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Jay Leno

Just wanted to get this off my chest. This is one (of the many) things that drives me completely nuts. When he gets ready to introduce his guest he is constantly smacking his desk with his hand.
 
I imagine that drives the audio engineers crazy (if not a bit deaf).

Personally, I have always hated the way he shouts to get his punch lines across.

Jay will always be that funky stand-up comic in the smoky and dingy comedy club on the wrong side of the tracks.
 
I imagine Leno is a good man, but his comedy rarely works for me anymore. Letterman gets more of my attention, but to me the late-night future belongs to Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon. I can't remember the last time I checked in with Conan.
 
I have always been a big fan of Letterman's. It's sad for me to see him simply just 'mailing it in'. I know he's been doing this for over 30 years, so I give him a lot of slack. But sometimes, I'm like, C'Mon!!!! So I flip around. Then there is Leno, slapping his hand on the desk or even leaning over and tapping the guest on their shoulder!
 
Greg Goodfellow said:
I imagine Leno is a good man, but his comedy rarely works for me anymore. Letterman gets more of my attention, but to me the late-night future belongs to Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon. I can't remember the last time I checked in with Conan.
...for me, late night is strictly Ferguson. I'll watch Conan on-demand, and Letterman can still hit the mark when he feels like it, but I'll change the live channel to watch Craig. Leno, Fallon and Kimmel all leave me cold, and Daly is a non-starter...
 
Ultimajock said:
...for me, late night is strictly Ferguson. I'll watch Conan on-demand, and Letterman can still hit the mark when he feels like it, but I'll change the live channel to watch Craig. Leno, Fallon and Kimmel all leave me cold, and Daly is a non-starter...

One drawback with Ferguson's show being on CBS is those flags over the person's mouth whenever someone swears. It does get old after a while. I read somewhere that it was Ferguson's solution to the censorship enforce by CBS's Standards and Practices plus the FCC. I've notice other networks only have censor bleeps and don't have silly gimmicks or blurring of the mouths.

To be fair, they do let a lot slide on Ferguson's show that isn't obvious swear words.
 
Any host that allows an 'Emperor's new clothes' approach, allowing his or her guest to spew idiocies without being reined in to reality leaves me cold. Unfortunately, these hosts' gigs would probably be short-lived, as they would have extreme trouble obtaining guests.

When stars had to struggle for decades to hone his or her craft, the result was a mature, introspective and intelligent interview when these celebrities were on late-night TV. Now, we don't have that luxury, especially when you can become 'famous' literally overnight on the internet, and the shows that troll for these so-called celebrities. In the past, they clearly weren't ready for prime time...or any time. Just another result of our 'I wanted it yesterday' culture.
 
How about Leno's giggling? Does that drive anyone else nuts or is it just me?

Still a Letterman guy (been watching him since about 1991 when I was just entering my teenage years) but not appointment viewing like it once was. Used to tape it every night and watch it the next day. Have not done that in about 4 or 5 years but still watch especially if there's a good Letterman-type of guest (Tom Hanks, Steve Martin, Martin Short, Howard Stern, Regis). I'll also watch when politicians and newspeople appear as IMO Letterman is at his absolute best talking about issues that affect this country.

Jon Stewart & Colbert I watch as well (although Stewart is also getting stale & I think you can only go so long with Colbert's schtick.

Conan was not able to tailor his show to a mainstream audience near as well as Letterman when they left 12:30 gigs.

I agree with the original poster -- the two Jimmys own the future of late night.
 
Letterman's show is funnier now than it was years ago, IMO. I love the more absurd nature of the comedy...he has the best writers. Jimmy Kimmel, Ferguson and Conan (he's better on TBS) always get me laughing.
 
@ Adam, I have a long list of things that bug me about Leno. It's just my top one is his constant slapping of his desk when he introduces a guest or gabs at the audience. Then number 2 is his tapping of his guests on the shoulder. He finds a way to do it nearly everytime.
 
Letterman is funny in certain segments, but some of the quirkiness doesn't make any sense. His gag "ads" for candidates and the presidential stuff is awesome. As for Conan, I watch his TBS show. His monologue is usually OK. The bits with his writer Deon Cole are awesome. So is the entertaining on a budget with Bill Tull (or whatever his name is). I get a kick out of Nick Offerman reading the Tweets of young Hollywood starlets! The best sketch all year was the one he had from Chicago's The Weiner's Circle with Jack McBrayer and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. Tons of vulgarity, even for cable. However, I was on the floor in stitches. Jack's country Georgia bumpkin persona was perfect for that segment! :D

Jay Leno? Eh! I'll pass. I've always hated him.
 
1069_KIFR said:
...When he gets ready to introduce his guest he is constantly smacking his desk with his hand.

Didn't Fred Willard do that on the old "Fernwood Tonight" show? (Still doing something along the lines after it's been off the air, apparently... :D )
 
...I don't think either Fernwood 2 Night or America 2-Night had a desk for Martin Mull or Fred Willard to sit behind. However, I recall Wally George slapping his desk occasionally on Hot Seat (another comic yakker ;D ) and RollerGames...
 
Good job, DtotheJ, in working in a good tongue in cheek joke about Fred "Pee Wee Herman" Willard!

Good timing and topical! Well done!
 
And the best part is it was squeaky clean! Waiting for Leno's writing staff to hire me... ;D
 
I never found Jay Leno to be funny. Funny-looking yes, but never funny.

David Letterman should have named host of "The Tonight Show" after Johnny Carson retired. What is even more amazing is NBC putting Leno back on "The Tonight Show" after giving Conan the heave-ho. No wonder that network is scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to ratings.
 
David Letterman should have named host of "The Tonight Show" after Johnny Carson retired.

Agreed. Leno was amazing as a guest on both Carson and Letterman. He should have been the new Bob Hope...In other words, kind of the Official Comedian Of NBC. He could have had monthly specials, pop up on "Tonight" whenever he wanted, etc.
 
The Voice of Reason said:
David Letterman should have named host of "The Tonight Show" after Johnny Carson retired.

History shows NBC made the right choice.

The Voice of Reason said:
What is even more amazing is NBC putting Leno back on "The Tonight Show" after giving Conan the heave-ho.

Conan was a disaster (and the best thing that would have happened to Letterman had Conan stayed on the air).
 
Conan was a disaster, on the Tonight Show. He tried way too hard trying to be funny, like he did hosting the Emmys, and it came off as flop sweat. Much better on TBS, especially now tha Max is gone...no more painful repartee with the bandleader.

And Leno doesn't win every night in the ratings...Dave wins a few too.
 
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