The New Guy

A few thoughts on the new late-night TV talk show regime:

-- There's a reason Conan O'Brien's Late Night show took off after Andy Richter left.
-- The String Dance is still funny. And yes, I am an infant.
-- The funniest human being in late night is Craig Ferguson. Last night he did TMBG's "Istanbul" in the show intro. I'm not sure if I laughed harder at that, or the Britney Spears thing, or the goat song from Sound of Music. And that's just the intro. (Hey, I'm an infant. I have a thing for puppets.)
-- Ferguson also has the best monologue in the business. No surprise there; he's been a stand-up comedian for twenty years. Letterman is better at the scripted bits, but nobody is better night in and night out up front that Ferguson.
-- I keep waiting for Letterman to throw me off his lawn.
-- According to people who have seen Leno on TV and in person, on TV Leno "pretends to be dumber and less funny that he really is." I really hope that's true.
-- Leno reminds me of one of those insipid "Spirit Rock" radio stations that bills itself as "safe for the whole family." OK, but what fun is that?
-- Jimmy Fallon just isn't funny. It's not for lack of effort, but that may be the problem. He needs to "try easier." If you go looking for the funny, it will hide forever. Let the funny come to you.
-- Jimmy Fallon may also need some better writers. One thing Leno and Conan are both known for is surrounding themselves with genuinely funny people. Most of the funny people Fallon knows are either SNL alums or the cast of 30 Rock.
-- Fallon would be well-advised to take a page from Ferguson's play-book. Let the viewers in. Fallon tries so hard to be "interactive" with his audience, but it seems forced. Show us who you are. Give us a reason to like you.
-- Fallon's two best moves so far have been "Seventh Floor West" and having Drew Barrymore as a guest. Drew knows him well enough to bring out his personality. I'm sure there is one in there somewhere.
-- Jimmy Kimmel is stuck in time-slot purgatory. Here he doesn't come on until 11:30, so his monologue has to go head-to-head against Ferguson. No contest. In most of the country he comes on at the top of the hour, after Nightline. For starters, with Nightline as a lead-in he's not going to get too terrible much audience. Plus, most folks have settled into Conan or Letterman by then.
-- Hulu has introduced me to Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert. Being on cable gives them liberties -- both with language and more importantly with content -- that network guys just don't have.

My own personal Top 5 Hosts:

1. Craig Ferguson
2. Jon Stewart (far and away the best interviewer)
3. Steven Colbert
4. Conan O'Brien
5. David Letterman

Top 3 Announcers:

1. Alan Kulter
2. Shadoe Stevens
3. Higgins

HNORABLE MENTION -- Don Pardo. His Jeopardy legacy notwithstanding, he showed the new guys how it's done week in and week out on SNL. Enjoy your retirement, Don.

Top 3 Bands/Bandleaders:

1. Max Weinberg & The Tonight Show Band
2. Cleto & the Cletones
3. The Roots

Top 5 Gimmicks:

1. Craig Ferguson's show intros
2. Triumph the Insult Comic Dog
3. The Word
4. Fun Facts
5. John Oliver on anything British