I try to like him. I don't have cable. Hardly watch TV at all. Craig furguson is a much better host.

Who is replacing the old crotchety guy?

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I try to like him. I don't have cable. Hardly watch TV at all. Craig furguson is a much better host.

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Craig Ferguson. I live it when he did the queen thing.

Also miss Jay Leno a lot.

In other new Reese witherspoon's daughter will be 18 in 3 years

You liked Leno more, opinion invalid.

There's no hope left for this one. Don't forget to watch your Carrot Top VHS later.

I do have respect for him for putting on very very good bands that most would not have heard of. Mumford and sons on tonight. He had hoot on in 94 as Tanya pointed out. He always had a good ear

That last sentence also sounds like our president. Coincidence?

I watched an interview Letterman did of Mel Blanc (guy who did basically all of the looney tunes voices) from the 80's. He was even a terrible host back then.

Letterman

Letterman was a comedy icon.

Leno, while respected as a very talented standup, never made one attempt to be funny as a host. And people loved that; he was just so bland and affable, he was really embraced by bland and affable people.

Sure, I can see why letterman's politics would turn people off. But when he wasn't talking politics, he was spending the last 30 years doing some really groundbreaking and hilarious comedy.

Never laughed at anything Letterman or Leno had to say. Everything was stupid and boring.

I used to like him when he has the midnight show.
Rolling over stuff with a steamroller and throwing stuff off of tall buildings was kinda fun.

After he got the10:30 slot, he showed himself to be the northeast, unfunny, bitter, liberal old man that he is.
I didn't watch him after that.

TIL: that Indiana is northeast.

Just what was it that he said or did that made some of you think that he is too liberal for your comedic sensibilities? When Clinton was in office, he was pretty merciless, because that's what he does: he ridicules those who invite ridicule, and Clinton was sending out engraved invitations at the time. So, when Bush came on board, he continued along the some vein and made fun of him. When 9-11 happened, he was solidly behind Rudy Giuliani, that bastion of liberalism. I never saw him as overtly political. Sometimes he was funny and sometimes he wasn't (which is still a better batting average than Leno), but his politics seem to been a back burner most of the time.

He's an angry, bitter old man who is still upset Leno took over for Carson.

He hasn't been funny in years and like someone said, I've been to his show and Lenos and Leno was a great host and interacted with the crowd. Letterman was more interested in screwing his secretaries and show girls.

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.... more interested in screwing his secretaries and show girls.

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And there is a problem with that?

I too hate things that don't concern me!

As others have said, I was a HUGE fan (even got to see him in 2002), but he turned bitter, cynical and just plain mean in the mid-00's. I haven't watched him in 10 years and when I have stopped on his show, it's unwatchable.

There was that special on CBS the other night . So much of it was from the early period on CBS and it was a great reminder of just how damn funny that show once was.

Letterman was pure greatness in the 1980's. Became unwatchable when he didn't get Tonight Show.

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Letterman was pure greatness in the 1980's. Became unwatchable when he didn't get Tonight Show.

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Yep.

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Just what was it that he said or did that made some of you think that he is too liberal for your comedic sensibilities? When Clinton was in office, he was pretty merciless, because that's what he does: he ridicules those who invite ridicule, and Clinton was sending out engraved invitations at the time. So, when Bush came on board, he continued along the some vein and made fun of him. When 9-11 happened, he was solidly behind Rudy Giuliani, that bastion of liberalism. I never saw him as overtly political. Sometimes he was funny and sometimes he wasn't (which is still a better batting average than Leno), but his politics seem to been a back burner most of the time.

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I've watched Letterman since I was a kid staying up late to watch with my dad in the 80's. The political content has increased both in volume and slant. In the 90's, jokes were Clinton is fat and Bob Dole is old. Meaningless yucks. That changed with Bush.

I'm not sure how much of it is "Northeastern elitism," since he's a self made millionaire womanizer from the Midwest and a social recluse. I think a lot of it was just a sad attempt to stay hip and relevant as the Daily Show, Colbert, and Maher took viewers away.

Letterman was good when he had Brother Theodore on. Didn't watch the show. Did they have footage from NBC or was it only CBS stuff?

Not a fan of Letterman unless he's interviewing a guest. Seems like Leno and others are always trying to throw little jokes in instead of letting the guest talk, while I think Letterman knows better than any host when to shut his mouth and let the guests talk uninterrupted.

Letterman saying stupid stuff just to annoy Jack Hannah was always entertaining.

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In the 90's, jokes were Clinton is fat and Bob Dole is old. Meaningless yucks. That changed with Bush.

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This is 100% true.

Clinton was "Tubby" and was always said with a sly wink. Bush was hated by Letterman and his jokes became very mean-spirited and insulting. He was behind Guliani because I believe he admired him. Bush didn't get the same respect from Dave. And almost six month's into Obama's first term, Letterman was still leaning on Sarah Palin jokes.

Considering most of the people on this thread are making the same comments about him getting bitter and mean just shows that this is not something people are imagining.

I haven't watched any of the late shows in a few years, but on his worst day, Letterman was always funnier than Leno. Leno is to comedy what "Dogs Playing Poker" is to fine art.