by bryanb » Fri May 28, 2021 6:52 pm
My pick is Craig Ferguson narrowly ahead of Letterman. In addition to being a consistently funny joke teller, he revolutionized what I think is the weak point of most late night comedy shows: the celebrity interviews. Craig was a master conversationalist with an uncanny knack for getting celebs to open up and be hilarious. He could have fantastic discussions with people I was totally uninterested in. That's something that basically never happened on any other late night show I can remember. Dave actually looked bored in a lot of his interviews, and I couldn't blame him. There are only so many times you can hear an actor promote a new, completely forgettable movie and still pretend to be interested.
Dave is a solid second place pick for being the absolute funniest late night comedian at his best. I was a huge Letterman fan in 1993 and thought he could do no wrong back then. He was hilarious as a good-natured goofball and he was hilarious as a mocking, cynical, misanthrope. The thing that disappointed me with Dave is I felt like he phoned it in a lot as the show went on, particularly in the late 2000s and 2010s. I understood why he would want to given that having a late night show is a total grind and he'd been doing it for a long time even before he got his CBS show, but the bored nights usually didn't make for great television. Granted, he still had his moments even in the later years and was always funnier than Leno.
I don't have a ton of memories of watching Carson live though I do remember my parents watching him, but it's fun to go back and watch his shows now. He was great at what he did. Like Leno and Fallon, Carson wanted to host a chill show that offered a safe place for laughter and relaxation, but he had the advantage of being a lot funnier than Leno and Fallon. I've never seen anyone rescue a bad joke like Carson could, and he could do it with a facial expression. His show seen today seems like another world compared to Colbert's and Meyers' -- he didn't share his personal political views or seem to want to influence anyone's vote. He made fun of politicians when there was a good joke to be told, and it never seemed to go any deeper than that. Of course, he didn't have to live through the Trump presidency either. Advantage Carson again. Carson also set the standard for host and sidekick interactions. Doc and Ed were vital elements of the show and played off against Johnny fantastically. Whenever I see Colbert have an uncomfortable back and forth with Jon Batiste and find myself wondering why Stephen won't just leave the nice musician alone, I remember Johnny and Doc and understand.
My pick is Craig Ferguson narrowly ahead of Letterman. In addition to being a consistently funny joke teller, he revolutionized what I think is the weak point of most late night comedy shows: the celebrity interviews. Craig was a master conversationalist with an uncanny knack for getting celebs to open up and be hilarious. He could have fantastic discussions with people I was totally uninterested in. That's something that basically never happened on any other late night show I can remember. Dave actually looked bored in a lot of his interviews, and I couldn't blame him. There are only so many times you can hear an actor promote a new, completely forgettable movie and still pretend to be interested.
Dave is a solid second place pick for being the absolute funniest late night comedian at his best. I was a huge Letterman fan in 1993 and thought he could do no wrong back then. He was hilarious as a good-natured goofball and he was hilarious as a mocking, cynical, misanthrope. The thing that disappointed me with Dave is I felt like he phoned it in a lot as the show went on, particularly in the late 2000s and 2010s. I understood why he would want to given that having a late night show is a total grind and he'd been doing it for a long time even before he got his CBS show, but the bored nights usually didn't make for great television. Granted, he still had his moments even in the later years and was always funnier than Leno.
I don't have a ton of memories of watching Carson live though I do remember my parents watching him, but it's fun to go back and watch his shows now. He was great at what he did. Like Leno and Fallon, Carson wanted to host a chill show that offered a safe place for laughter and relaxation, but he had the advantage of being a lot funnier than Leno and Fallon. I've never seen anyone rescue a bad joke like Carson could, and he could do it with a facial expression. His show seen today seems like another world compared to Colbert's and Meyers' -- he didn't share his personal political views or seem to want to influence anyone's vote. He made fun of politicians when there was a good joke to be told, and it never seemed to go any deeper than that. Of course, he didn't have to live through the Trump presidency either. Advantage Carson again. Carson also set the standard for host and sidekick interactions. Doc and Ed were vital elements of the show and played off against Johnny fantastically. Whenever I see Colbert have an uncomfortable back and forth with Jon Batiste and find myself wondering why Stephen won't just leave the nice musician alone, I remember Johnny and Doc and understand.