Which is really “Jay does Letterman’s old “Small Town News” routine.”
Which was really "Letterman does Steve Allen’s old “Letters to the Editor” routine 
Well, now you’re just showing your age. 
[Krusty] If this is anyone but Steve Allen, you’re stealing my bit! [/Krusty]
Oh, I know where I’d start.
- He sniggers with self-satisfaction at his own jokes. I’m not saying everyone has to be as deadpan as Stephen Wright, but Letterman is a contender for the most self-amused of “comedians,” topped only (albeit easily) by the Gigantic Moron Dennis Miller (who adds to his sins by thinking he is some sort of intellectualoid).
I remember that! I forget the staff member’s name (it wasn’t Laurie Diamond), but her fiancé’s name was Hunter Huckabee.
And IIRC the nest-egg gag went on for quite a bit longer than a week.
The last time I attempted to watch the Tonight Show, I was astonished as joke after joke from the monologue fell to the stage with a thud. Doesn’t Jay pride himself on doing the longest monologue on late night? Doesn’t he say that it’s kind of his baby? I was baffled: the jokes sucked, and the audience knew it. I had to wonder, what keeps these people tuning in every night?