# Letterman or Leno? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 8, 1999, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterman-or-leno/16808 "1999-10-08T20:53:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cheese\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cheese\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheese_Head)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 1999, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterman-or-leno/16808/1 "1999-10-08T20:53:00Z")
Letterman or Leno? Letterman used to win easily for me. However, I think it’s tacky the way he has the models greet him every night now. Who do you prefer? ---
**Author:** ![StrTrkr777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@StrTrkr777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StrTrkr777)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 1999, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterman-or-leno/16808/2 "1999-10-08T21:07:00Z")
Between the two I perfer sleep. I cannot stay up that late. On at regular time, Letterman is funnier IMO. Jeffery ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 1999, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterman-or-leno/16808/3 "1999-10-08T22:14:00Z")
Gosh,this is hard. Actually,this same question was here a few months ago. If there were no guests,I would prefer Letterman. They each have their own style. Personally,I would watch a whole show with just Conan O’Brien. * * * Try and run between the raindrops! ---
**Author:** ![Dirty\_Devil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Dirty\_Devil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dirty_Devil)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 1999, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterman-or-leno/16808/4 "1999-10-08T22:15:00Z")
I think they both royally suck. Letterman used to be really good. Now he’s just so full of himself that it’s hard to watch. Leno is just plain boring. Always has been and always will be. I hate to admit it, but I really like Conan O’Brien. I’ll take dorky over pompous any day. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 1999, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterman-or-leno/16808/5 "1999-10-09T08:05:00Z")
Conan beats both of them combined. It’s interesting that Conan is often getting better ratings than Letterman, despite being on an hour later. I don’t know what happened to Dave. I still prefer him over Leno, just because I like edgier humor. One thing I like though is that all three of these guys are apparently really nice people, which is refreshing in TV. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 1999, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterman-or-leno/16808/6 "1999-10-10T05:25:00Z")
Yeah, Conan kicks ass, but I’m not sure how well the show’s going to work without Andy Richter. I also like Craig Kilborn, but I can rarely stay up that late anymore (they show him at 2 in the morning here, and I have 9:30 classes). Kilborn’s an unrepentant arrogant bastard, and it’s a nice balance with Conan’s self-effacing brand of humor. Screw Leno. Screw Letterman. Neither have been funny since I was 14. Leno’s funniest bit is Headlines, and that isn’t even anything he writes. Letterman absolutely sucks. The SNL mock up of him, flatly repeating the same unfunny joke over and over, is dead on. I’ll watch Nightline and Politically Incorrect, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 1999, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterman-or-leno/16808/7 "1999-10-09T19:18:00Z")
We’ve done this thread before, I might have started it. I like Leno over Letterman, because of the repetion of the same damn joke. Leno’s monologue is better, because he’s a stand-up. I like Conan over Letterman, and I like Politically Incorrect, too. * * * JMcC, San Francisco [http://members.tripod.com/~weirdstuff/index.html](http://members.tripod.com/~weirdstuff/index.html) “Hear the voices in my head, I swear to God it sounds like they’re snoring” ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 1999, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterman-or-leno/16808/8 "1999-10-09T19:53:00Z")
Letterman was a standup before he got his show, and a very good one. One of the reasons he got his show was because he became a regular on the The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson because he was so damned funny. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 1999, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterman-or-leno/16808/9 "1999-10-10T01:00:00Z")
Bill Maher. Of course I kid . . . your humble TubaDiva * * * 43rd Law of Computing:Anything that can go wr {segmentation fault} ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 1999, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterman-or-leno/16808/10 "1999-10-10T05:50:00Z")
Well, for talk…I go with Miller. But if I could pick? Leary. _ **\ExTank** _\ _\“Stop puttin’ shit in the coffee!”_\