The Tonight Show; Carson, Leno, Fallon

[Steve K]

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, this Tuesday, 11:35 PM EDT. Guests George Clooney and Jeb Bush.

thoughts on Colbert's show so far?

Personally, I enjoy his interviews, which strike me as being "deeper", or less shallow, that a lot of other interviews.

I don't enjoy the Late Show as much as I enjoyed the Colbert Report, though. I miss his comedy bits, such as the "Cheating Death" series and the "Word of the Day" series, which was where he introduced us to the concept of "truthiness".

 

[StarHalo]

thoughts on Colbert's show so far?

Haven't seen it; CBS wants $5/mo from us online viewers just for their content, and that's the only show of theirs I care to see. Meanwhile everyone else is over on Hulu for $12/mo with no commercials.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

I like it so far, although his "character" still seems a little forced. He needs to drop the narcissist schtick. I agree with Steve K on the interviews being deeper and not as focused on glittering starlets.

 

[recDNA]

Never liked Colbert. Still do not. Carson was by far the best. Letterman second ( but not since the beart attack) That Scottish guy 3rd. All gone now. There is no "talk" show I can stomach anymore. Fallon is the worst. My wife likes him. I don't get it. Leno was tolerable but that's about it. The only one that was must watch was Carson then the first few years of Letterman. His late late show was even better.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Never liked Colbert. Still do not. Carson was by far the best. Letterman second ( but not since the beart attack) That Scottish guy 3rd. All gone now. There is no "talk" show I can stomach anymore. Fallon is the worst. My wife likes him. I don't get it. Leno was tolerable but that's about it. The only one that was must watch was Carson then the first few years of Letterman. His late late show was even better.

"That Scottish guy" is Craig Ferguson. I miss that show. He's doing a game show now but it's not the same.

Of course I miss Carson. I was lucky enough to be in the audience for one of his shows in Burbank. It was fun to see him, McMahon and Doc Severensen in person.

Anyone remember Milton Delugg when he was the band leader for Carson during the New York years? Delugg's name showed up in the credits of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade as musical director until fairly recently, so he was still in the biz for a long time.

 

[SCEMan]

Never liked Colbert. Still do not. Carson was by far the best. Letterman second ( but not since the beart attack) That Scottish guy 3rd. All gone now. There is no "talk" show I can stomach anymore. Fallon is the worst. My wife likes him. I don't get it. Leno was tolerable but that's about it. The only one that was must watch was Carson then the first few years of Letterman. His late late show was even better.

Ditto. Grew up watching Johnny and saw him when taping in Burbank once (while still in NY) and loved Letterman's Late Night show following Carson, but not so much afterwards. I did enjoy Leno somewhat and found Craig Ferguson hilarious while he lasted. I skip them all now as I find them either juvenile or boring.

 

[StarHalo]

Fallon is clearly not Carson, but how would you do Carson's "Vegas lounge" format in this day and age? The Daily Show and Colbert Report led the era because they were very current, very in-the-know, which Fallon mirrors successfully; I don't know that an older guy doing the cavalcade-of-the-stars-of-yesteryear would work at all at this point (who would he interview?)

 

[Mr Floppy]

thoughts on Colbert's show so far?

Personally, I enjoy his interviews, which strike me as being "deeper", or less shallow, that a lot of other interviews.

I don't enjoy the Late Show as much as I enjoyed the Colbert Report, though. I miss his comedy bits, such as the "Cheating Death" series and the "Word of the Day" series, which was where he introduced us to the concept of "truthiness".

I like it but yes the Colbert report is still preferable. The late show is quite different I have to say. We didn't get Carson out here but letterman was pure entertainment. Colbert seems a bit more satire. From his background I suspect.

Craig ferguson was great but I can't believe the guy they hired after Craig. He is not funny. Not in his material, nor his delivery. James corden, in case you were wondering. The other thing of note he did was Gavin and Stacey, a not so funny welsh comedy.

 

[hron61]

Yes, J. Carson was the MAN.
I heard the Carson tapes were purchased by someone and starting in january they will be running the complete Carson shows nightly (not a best of), but complete shows.
I personally cannot wait, late night now is such a joke.

 

[Bullzeyebill]

Fallon is a song and dance man. He presents a fun show, not to be compared to his predecessors. Don't compare him to other's. My two cents.

Bill

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Good assessment, Bill. Thanks for resetting my perspective a little.

 

[statuesquereporter]

I think Jimmy Fallon is doing a great job. His show has fun segments and I enjoy watching him every time.

 

[bykfixer]

I enjoyed Johnnie harassing Ed McMan about his drunkeness or many of the skits...or when he'd make himself laugh to the point he couldn't continue for a minute or two.

Jay took a little getting used to, but his repetiore with his band leader (I forget his name) was priceless when he'd goof on his jazz musicians all smoke weed persona (even though Jay always looked like he'd had a toke or two)

Stopped watching tv about 10 years ago so I haven't seen Jimmy. But I hear he's doing at least as good as Drew is doing with replacing Bob Barker.

 

[StarHalo]

The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore has been cancelled. Network president Kent Alterman said the cancellation was a "business decision" explaining that the show hadn't "resonated" with their audience. The Nightly Show saw an average of 776,000 viewers per night in 2016, while The Colbert Report was seeing an average 1.7 million viewers in its last year on air.

 

[Imon]

The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore has been cancelled. Network president Kent Alterman said the cancellation was a "business decision" explaining that the show hadn't "resonated" with their audience. The Nightly Show saw an average of 776,000 viewers per night in 2016, while The Colbert Report was seeing an average 1.7 million viewers in its last year on air.

Seemed inevitable.
I'm sure the Daily Show saw a similar dip in ratings with the departure of Jon Stewart although probably not as severe as Wilmore's time slot.

Funny thing is I remember telling my roommate my freshman year of college that I didn't think the Colbert Report would last. I remember saying something like, "Colbert was OK on The Daily Show but I don't think he can carry his own show."
Boy, was I wrong. :duh2:

 

[PhotonWrangler]

It's sad to see hsi show get cancelled but I agree that I suspected that it wouldn't last that long. Stewart and Colbert set the bar pretty high and it's difficult to match their energetic, rapid fire delivery.

Now that Colbert has been out of his old character for his current show, his ratings have sagged a bit. However the show saw a spike during the live convention coverage, partially because he brought back his old character from The Colbert Report.

 

[Cyclops942]

Yes, J. Carson was the MAN.
I heard the Carson tapes were purchased by someone and starting in january they will be running the complete Carson shows nightly (not a best of), but complete shows.
I personally cannot wait, late night now is such a joke.

Soooo.... any word on if/when/where this is/will be happening?

 

[PhotonWrangler]

I'm pretty sure that Carson ended his run before HD came into play, so all of his shows will be SD (his earliest stuff was black & white). Still a classic show though, and he set the bar for everyone else. It will be good to see those episodes again.

 

[StarHalo]

The Vault Series DVDs feature not only full Carson episodes but they include the commercials too. There aren't many episodes, and they're not cheap.

 

[jumboroll]

Jimmy... he's a bit more like Johnny. His interview style is more subdued and respectful, though he sometimes gets very animated. I've enjoyed his show too (thanks again, TiVo) and hope he gets the kind of writers that can combine the best of the Leno show with his style.

Daniel

I agree and I am enjoying his show too