Since Carson left the only ones that I have liked to any degree were Craig Kilborn (Daily Show/Late Late Show) and Craig Ferguson (Late Late Show).
Leno was ok, but Carson was just too hard to follow in my mind.
For a couple generations now, the big reliable joke for Late Night shows is: “Republicans are stupid.” That joke right there used to bring down the house very consistently. But it’s not enough now. But they have nothing else.
Richard Pryor and Robin Williams were the only 2 I laughed with, unless I went back to Johnny Carson. The rest, and current, were merely lousy ‘pretenders’ to comedy.
I normally don’t find Daniel Greenfield to be inspired reading. However, I also didn’t expect him to succinctly lay out the last thirty years of late night network television programming. Worth the read, because he uses the summary to land his point about where the business is going, and why it is failing. Well done.
Flush half your audience...you get flushed.
Carson didn’t do politics... These late night talk fools they’ve had on there lately have political agendas that they have pushed on their audience and their audience disappeared. No audience... No show.
Obama killed comedy. For eight years nobody could make fun of the President.
Conan O’Brian was to L
ate Night Hosts something equal to what singer Christopher Cross was to popular music.
Both were pleasant men, natural smilers, excellent and appealing in their own way, but the national zeitgeist, the overall consumer mood and expectation had dramatically shifted just as they had achieved the high points of their entertainment careers.
Conan was/is a pleasant guy, but the Libs of that time had been conditioned by Jon Stewart types to expect disharmony, friction, less professionalism, hard edges, rude behavior and spontaneous aggression. Same story with Christopher Cross. He had an excellent voice, perfect pitch, profoundly appealing melodies, but just as Music Videos took off, it was realized that Christopher didn’t look the part. He looked like a wrestler, but sang like an Angel. Just then, “Aspiring Rappers” and Autotuned Strippers were being celebrated by the most ignorant, least refined of consumer bases.
Gutfeld. This is the way.
Bkmk
I remember when the local channels were free of the networks oppressions to do their own thing with local talent during the late night hours. Giving us such things as Elvira, MaZeppa and Earnest.
Why not do that again?
“The Late Show with Conan O’Brien” They mean “Late Night” - the show Letterman formerly hosted on NBC.
Letterman, the darling of media types in New York.
He was a nasty person full on left no wonder NY is pro Marxist for a new mayor.
bkmk