I’m a Letterman fan myself, just thought I’d try and get some feedback.
Leno.
Leno. I think Letterman is a weenie. He got his panties all in a twist because he thought he should have gotten Johnny’s chair. As it turns out, NBC made the right call because Leno’s ratings are higher. Come on Dave, there’s plenty of money for both of you. Get over it.
I haven’t watched either one in years. I liked Letterman on NBC, but since the move to CBS, ugh.
The few times I’ve seen Leno, he was ok. I still don’t think I’ve seen Leno since the Dancing Itos!
Letterman. The guy still has it.
I have no idea why Leno is still on the air.
As to the right choice and ratings: Even the folks at NBC who made the decision consider it a bad thing. Letterman in the Tonight Show slot would have far higher ratings than Leno could even imagine. There would be no effective competition on CBS at all (which has seriously affected NBC’s revenue from the Tonight Show).
I can’t watch Leno - I think he’s lame. His jokes might be funny to Gramma, but they hardly ever make me laugh. He seems sort of too “kiss-ass” toward his Hollywood guests.
I like Dave’s show, but I’m getting to be too close to middle age to be able to stay up that late. I’d tape it if I didn’t have too much going on to have time to watch him.
I wonder if the reason I “get” Dave is because I was born in the same area as he was. Mebbe it’s a Hoosier thang. I’ve watched him on & off since his daytime show. The opening monologue is not so hot, really, but the rest of the show makes me chuckle, and I like the way he “interviews” guests. I don’t know why people find him intimidating - except that they must be used to having their asses kissed by Leno, Larry King & the like. The guests with the best senses of humor make the show the most fun to watch; the ones who take themselves too damn seriously are the ones who give the show (& Dave) a bad rap.
Moved from IMHO to CS.
Very rarely either, but when I get the chance, Leno. I never stick around beyond the monologue, but at least his monologue is long, so there are going to be a few funny ones. No such guarantees with Dave’s 3 or 4 tepid one-liners. I also like Headlines, so I’ll stick around on Mondays for that, but all of Dave’s bits are pretty lame and redundant.
Ideally, though, it’s Stewart/Colbert and then time-killing 'til Conan (if I can stay up that late–a rarity nowdays).
Letterman lost it years ago. He became boring, repetitious, and whiny. He doesn’t care and it shows.
Leno cares and that too really shows. I watch Leno over Letterman.
I’ve also switched to watching Craig Ferguson over Conan for much the same reasons. Neither Leno nor Ferguson just sit there and kill time by squirming in their seats. They entertain continually. Either they have on a monologue, a bit, or a guest. Ferguson also does a ten-minute monologue on a particular subject every night. That’s an incredible feat of writing.
A prediction: when 2009 rolls around and it’s time for Conan to take over the Tonight Show, they’ll find a way to keep Leno around. Because Conan is over.
But Letterman is dead.
I can’t stay up that late. 
I’m old.
But if I did, I would *probably *watch Letterman. I used to find him amusing.
Both (I have trouble sleeping unless I’m watching TV so I’ll watch whatever is vaguely acceptable), but I vastly prefer Letterman. First of all, the guy is actually funny. Leno’s jokes are even more predictable, often simply flat and unfunny, and often really mean-spirited. I remember one “Headlines” bit where the entire joke was that the bride in a wedding picture looked butch. Yeah, that’s funny. I bet she thinks so too. I bet no-one ever pointed it out to her, either.
Furthermore, on occasion, Letterman will actually have an interesting guest (such as Howard Dean relatively recently) and then he’ll manage to ask interesting, intelligent questions.
Leno has a better monologue. His other job is stand-up comedy and it shows.
His schticks are funnier also. Jay-walking, headlines, and battle of the jay-walk stars are way better than “does it float?” or “put away the Late Night bear.”
Leno’s interviews are more laid back and comfortable. Letterman’s always feel uncomfortable and akward.
But more importantly I check out who the guests are and the musical guest.
If it’s Donald Trump, Jimmy Walker, either Simpson sister, or Martha Stewart forget it. I’ll see what else is on.
Letterman
Dave’s not as good as he used to be, but Leno is unwatchable. Now that Space Ghost isn’t on the air any more, Conan’s doing the best late-night talk show.
Leno was yesteryear’s standup’s standup, but his humor is much more vicious than Carson, Letterman and Alan Thicke 
put together. Of course, that mirrors the evolution of comedy in general. Leno’s also gotten rather scatological, but NBCs corporate suits long ago advised him to be edgier, so no surprise there.
Leno’s standup resume shows whenever he’s interviewing someone. Serious discussion on the guest’s part finds Leno itching to lob in a badly timed joke or lame barb. He’s trying harder to focus these days, but let’s admit: The Tonight Show ain’t The David Suskind Show.
I agree. It’s highly doubtful that NBC will hand the entire Tonight Show franchise over to Conan O’Brien–and I think he suspects it too. Conan will be almost 50 in 2009, which will make his “cool-baby” shtick peg an 11 on the huh? meter of the 18 to 34-year-old demographic.
Conan’s only chance is to grab the reins now, but my guess is that the long-range forecasters at NBC (oxymoronic, I know) at best see him as a transitional figure until a younger, edgier, funnier, hipper, more appealing star blows him off the map. At this point, I have no idea who that might be.
That said, Leno can’t stay around forever. He will be almost 60 when his contract expires. Today more than ever, television demands youth. My guess is that Conan will eventually jump ship and take Letterman’s vacancy, opening up the Tonight Show to ???
Never liked Leno and I was only a mild Carson fan.
I used to Love Letterman but he is not as funny as he was.
I watch Jon Stewart and if I am still awake the Colbert Report.
Leno - his monologues are usually worth a few laughs, and the headlines are usually good.
I don’t hate Letterman, I just don’t find him as funny as Leno.
But I really dislike Mr. Too-Hip-For-Words Paul Shafer. Granted, Kevin on Leno is a bit of a dolt, but at least he is a likable dolt.
Interesting point about Dave seeming to not care. In my humble opinion he does care its just that the laid back silliness (the chair squirming or throat clearing for example) is his style of comedy in itself. Honestly I haven’t watched Leno much to judge him as much, but I have seen his monolgue before and I think its fair to say they both get in a good one once in awhile. And wasn’t Dave a stand up comedian at one time as well?
All from Wikipedia
Letterman began work as a radio talk show host and on Indianapolis television as a local anchor and weatherman. He received recognition for his unpredictable on-air behavior, which included erasing state borders from the weather map and predicting hail stones “the size of canned hams.” One night he reportedly upset his bosses when he congratulated a tropical storm on being upgraded to a hurricane.
In 1975, Letterman moved to California with hopes of becoming a comedy writer and started writing material for sitcoms. He also began performing stand-up comedy at The Comedy Store, a famed Los Angeles comedy club and proving ground for young comics.
Letterman had a stint as a cast member on Mary Tyler Moore’s variety show Mary, a guest appearance on Mork & Mindy, and appearances on game shows such as The $20,000 Pyramid. His dry, sarcastic humor caught the attention of talent scouts for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and Letterman was soon a regular guest on the show. Letterman became a favorite of Carson’s and became a regular guest host for the show starting in 1978.
**David Letterman performing standup on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1978. ** Soon afterwards, Letterman was given his own morning comedy show on NBC, The David Letterman Show. The show was a critical success, winning two Emmy Awards, but was a ratings disappointment and was cancelled after a brief run during the summer of 1980. NBC kept Letterman under contract and tried again in a different time slot; in 1982, Late Night with David Letterman debuted on the network.
I generally prefer Leno and always laugh at Headline, but some of Dave’s stuff is
funny also. Dave does some good interviews, but they sometimes get into the “inside
joke” thing and come across as condescending. Quite often I watch Nightline instead
of either.
Conan is far too juvenile for my taste, I was very surprised when Jay chose him as his
replacement. I seriously doubt it will happen.