The Battle for Late Night
If NBC network executives had the results from our December 2006 comedy poll commissioned by AOL, they may have thought twice about replacing Jay Leno with Conan O’Brien. The table below lists the findings for the question – which of the following late night/talk show hosts do you consider to be the most amusing?
Jay Leno 33%
David Letterman 20%
Jon Stewart 8%
Conan O’Brien 7%
With respect to Conan, he was considerably ahead of Letterman among First Globals™ (18-29 year olds), although still behind Jay Leno. However, among 30-49 year olds, Conan was behind Leno, Letterman, and Jon Stewart.
Nielsen ratings from June 10, 2009 showed Letterman’s viewership with a 3.4 metered-market household rating to NBC’s 2.9. “Late Show” was also up 13% from June 3rd and 17% from last June when Letterman was competing against Leno.
So, who do you prefer, Conan or Letterman? Do you like Jimmy Fallon as a replacement for Conan? Will you be watching Jay Leno’s new show?
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I suspected Conan would have trouble with the older crowd that Leno appeals to. Conan needs to develop into a comedian that can appeal to older adults or he won’t last.
I prefer Letterman. Conan and Jay Leno do nothing for me. Love the top 10 lists, and I loved the skits he does with the people in the neighborhood, like Rupert from the “Hello Deli.”
Jimmy Fallon should have stayed on Loren Michael’s good side while he had the chance. He is not funny at all. I can’t make it through his monologues, and he has no chemistry with the people he is interviewing.
I cannot understand why Leno gets a show every weeknight at 10. Has NBC run out of ideas or a budget for primetime dramas at 10? One has to wonder. I loved shows they had at 10 for years. Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere, LA Law, ER, Third Watch…etc. I’d rather see shows like that!
On NPR this morning, they mentioned that it was an economic decision to have five days of Leno a week. I guess Leno’s show is much less expensive to produce than the dramas that usually run at 10.
I prefer Carson reruns.
The last time Letterman was really funny was when he was on NBC. I always made it a point to watch him than. Nowadays his humor seems to be mosgtly mean-spirited. The Top Ten List is one of his few funny moments and they sometimes fall flat. I’ve seen the new Leno show at 10 p.m. and it has few funny moments. Some of the routines need to be eliminated or re-worked. I’ll give it a couple of more views then I’m ‘outta’ there’. O’Brien is hit & miss with his humor and not often worth staying up late to watch. I’m with Kevin…I prefer the old Carson shows when I can get them, otherwise I just prefer to read a good book. Everything has its time and I think the late night shows peaked long ago and no longer hold my interest.
I like Leno the best. I agree that Letterman was better on NBC. Maybe it was his joke writers on NBC that made the difference. Some of his jokes on CBS are pretty lame. He needs some new writers. Conan is just plain silly, but not that funny. Jimmy Fallon acted like he was scared stiff his first few shows. I thought he would relax more, but he still looks scared. Actual Jimmy Kimmel isn’t to bad, but is on to late. He is better than Fallon and Conan. Stewart’s show is the funniest, but I guest they don’t consider his show the same as a late night show. That’s my opinion from a 72 year old who still likes to laugh.