch of his staff/band moved permanently to LA. Conan's wife is from Seattle so there is some reason to stay west coast with a couple kids.

I'm only aware of 1 meeting between between Conan and Dave since in the 4 years since he got turfed from NBC. It's documented that Dave and Jay have spoken twice in that same time period.

Sullivan theater would take MONTHS to renovate between shows. Repeats can't cover more than 2 weeks or so.

NBC own the Letterman shows from the 80's.

 

Slightly older than you it sounds like. Totally agree about Carson, I sure didn't watch it, maybe once and a while if the Temptations showed up and zipped through their hits. For me Letterman was essential watching up until maybe the early '90s.

 

I think Dave is just waiting for his contract to run out, so 2015 will probably be the end. I'd love to see Conan make a return to network TV, but I seriously doubt that will happen. I do watch Conan's TBS talk show once in a while and he's still funny.

As for the replacement for Dave, I'm surprised no one has mentioned Ryan Seacrest. For unknown reasons, I can't stand the guy.

 

You are right! Wow, yes, he's got to be on some execs' minds. Like you, I have no interest in the guy, but there's no doubt he has a recognizable name and some power on the west coast.

 

I kinda like the Neil Patrick Harris mentions to take over Letterman's gig. He's been a good host for awards shows, is a good singer/dancer, and has pretty sharp comedic timing. Not sure how he'd do as an interviewer, though. But, I do kinda like the thought of him trying a late night gig.

 

I think Letterman is reaching the end of the road.

 

Some power on the west coast? Doesn't he do the formerly Dick Clark New Year's Eve countdown show? He does American Idol and produces that trashy Kardashian reality TV program, not to mention all of his radio programs. By 2015, when AI becomes history, he will be looking for another gig....just in time for Dave to step aside.

 

I really loved his stuff for the first many years. He came off as edgy, but maybe it was all an act.

But the last decade or so, Leno came off as real, not putting on much of an act, and Dave started to seem like some stale joke of himself. He is doing the same thing over and over, and it was not genuine years ago. It seems forced, very put on.

I can not relate to him at all anymore.

He does not know when to be serious, and everything seems to be juvenile pretend angst.

You are in your 60's dave...grow up a bit!

 

His face is used to promote Idol nowadays and someone gave him that game show awhile ago. Whenever he's on a talk show, you see big ads for him. He has some sort of buzz, IMO. Not that I can understand why. Who decided that he's a cultural icon?

 

Johnny was always the genius but from 1985 on, he was getting to be the old guy, less and less hip.

His monologues were always brilliant because he had the very best writers and told the jokes like a master. From 11:30 to 11:45 he was the coolest. After that, his age was showing although I still loved him. He left about 5 years too late but even in his somewhat limited state, he was still awesome to watch.

If Letterman took over and did the exact same show he was doing it would have been perfect. CBS was boring before Dave got there and he followed them quickly down the toilet.

 

But with Seacrest, wouldn't being the host of a late night show require being at least funny?

 

I question whether the guy's got enough of a personality to host a talk show. Seacrest strikes me like kind of a bland talking head who might break down if he can't see the cue cards, but then I can't say I have a deep familiarity with his work beyond a few episodes of American Idol...

 

I think Seacrest would do fine with the interview portions, but I find it hard to see him doing monologues or comedy bits...

 

he looks tired and older.

 

He is older, we all are but I just don't find him too funny anymore like I did years ago.

 

yes we all are...
I never was a big fan...but, he was great at his craft.

 

I used to watch Dave as much as I could in the 80s and 90s - and once I had my own VCR circa 1987, that meant literally every show for a good 10+ years. Loved, loved, loved it.

I only stopped because my DVD review site monopolized my attention - I spent all of my TV time working, so literally all of the "regular TV" I watched went bye-bye. ("The Simpsons" was the last to go aorund 2002!)

I've seen Dave a few times since then and gotta admit the thrill is gone. Some of the episodes have been good, some have been bad, but they do feel remarkably similar to the shows I watched 20-25 years ago...

 

Seth Meyers's isn't funny and he has a late night show

 

I remember watching Tom Snyder, then Letterman came on. I thought he was great and had some great guests and bits when Merrill Markoe was there. Bob the dog with the dog-cam was great bit that went on for a long time. Letterman was really good, just not Carson good IMO. But, no one could be I had to finally realize. The Carson days were gone. I loved Sam Kinison and his brand of humor.

Letterman's best days are far behind him and he knows it, I'm sure. His time came and went. He's just keeping what's left of his legacy going and making money so his wife and son won't ever have to worry about money. I watch Dave because I know what to expect. I watch Conan because he's comfortable too at this point. I watch Ferguson for more humor than anything else. He's a funny guy.

 

I don't watch any of them...occasionally Kimmel is on in the background, but the days of great talk shows are over IMO.

 

I can second this. I was there also. . I was in college in the mid to late 80's and Letterman was our late night staple. Between Dave and Chris Elliot and all the partying I did, I had laughing fits that bordered on cardiac arrest. Thank God I was young enough to withstand it. Here's to the good ol' days: