I grew up watching Johnny Carson and felt late night talk shows took a dip many years ago. Today we have so many talented funny hosts that I tape two or three shows almost every night. My favorites are Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Conan, and Seth Meyers. I don’t watch James Corden, or Trevor Noah’s shows.
I never watched the Colbert Show yet he has impressed me the most. My son’s favorite is Conan. Many of the talk shows now prerecord skits and offer several zany skits too. They have taken late shows to a higher level of entertainment it seems. I am curious what everyone else thinks about this crop of late night talk show hosts?
Never cared much for Johnny Carson. I watched a lot of Letterman during my formative years. Loved Stewart’s Daily Show and The Colbert Report. I don’t watch late night tv religiously now but when I do my favs are Colbert, Trevor Noah (I think he’s done a great job growing into his role) and James Corden although Fallon and Seth Meyers are pretty good, too. I agree that there are a lot of talented, funny guys these days.
“what everyone else thinks about this crop of late night talk show hosts?”
Everyone of them is directly inspired and admits to being directly inspired by Letterman. He is the one who set the bar for this generation of talk show hosts. And in turn, he was inspired by Carson. And Carson recognized him as his heir and loved what he did to the talk show format.
I also think there are a lot of funny, talented folks doing late-night TV these days, including Conan, John Oliver, Samantha Bee. I never particularly cared for Carson and really didn’t like Letterman at all.
I watch the first ten minutes of Seth Meyers show which is on on demand from comcast. I love a Closer Look from his show.
Whenever James Carden does Carpool Karaoke or Street Broadway I watch those on demand or online. They are great.
Jon Stewart was fantastic. Stephen Colbert is not doing it for me now. His show is off. As soon as the show starts and he tries to connect with his hip band… The show doesn’t work.
I don’t know if these shows count but…
Sanantha Bee rocks.
I like Bill Maher’s New Rules too.
But have any of you watched Stephen Colbert last week and this week? His shows have been live after each convention day and he’s been absolutely killing it! Very, very funny…he referred to both conventions as “target rich environments.” Ha Ha Ha…
Watching Colbert dodging security guards and getting onto the podium and rolling across it was very funny.
I was a young kid when Johnny Carson first hosted “Who Do You Trust” in 1957. I identified with him instantly because he was so much younger than everyone else on tv and he could always make me laugh. His first ten years on the Tonight Show set the bar for everyone after him. My favorite guests were Don Rickles, Carol Wayne, Jonathan Winters, Woody Allen, Carnac, Jim Fowler, and Joan Embery. I liked his show better when it was in New York City. Once it relocated to Burbank it became a different show to me.
I have a hard time staying awake to see the late night shows these days! When I can I much prefer Jimmy Fallon to Jimmy Kimmel. Don’t care for Kimmel or Conan. I may catch snipits of people’s Facebook feed or on line, usually of bits with Fallon and his guests. He gets them to do funny things and makes them real. In years gone by I much preferred Carson to Letterman. While Carson was reported to be difficult off stage, he was witty on stage and his facial expressions were engaging. I found Letterman to be a bit cocky. I still remember Bette Midler singing “one more for the road” to Carson on his last show. Tear jerker.
Jimmy Fallon is funny in his sketches, but as an interviewer and host, I think he’s awful. He fawns over his guests and doubles over laughing at anything his guests say as if it’s the funniest thing he’s ever heard (and usually it’s not that funny). He just tries too hard, I think. I much prefer Kimmel but I’d give anything to have Johnny Carson back.
True story: When I was in college (mid 80’s), Letterman was the hot new thing and we would stay up late in our sorority house and watch him. He wound up marrying one of the girls in our house (Regina Lasko). She’s kind of plain-Jane / simply put together these days, but she was a real cutie back then. They were together for years before getting married.
I think they are all good, in different ways. My favorites are Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers, with whom I share an alma mater :-). I like Jimmy Fallon a lot too.
Stephen Colbert has classic musical theater background and training, @dstark, which is why you’ll see him do song and dance routines, and why he often promotes Broadway and similar musical events on his show. He has more of a cerebral edge than the others, IMO. I loved the Colbert Report when it was on. I am on our 30th reunion committee and he is honorary co-chairman so I’m hoping I get to meet him at one point!
Jimmy Fallon comes from a more pop music background, which is why he does all those impersonations of various musicians (Dylan, Springsteen, Neil Young, etc.), and also does things like History of Rap with Justin Timberlake. I agree he fawns over people in his interviews but his enthusiasm is endearing and I’m not looking for him to provide depth.
Seth Meyers is more laid back than the two of them but I find him adorable. He was the marshal at our 25th reunion and is completely charming in person.
I think Conan is funny. I’ve only caught a few of Samantha Bee’s shows but I think she’s clever. II haven’t seen much of James Corden beyond the Carpool Karaoke bits.
What I like best about this crop is that they all seem to genuinely like each other and get along. Remember the writer’s strike a few years back, when Colbert / Stewart / Conan guested on each other’s shows? It’s a lot different from the old days where everyone hated everybody else.
I"m 51 years old. Jack Paar and Dick Cavett are waaayyyy before my time, so I really don’t have any point of reference to know whether they are worth emulating or not.
I loved it night before last when Colbert sang the national anthem with a couple. They harmonized beautifully!
When I was just a toddler, my dad would come home late from graduate school and we would watch Johnny Carson together. I watched Johnny’s last show in Bar Harbor on a last getaway before my first child was born the following month. I always hoped Johnny would do something else in the public eye, but he never did.
I like Colbert, but I rarely see him live and so I just fast forward through the parts that don’t interest me when I watch it off my DVR. Loved when he brought out his Colbert Report persona last week and Jon Stewart’s dropping in for a few episodes.
Dick Cavett was a very bright (Yale educated), clever conversationalist, well versed in many subjects and with a quick, dry wit which led to great banter. Many should aspire to be like him.
