Tonight Show
POLL: Do you think David Letterman is bitter that he never had the Tonight Show?
So David Letterman was denied the Tonight Show when he fought for it against Jay Leno. Then someone much much younger than him now has the Tonight Show, Conan O’Brien. By the way, I LOVE CONAN!
I think Letterman was angry in the beginning. He wanted the Johnny Carson show. He was passed by, and the show was eventually given to Jay Leno. Within the same year, he moves over to CBS and competes directly with Leno’s show. And then, once Hugh Grant appeared on Leno’s show, Leno took the overall lead in ratings race. So, Letterman was angry not only because he wasn’t picked to take over Johnny’s show, but he also lost to Jay Leno.
Today, I don’t think he’s angry. As Letterman’s agent once said to him, “It is no longer the Johnny Carson show. It is the Jay Leno show.” When Conan O’Brien took over the Tonight Show, it is no longer the good o’le Johnny show. And Letterman knows this.
But still, Letterman may be upset over the ratings. And, his antics demonstrate this. His humor have a sense of anger. His comical timing is off; what I mean by this is that he does not know when to stop talking about a subject matter. His feud with Oprah is a great example of this, as well as his jokes about various conservative faces like Dick Cheany. This is where Leno and O’Brien shines – they tell jokes about political and cultural figures, but they KNOW how to tone the volume down, and when to stop. Rather than compete with Leno/O’Brien, I think Letterman is trying to appeal more towards liberal advocates, believing that this will steal viewership from NBC. The statistics show that over 70-percent of the U.S. population is liberal, so Letterman’s jokes and guests appeal to this demographic. I don’t believe this will ever work because I think, in the end, people will smarten up and realize that O’Brien is much better. One thing none of us want it to hear politics in entertainment – whether it is watching a music concert or a late night TV show.
ClassicTelevisionBlog – Rodney on The Tonight Show
