Posted on 06/28/2008 10:08:40 AM PDT by WilliamReading
NEW YORK -- CBS' "The Late Show With David Letterman" tied its lowest-ever adults 18-49 rating last week.
"Late Show" averaged a 0.9 rating in adults 18-49, Nielsen Media Research said. That is its lowest ever for an original since the program premiered in 1993, though not the lowest for the show: It has hit 0.9 several times, most recently in late December when it was in reruns because of the WGA strike.
Meanwhile, "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" averaged a 1.3 rating in the demo, its biggest margin of victory against "Late Show" in four months. "Late Show" tied for second place in the demo rating with ABC's "Nightline," though "Nightline" had more viewers in the demo. Both "Tonight" and "Late Show" showed drops in viewers and the demo.
Late Night with David Letterman on NBC (1980’s) was simply the funniest talk show ever.
I think Letterman got screwed by NBC when they gave it to Leno. Moving to CBS completely changed the perfect dynamic he had on NBC.
That being said, I still Letterman’s influence on comedy (in general) from 1980 onward is very, very underrated. His approach to humor was copied by almost ever new comedian for 15 years after his NBC show premiered.
I agree; none of them hold a candle to Johnny. Carson was a lib, but unlike modern libs, he had CLASS. That’s what really sets him apart from Letterman, who comes off as being a jerk. Carson could interview a major political figure one night, and have a zoo monkey pee on him the next. He handled each one like a pro.
So can we get out the tar and feathers now?
He was funny 20 years ago when he was silly. Now he just seems a little nasty. Viewers don’t like nasty.
I know his liberal, angry views have stopped me from watching him. It’s been years now. Pretty much since around the time he had his heart operation.
I used to think he was the funniest guy on late night. But he’s just gotten mean.
I don’t need a comedian to be like me in order to like him. For example, I think Ellen Degeneres is very funny. But her comedy bits and performances, at least the ones I’ve seen, have not been about pushing an agenda. They are just funny. Her turn as Dori in “Nemo” is hysterical, for instance.
I stopped watching Letterman years ago when his idea of funny was making faces and noises and repeating himself endlessly. Maybe funny to a 4 year old, but not to me.
Believe me, you're not alone. Carson was priceless, a true professional.
Although Leno has his good moments, he could never adequately fill Johnny's shoes. As for Letterman, once upon a time, his Top Ten Lists and Stupid Pet Tricks could be amusing and downright funny at times. But he couldn't hold a candle to Carson at all.
And even though Jon Stewart isn't a part of the Network Meltdown, you can add his name to the list of excruciatingly Unfunny Comedians posing as Talk Show Hosts.
If the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences wishes to completely decimate and bury the Oscar telecast even further than six feet, Stewart's their guy. That was also one of the television entertainment chores Johnny Carson handled superbly.
Carson was a classic. Neither Letterman, nor Leno could ever reach his stature. I'm glad I basically stopped watching television so long ago (I tend to see about as much television in 18 months as most people see in about 4-8 hours...)
the infowarrior
He stopped being funny when that guy, Chris, (son of Bob or Ray) left the show.
Leno works hard; Letterman doesn’t.
Couple this decline in ratings with a similar decrease in Twinkie sales and the federal government could tout these figures as proof that the War on Drugs is working and that people are smoking less pot.
“His approach to humor was copied by almost ever new comedian for 15 years after his NBC show premiered.”
Oh please. Just because you know how to turn on a tv set doesn’t mean you know anything about the business. Letterman didn’t do anything that hadn’t been done decades earler. Steve Allen was the first on TV to do that kind of goofy shtick and Bob & Ray were doing it for many years on radio well before Allen.
David Letterman has NEVER been funny. I used to watch, in the vain hope that he would actually say something funny. Unfortunately, I must have missed his "funny" nights.
To keep repeating the same old canards about the president undercuts the image some have of the man and the office and to do it intentionally five nights a week is sabotage.
There was a movie on HBO a few years back about that very thing. The late shift or something like that. It was how Leno's agent pushed Carson off the stage and then pushed Leno into the spot. It was pretty good, I wonder how much was true.
Letterman is not funny, and Paul Schaeffer is just obnoxious. Craig Ferguson is the best funnyman on TV right now.
“Maybe because David Letterman hasn’t been funny for about the last 10 years?”
exactly.
Those of us who loved him when he was funny back when when we were in college stuck with him for awhile - but it got to be painful to watch after awhile.
Then it got to the point where we married, had kids, and were too tired to suffer through it anyway.
Maybe for a while, because he was the new kid, but he's starting to get familiar and boring as well.
Those "McCain -- old" jokes are starting to grate, and I'm still waiting for him to make a joke about Obama.
At least Leno, for all his corniness, knows to make fun of both sides.
What a ridiculous comment.
So George Carlin had no influence on his generation because Lenny Bruce had already done it, or Woody Allen at his best had no influence on his generation because Groucho Marx had already done it.
Letterman was heavily influenced by Allen but was in no way a clone. Letterman influenced a generation of comedians with his, sarcastic, biting and knowing edge....everyone copped it.
I guess Brahms had no standing because Beethoven had already been there and done that? lol.
Amen! It does help one's historical perspective to have lived a while, doen't it? Some of Letterman's schtick (e.g. "more fun than a human being should be allowed to have") is a direct lift from "Steverino".
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