Late Night Stuff

In the Leno v. Letterman debate, I'm a Letterman guy. Jay's show is more polished, and the jokes are definitely more mainstream. Being in LA aids Jay in getting better names for guests, too. Dave did make his act more mainstream when moving to the earlier slot at CBS from his Late Night gig at NBC, which disappointed me a little, but I think was necessary to compete in the 10:30...excuse me, 11:30 time slot (you're welcome, East Coast snobs).

But Dave himself is a naturally funnier person, especially in impromptu moments while interviewing guests. Jay just bugs me whenever he delivers a line, scripted or not.

All of that being said, I found it a bit disturbing that Dave was going to great lengths to ridicule Jay on his program. We all know Dave wanted the Tonight Show when Johnny left, but he never seemed to hold it personally against Jay. They apparently no longer had been friends, but it was more likely due to their competitiveness.

All of that changed last week, as Dave was mocking Jay's high-pitched voice and large jaw, among other things. Jay fired back with a joke about Dave taking "shots" at him, but that he at least wasn't taking "shots" at interns anymore. A good one, I admit. I also enjoyed Dave's response tonight as to why he's been doing it so "mercilessly."

"Because I really enjoy it...that's all I've got!"

Two things are apparent: 1) Dave knows all eyes are on NBC for the moment, so he has to really push the envelope to keep people tuning in to see what he's going to say next. 2) Dave really feels Jay is in the wrong in all of this. I don't know why he would, but I wouldn't be surprised if he knows a little more than we do about all that has been going on behind the scenes.

What about the others?

Kimmel: Blah.

Ferguson: Took a while, but he's really grown on me.

Fallon: May as well have given Rob Schneider the show.

Daily: Never watch him.

Conan O'Brien: Has always bugged me in his impromptu antics. It's one thing to be a nerd and use it as your shtick so that it becomes cool. Conan tries to do that, and just comes across as more nerdy.

It's all opinion, of course, and I'll steal a Martin Mull line, appropriately (Mull was very good in the satire late-night talk show, "Fernwood Tonight"), which was originally meant for music as the subject matter, but relevant for comedy as well: "Talking about (comedy) is like dancing about architecture."

If you enjoy that line, I would guess you, too, are a "Dave person."