pan6467

Another thread has me curious as to who people think is the funniest of the late night hosts:


Personally, there will never be another Johnny, and Dave was great for a long time, today I love Conan..... but Johnny will always be the king........

There are several, Jack Paar, Steve Allen, Dick Cavett, Chevy Chase, Joan Rivers etc.... that I did not include because I don't think they would recieve votes, be remembered, or just didn't have room.

Craig Ferguson, is still new at the job and may supplant someone on that list someday but for now those I believe are the big 10.

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Suave

For me, Conan. Jon Stewart is at least equal to Conan, but he's in a completely different category than most of the late night talkshow hosts and their shows, and I notice he's not on this list.

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pan6467

Well, John Stewart really isn't what I would call "Late Night" because they have a different feel to them.

What John does is more an SNL type "Weekly News Update" and while he's good the best of that sort was the very sarcastic and funny Dennis Miller. He made that genre his.

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I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

n0nsensical

Conan is great. We also have the same birthday (April 18). I can't wait until he replaces Leno; I just hope NBC doesn't try to mass-marketize his material.

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macmanmike6100

My problem with Conan is that I think he's overrated. People who I think are getting more credit than they deserve lose points in my mind.

K-Wise

I'm too young to know Johnny Carson really so of course I'd pick Conan with Arsenio coming in a VERY close second.

Asta!!

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God of Thunder

Johhny Carson.

There will never be another. All those who came after are just imitators.

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warrrreagl

Precisely the problem with this poll; asking a decidedly young crowd to compare Johnny Carson to a slate of pretenders.

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Bacchanal

I'm only 26, but I remember a bit about Carson (which is why he got my vote). Those Time-Life DVDs aren't all so bad!

If I had to pick one now, it'd either be Dave or Conan.

hambone

Conan. I love the Bush impression

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Bill O'Rights

I don't believe that Conan is actualy pulling ahead of Carson.

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thatoneguy

Although I'm sure Carson was much better, since he was the original, I'm only 22, so I never actually saw Carson. My vote went to Conan, I think he's the best one out there right now, I used to like Letterman more, but I feel like Conan's a bit better as it stands.

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Suave

Not enough of you old fogeys in here. I honestly don't think he should be included in this poll either, since it's taking one dude from over a decade ago and comparing him to a bunch of newer hosts.

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"Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions." - Albert Einstein

"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." - Plato

Dingo2879

I'm surprised that Letterman is not getting much love.. He is the closest thing to the next Johnny Carson.. I have been watching him since the 80's, and his comic genius and understanding how to keep us entertained amazing. I do love Conan, but I see it more like first there was Carson, and from Carson came Letterman, and soon from Letterman comes Conan.

Grancey

I love Johnny and Dave. There is no better. And since I wish to see Conan sunk in this pole I will vote for Johnny.

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sgn43

I definitely have to give Johnny Carson his credit, as he will always be known as the king of late night. But, it's obvious this is a generational thing and a lot of people are operating off of the "out of sight out of mind" mentality so for us youngsters (I'm 21), it's hard to vote for Johnny when his reign of late night ended when most of us were too young too be allowed to even stay up to see his monologue.


However, I do remember watching some of last shows when I was in about 3rd grade. I was too young to understand every joke, but I still found it funny. I've also seen lots of archived footage of his "greatest moments" such as several of his best jokes from his monologues, many of his clips as Carnac and an assortment of his most memorable interviews--and also the time he stopped his show to go across the hallway to yell at Don Rickle.


Johnny was without doubt, the class of late night, and set a standard for hosts that will be very hard to be match, let alone raise. However, the poll asked who was the funniest late night host, and for that I'd have to give it to either Conan or Letterman (and Jon Stewart also deserves some recognition, despite being of a slightly different format). I know it may come off as a generational thing, but my humor has always been more about absurdity and just plain silliness (with intelligence too, of course...but the "weirder" the better). Carson's style of humor seemed to be much more traditional, kind of like what Leno tries to do, except without the comedy. Letterman brought a new, goofier sensibility to the comedy, and Conan just took that a step further (and has even been referred to as "Baby Letterman").


Carson was and still is the standard for late night talk show hosts. Without him, the entire genre would be nothing like it is today. But, just purely for the humor and comedy in the shows, I'd give my vote to Conan or Letterman.

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1slOwCD8

Id say of todays time Conan, but of all time, probably Johnny.

Onions

In the same way that carson isn't getting a lot of votes because some haven't seen him or were too young to appreciate him, he's also getting a lot of votes from people who don't want to seem young or "uneducated" in late night history.

snowy

Conan. Hands down. He's cute, he's funny, and he knows when to be wacky.

Though I do love watching reruns of the Dick Cavett Show...this interview he does with George Harrison is PRICELESS. Oh, boy. Hilarious.

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lordpoopshank

Glad to see the Conan support as well. The dude is on another level sometimes.

Suave

Calling Conan "baby Letterman" is an insult to Conan. Conan may use similar humour, but he's so much better. Letterman has no charisma.

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"Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions." - Albert Einstein

"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." - Plato

EbolaVirus

Its nice to see that Conan is kicking ass in the poll (so far). You have to love the characters he comes up with.

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