I’d have to go with Dave. I just like his grumpy, cynical slant on everything.
Can I just watch infomercials until Conan comes on? Neither Dave nor Jay can keep me consistantly interested.
Conan IS hilarious (Triumph and the Bill Clinton TV head are the best), but I was trying to limit it to the Big Two. If people would like to throw in others, go for it!
Letterman.
Actually a friend of me is in New York now
and he has ticket to Letterman,
so I’m very courise to hear about it
when he comes home.
Letterman, though I don’t watch either anymore. Leno is just a putz.
Sua
Jay, but if you were to ask between the 4 shows in the 11:35pm-1:35am span, I’d go with Conan.
Ugh.
Neither Dave, Jay or Conan get me to even smirk, 9 times out of 10.
They all seem so… tired.
For my money, Jon Stewarts’ Daily Show on Comedy Central is infinately funnier than any of those guys. Almost always laugh out loud when I watch.
Dave had his day. But it’s long behind him now.
Oops, try url=“http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=22823”]this.
Bad day, Nen? Preview, damn it. Preview.
I would pick Dave between the 2, but I agree that both seem very tired.
I go with Leno. I’ve never really liked Letterman. I was always waiting for some pissed-off guest to ride up out of his too-low seat and pop Letterman in the mouth. Leno seems to have inherited the Carson “I’m too savvy for the material I’m saddled with” mantle, although Carson seems to prefer Letterman (Carson has never been on Leno, but HAS appeared on Letterman. That’s gotta hurt). At least Ed has been a guerst on Leno’s show.
I’ll go with Mike Bullard in Canada.
I’ve never seen his show, but I am willing to take Aaron Barnhart’s word for it (but none of the big three American’s are consistently funny).
Uggg. Neither I’m afraid to say.
I once was a huge Letterman fan. Watching him now just makes me yearn for the Glory Days all that much more.
He has totally lost that edge and bite that were at his command with the 12:30 time slot. To actually even make that time slot marketable was an incredible coup and has to rank up there with momentous TV achievements.
Now he is a shadow of his former self.
Notice how much the audience merely claps rather than laughs at his antics.
During each show, he finds some inane phrase to cling on to, repeats it ad nauseum and thinks this REALLY passes for humor.
Watch the Top 10 List as an example. EVERY night, there is one item that is geared toward -not so much a humourous response- but only an excuse for the audience to hoot and holler in some sort of primitive approval.
I know Dave is cringing thinking to himself “so this is what it has come to.”
Conan
I lean towards Leno only because Letterman is too smarmy to be amusing, and because he seems to prove the old saw about your face staying that way.
David Letterman is, without a doubt, the funniest man alive that I have ever had the fortune to see/hear/dream of/etc.
Nothing is as pathetically amusing as watching Jay Leno do his little “Jay Walking” segments. I’m sure all Dopers here can empathize. It’s painful to watch how truly ignorant some of these folks are.
Powerpuff Girls!! Wee-hah!
I don’t watch late night tv much anymore (if I’m still up, I’m usually surfing the net instead), but over the years my fave has always been David Letterman. Plus, I don’t like Leno.