# And the winner of the best late night host/show (in your opinion) is: **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** talk-variety-show\ **Created:** [February 25, 2023, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-best-late-night-host-show-in-your-opinion-is/980327 "2023-02-25T00:01:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-best-late-night-host-show-in-your-opinion-is/980327/61 "2024-02-09T11:27:05Z")
Colbert sometimes will stretch out a joke by, with a stationary camera, do a goofy walk out of camera range, then reappear doing the same goofy walk, crossing in front of the camera, out of focus. Did Ferguson invent that bit? He used to do it quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-best-late-night-host-show-in-your-opinion-is/980327/62 "2024-02-09T11:42:12Z")
I would like to know what the Jimmy Kimmel/Matt Damon thing is all about and I’m excited to learn that Jon Stewart is coming back for Mondays on The Daily Show. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-best-late-night-host-show-in-your-opinion-is/980327/63 "2024-02-09T12:00:07Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > I would like to know what the Jimmy Kimmel/Matt Damon thing is all about It’s a comedy bit: > **[Damon-Kimmel Feud](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damon-Kimmel_Feud)** > > The Damon-Kimmel Feud is a satirical public feud between actor Matt Damon and television host Jimmy Kimmel. The feud has garnered nationwide coverage since 2005, when Kimmel ended a season 3 episode of his show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, by saying "Apologies to Matt Damon, but we ran out of time." In the years since, Damon and Kimmel have treated the feud as a running gag, often enlisting the help of other celebrities to prank each other publicly, most taking place on Kimmel's show. > In 2005, Kimmel, w... ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-best-late-night-host-show-in-your-opinion-is/980327/64 "2024-02-09T12:02:44Z")
Oh thanks MrDibble. I’m glad it’s a comedy bit. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-best-late-night-host-show-in-your-opinion-is/980327/65 "2024-02-09T12:38:26Z")
All time? Johnny Carson. Craig Ferguson deserves credit as well. I wish they’d opened up more and let him run his show his way, breaking away from the norms and conventions. Still, he was good at interviewing and bringing people out of their protective shell. Graham Nortan is the most fun group show since everyone stays on the couch the whole time. The best hour of talk show I’ve seen is a Graham Norton episode with Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, and a VERY surprised guest, one that surprised even them. It was from the time Logan was coming out, so seek out this episode and watch just a magical hour of conversation. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-best-late-night-host-show-in-your-opinion-is/980327/66 "2024-02-09T12:44:51Z")
I’ve been watching Seth Meyers’ (Emmy-nominated!) “Corrections”. It’s a Youtube series that began as a humorous response to nitpickers in the Youtube comments section pointing out errors in his show, but has since degenerated into a bizarre morass of scathing insults and running gags. You really have to watch it from the beginning to understand anything. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-best-late-night-host-show-in-your-opinion-is/980327/67 "2024-02-09T12:49:32Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I’ve been watching Seth Meyers’ (Emmy-nominated!) “Corrections”. It’s a Youtube series that began as a humorous response to nitpickers in the Youtube comments section pointing out errors in his show, but has since degenerated into a bizarre morass of scathing insults and running gags. You really have to watch it from the beginning to understand anything I don’t watch his show. Is this followable if I start from the beginning of it? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-best-late-night-host-show-in-your-opinion-is/980327/68 "2024-02-09T13:28:38Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > David Letterman, followed by Johnny Carson and Dick Cavett. Never got to see Steve Allen on the Tonight Show but did watch his afternoon talk show for a while and he’s up there. Who are these other guys from the OP? Never heard of any of them. Nothing has changed my mind in the past year. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-best-late-night-host-show-in-your-opinion-is/980327/69 "2024-02-09T13:44:13Z")
No love for The Magic Hour with Earvin Johnson? Carson was in a class by himself. Letterman was a not so close second. I just don’t get the appeal of Jimmy Fallon. I find Steve Higgins to be annoying as hell and sometimes the back and forth between those two goes on far too long and they milk things long after the gag has gone stale. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-best-late-night-host-show-in-your-opinion-is/980327/70 "2024-02-09T14:18:58Z")
Note I did not mention Dave in my post. I was a MASSIVE Letterman fan back in the day. Wrote to get tickets(they never came) and even sent away for a signed photo, which I received. I would call him one of the best…except the last 15 years or so, maybe the last 10, he got lazy. Never left his desk once he sat down. Stopped doing almost any remotes. When he was on NBC and the early days of CBS, he used to go out and do funny things in the public. He stopped doing all of that and I felt his goofy antics were a fun part of the show. Dave from 1981-199X was terrific. Late Night Dave on NBC was probably some of the most innovative late night stuff TV had seen up to that point. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-best-late-night-host-show-in-your-opinion-is/980327/71 "2024-02-09T14:32:41Z")
John Oliver is the best. By orders of magnitude. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-best-late-night-host-show-in-your-opinion-is/980327/72 "2024-02-09T14:44:10Z")
My three favorites: Conan Letterman Ferguson Carson’s a classic, but I’m just not the right generation for him, I guess. I prefer “quirky.” Fallon I find annoying and interrupts too much. Colbert is okay, but I enjoyed him much more on The Colbert Report. I’m just ranking the more classic style of network late show, not so much including stuff like Daily Show, Colbert, John Oliver into this. But of those last lot, I enjoyed Jon Stewart-era Daily Show over everything else. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-best-late-night-host-show-in-your-opinion-is/980327/73 "2024-02-09T14:48:02Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > John Oliver is the best. By orders of magnitude. He deserves great praise, but he’s on once a week at best and rarely is acting as a ‘host’. Kudos to Jon Stewart also who elevated Oliver to his current status on the Daily Show. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-best-late-night-host-show-in-your-opinion-is/980327/74 "2024-02-09T14:51:13Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Carson’s a classic, but I’m just not the right generation for him, I guess. He was at the top in a different era. There was only occasionally a reasonable alternative to him in the early late night spot. I don’t know how he would have fared with competition and fewer limitations on TV content. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-best-late-night-host-show-in-your-opinion-is/980327/75 "2024-02-09T15:11:39Z")
Conan has to be one of the greatest obscure finds in television history. He had never had any significant presence in front of the camera before and all the sudden, they offered him a late night show. He knew it wouldn’t last, so he used his first checks to buy a Ford Taurus brand new so at least he’d get a new car out of the job. He sold that car years later on the show. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-best-late-night-host-show-in-your-opinion-is/980327/76 "2024-02-09T19:42:45Z")
There is a Kimmel man-in-the-street bit where someone is stopped on the sidewalk and is asked about some preposterous made-up news story. Either the people are plants, and the bit isn’t very funny, or they’re sincere in which case I weep for humanity. When asked about the bogus story, they know all about it, and when and where they heard about it. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-best-late-night-host-show-in-your-opinion-is/980327/77 "2024-02-09T20:45:27Z")
I hardly ever watched Johnny Carson when I was young, because even though I was almost the demographic for it, it had just enough old-timey schlocky show biz to put me off. Also, Johnny himself always seemed to have a nasty edge just under the surface. Fallon is so cheesy. Yuck. But when Letterman and Ferguson were at the top of their game, I just didn’t watch any late night TV. I worked early and if I taped them, I’d have hours to catch up with on the weekend – when I was out doing other stuff. I like what I’ve seen of them. I still watch Colbert. I’ll go back to watching TDS (at least on Mondays) when Jon Stewart comes back. I liked bits I’ve seen of Kimmel and Meyers, but, again, I’d be watching stuff on dvr 24/7 if I watched it all. I don’t feel I’m missing all that much. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-best-late-night-host-show-in-your-opinion-is/980327/78 "2024-02-09T23:40:26Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I don’t watch his show. Is this followable if I start from the beginning of it? I don’t watch his show either. He’ll mention what people are complaining about (e.g. bad grammar or a graphic that doesn’t make sense), so there’s not really any reason to watch the show in question. The episodes are only ~15 minutes long, so you might as well watch the first one or two. It’s definitely not for everyone, though (judging from some of the “you’re not funny” comments he responds to)! ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2024, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-best-late-night-host-show-in-your-opinion-is/980327/79 "2024-02-10T00:17:34Z")
I take note No One has mentioned Tom Snyder, and rightfully so. Though his Halloween KISS show was classic. Letterman-I Loved when local ( Cleveland) character Harvey Pekar was on. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2024, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-best-late-night-host-show-in-your-opinion-is/980327/80 "2024-02-10T00:26:42Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Letterman-I Loved when local ( Cleveland) character Harvey Pekar was on. And when Charles Grodin was on. I love that the two of them decided to just make a fake-feud out of their relationship even though they were friends. My whole family used to love episodes Charles Grodin appeared on. He played the pompous douchebag character so well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-best-late-night-host-show-in-your-opinion-is/980327.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-best-late-night-host-show-in-your-opinion-is/980327.md?page=5)