Was that too formal, Delores?
Maybe his appearance on “SportsCenter Old School” last week was an audition for his return to the Worldwide Leader in Sports. After all, they’ve pretty much destroyed the reputation SC spent 20 years building up, so bringing Kilborn back to do his act in Bristol again would be the perfect finish.
Kilborn is okay. On the rare occasion when I’ve watched his show, I’ve enjoyed it. Some of his comedy bits are unique and funny. If there had never been a Conan O’Brien, Kilborn could have carved out a pretty good niche as the second-tier latenight guy, much like Letterman did in the early days.
Unfortunately, there is a Conan O’Brien, and he simply makes Kilborn look sad in comparison. Conan is a comedy genius. He’s the funniest guy on late night television. If he could take over Letterman’s spot, I think he’d give Jay Leno a real run for his money, and would kick his ass in the under-40 demographic.
The problem with Conan going to CBS, though, is that he’d lose some of his writing staff, who are also associated with SNL. In particular, he’d probably lose Robert Smigel, who is one of the most brilliant comedy writers around. So long Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.
But I think Conan would survive the change. He managed to turn it up a notch after Andy left, when a lot of people were predicting disaster.
Speaking of that… Since Andy isn’t exactly setting them on fire in TV land, how cool would it be for Conan to get Letterman’s spot - with Andy Richter back as sidekick?
Sam Stone, well said. However, I’m not so sure he could actually give Leno a “fun for his money”. Don’t get me wrong, Conan is the funniest person I’ve ever seen, though, his humor is also far more outrageous and quirky than Leno’s. I don’t believe that would translate well to a larger market.
However, assuming what i said above is false, could Conan even get away with what he does on an earlier time slot (assuming he took over Letterman’s time slot)? I’ve seen some things on Conan that would surprise me even if they were on cable. Were Conan have to tone his material down, I believe that would be disastrous.
A friend pointed out this article in the New York Post (so whether there’s anything to it is anyone’s guess) with the rumor that Amy Sedaris may replace Kilborn as host.
On the one hand, I’m all for Sedaris’ getting more recognition and popularity, and the chance to see her every night of the week would be awesome.
On the other hand, I can’t imagine how a talk show would work for her. She’s all about her characters. Would she do the entire show in character, or save them for sketches and monologues? The few times I’ve seen her on talk shows as a guest, she’s been hilarious, but it was always clear that she saw the whole thing as a goof. I wonder if it would be a “Primetime Glick” type thing, or whether she’d do all the interviews “straight.”
But about the OP: Good to see that Kilborn’s schtick has finally worn out. I got tired of it a few years ago. He was funny for a while there on the Daily Show, but it just got out of hand.
Seconding Amy Sedaris. I just watched my tape of last week’s Letterman’s which had the 4am show. She did a really great job in a fairly difficult circumstance.
At least give her a couple weeks tryout.