Letterman or Leno

The topic of today's visual arts poll: who do you prefer: Letterman or Leno (I guess you can vote for Koppel if you want)? I have a theory that Republicans prefer Leno and Democrats Letterman, but can't discuss that theory further without veering into politics.

 

Letterman used to be funny, now he's just a caricature. Leno never was.

 

Todd,

None of the above choices.

I still miss Carson....

Bob

 

"Was" being the operative word. When Leno was a guest all those times on Letterman, he was genuinely funny and witty. As soon as he got the Carson gig, he turned smarmy, obvious, and crass--unfunny, predictable, too eager to please a 'wide' audience instead of just being himself. He sold out, plain and simple. Don't blame him, either: for that money and a long gig like that, made sense. But the old standup comic was so much better than the line reader he became.

Letterman may be far from perfect, but he's much better with guests, and I really don't see much difference between the current Letterman and the old one--other than it must be harder to find good guests these days.

As for politics, Leno and Letterman take shots at everybody--always did, always will. You go where the humor is, or where they think it is. Let's face it, these guys are only as good as their writers, and Letterman's writers have always been better than Leno's--by a mile. But neither casts a big shadow anymore.

Koppel? Once in a while, if something's going on of interest.

ED

 

None of the above. I watch "King Of The Hill".

 

Its always been Letterman for me.

Even been to the Late Show and sat near the front row because I'm from Massapaequa and that night's guest was Alec Baldwin....maybe they thought we knew each other?

When he see Letterman in action at the show, you really see how quick-witted he is...he has an amazing mind.

 

I used to be a regular Letterman watcher, but it's become less frequent. Personally I can't stand to watch Leno's program. There's something about him that makes me want to instantly change the channel.

 

Re-runs interspersed with infomercials?

Bob

 

When Letterman first made the switch, my wife and I tried to tape each night and catch it later. It quickly got out of hand to the point where we simply quit watching on a regular basis. Frankly, I like Conan O'Brien about as much as Dave, but prefer both over Leno. He may be a good stand up comic but that doesn't make him a talk show host. I sometimes find myself cringing when I watch him try to interview people.

 

I like Dave, can't really take Leno. However, Dave seems to get off on tangents and stupid bits that he thinks are funny, but are just stupid.

To me, they are a waste of time. Dave should spend more time with the guests.

One good thing about Johnny Carson's tonight show. All of the guests were not there to plug NBC shows, or even a movie. Sometimes, they were jsut GUESTS!

I mean, last week, each night, Letterman had one of the Charlies Angels stars on, and during each show they ran a slew of Charlies Angels spots. Geez. GMAFB! We get the point already.

Also, he always has to have each "Survivor" loser on. WHO CARES??

Give me the old talk shows when the guests were people that you wanted to hear from, and they were not always plugging something.

 

Letterman's mellowed a lot over the years. I still watch his show, I still like it, still laugh, but if I ever put in a tape of an old one from the 80's, it just blows me away how great he really was.

When I was a kid, I thought Leno was a funny stand-up. I can't stand him now, though.

Nightline's still good, especially considering how awful and tabloid-like TV news has become. Why can't more reporters aspire to be like Koppel instead of, say, Geraldo or "The O'Reilly Factor"?

 

Re: the Survivor losers, don't blame Dave. They are hoisted on him. In fact, it is pretty well clear that he has such contempt for them that he will only interview them from a remote spot outside of the studio, rather than allowing them access to his studio (like a film star for example). Personally, I find his approach to be a bit elitist, as Survivor has been extremely successful, but in any event, the castaways appearance on his show can be equated to various TV stars popping up in the crowd during the NCAA basketball tourney. They're only there because the network wants them there, and Dave is following the party line by giving them any air time.

 

I know. At least he makes them stay at the Hello Deli instead of being on stage. CBS sends those "contestants" to all of their shows, even Howard Stern!!

I just remember the days of Carson and Jack Benny, etc. Those interviews were great, and no plugging at all!

:-jon

 

Dave, all the way. I agree that the old NBC show was more fun (call me a dork, but I could watch them throwing things off of buildings every day -- my favorite was the bowling ball and the TV, representing ABC's PBA coverage). Dave's fieldwork was always priceless in my eyes.

Jay

 

Dave was funny 20 years ago but he became too tragically hip. Leno was never funny to me.


Back when I actually owned a TV I'd watch Charlie Rose on PBS. If he had some big name celebrity like Clint Eastwood he'd give them the hour, with no commercial interruptions. Far more interesting than a couple of soundbites from someone hawking their next flick.

 

I prefer Leno
His show was one of the first to broadcast in HD in the Bay Area.

It is so clear.
I watch for the picture quality on the new TV rather than for the entertainment.

I only watch a few times a month though.

He can be pretty funny if there is a major catastrophe that day.
Carson was so much better...

 

I agree Dave has mellowed since the NBC show. Well, he's also 10-20 years older and has had heart surgery. I've been a Dave fan since 1983-84.

Dave doesn't take part in many of the gags like he used to. He usually has other people do his handiwork. But there are still times I'm laughing hard and saying "Man, that guy has balls."

 

I like neither. I miss Mike Douglas! Hey, He had John & Yoko on! I too, miss Carson. Never will be another Johnny!

 

From afar I 've been watching Dave on free-to-air TV for over 10 years and Jay on cable for about 5 years. We also get Conan on cable.

We get the shows in Sydney about 24 hours after you guys.

For me, the difference is like night and day. It doesn't say much for the mentality of the viewing public that Jay could ever have out-rated Dave. Then again, maybe I shouldn't be surprised!

Dave is genuinely talented and funny and clearly has much much better writers. Jay is everything Ed says above. Conan is also talented but obviously not as experienced as Dave and without the same budget, I presume.

 

I'd rather watch Conan.

Aaron

 

What very little regard I had for Leno went down the toilet when he jumped on the media pig pile after Townshend's arrest and wouldn't let up with the pedophile jokes (which in my view is an oxymoron) about him for weeks.

Letterman, on the other hand, took no such cheap shots

Plus, Dave's funnier
...and Paul Shaffer really has some bona fides when it comes to leading a great band. Check out the hot backup they gave to Bowie on 'Heroes' during The Concert for New York City. Amazing.

Ken

 

Dave has better musical guests. I don't get the sense that Leno's much of a music fan.

 

Agree. I started watching the old show around '83 when practically nobody knew who he was. I've been a die hard fan ever since, but the new shows don't have the same magic.
But still, quite often his shows are brilliantly funny.
On the other hand, Leno is unbearably predictable. Those "gags" are obvious before they get started. He was a fantastic stand up though.

Dan C

 

I rarely watch Leno, but the one thing I do like on his show when I do watch it is his on the street interviews. It is difficult to believe how stupid some people are until you see the interviews, so much that I have to wonder if the answers aren't "canned" on occasion.