Jimmy James

It would be something if they actually got Letterman, Louis CK, and David Lynch to co-produce a reality show the candidates to replace Letterman would have to participate in during the selection process.

CharlieK

My sense of humor - such as it is - was shaped in large degree by early Letterman on NBC. It is my solemn hope that NBC will exploit his retirement and create a site where you can watch those episodes again.

Mike86

Well it sucks to see Dave finally step down but it was inevitable. I think it's the right time to be honest with the late night landscape in general changing and being mostly young faces. I always wanted to go to one of his shows if I ever made it to New York for a trip just to say that I saw him as he's always been a favorite of mine but haven't made it yet.

God no. Sarah Silverman may be one of the most unfunny people I've ever watched. It always seems like she tries way too hard to be funny but just comes off annoying. Same goes for Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. I'd be okay with a woman hosting if they really want to go that route but if I had to pick a woman I'd say Chelsea Handler. I think that Neil Patrick Harris could be a decent choice. He seems like he'd make a good host but I'm not sure how well he'd do with skits and whatnot I guess. Louis CK would be cool too I think but I don't know if it's a role he'd really want. I also actually don't mind Chris Hardwick even though I know some people find him annoying. He seems to have the host gig down and I think he'd be a decent fit. I can't really think of anyone else off the top of my head who I'd like to see step into Dave's role.

JesseCuster

I think it's Jon Stewart's to turn down. He's immensely sharp and has the broadest appeal.

Colin Ferguson - Not a main show guy. Too goofy. And I mean not willing to sacrifice his shtick for ratings goofy. Not ambitious?

Sarah Silverman - Too sexual and edgy. Though smart as hell.

Chris Hardwick - I promise you he's getting some hard looks from CBS right now. Exceptionally sharp. Charismatic. Finally too geeky for the main slot. Would be awesome "training" in the later slot.

Jimmy James

I think I find the idea that it would be Jon Stewart or Conan depressing. Build your own brand, men. The Conan part appeals more to me because it would be amusing to have him take over another Letterman gig, but I'd really be pretty disappointed in truth.

I wonder how locked down NBC has Seth Meyers.

Mike86

I doubt there's any way that Meyers would switch at this point. He's only been on Late Night for a short period and while he's okay I don't think he's at the level of a main show yet. Plus he's got a lot of history with NBC so I kind of don't think he'll be stepping into competitor territory any time soon unless something unforeseen happens and their relationship sours.

I love Conan but I don't think he needs to switch over at this point. Like I mentioned earlier at TBS he probably has a pretty decent gig and can get away with more than he can on a mainstream network. His over the top humor that doesn't appeal to the masses goes over a bit better there probably than it does with the more casual viewing audience who watches The Late Show or The Tonight Show. Jon Stewart I like a lot too but honestly I think it would be hard for him to change up his format that much. I think he likes the political aspect of The Daily Show so for that reason I honestly don't see him switching even though I think he'd be more than capable of it if he really wanted the spot.

Drexl

Years ago I would have thought Bob Odenkirk would be a good choice, but he's 51 now and I think they want someone younger. Another guy I would have liked, Eddie Izzard, is 51 too.

Here's an idea - what about Jack Black? His movie career seems to have cooled somewhat, and he certainly appeals to younger people. He'd be great in skits. Maybe he could even get KG in the house band.

Mike86

Meh to Jack Black. He's not bad but I think he's kind of fizzled out in terms of popularity and plus I don't know if I could really picture him as an interviewer.

GuessWho

Oh come on, you all know Jay Leno is on the phone with his agent right now.

Rypro 525

didn't we kinda say that about Fallon when it was announced he was taking Jay's spot. 'he's too nerdy, will the 'social media skits/bits work w Leno's crowd'

superdeluxe

Joel Mchale?

Jimmy James

Didn't we kind of see this with Kinnear? I'd be afraid what he has done on The Soup might poison his ability to get the top names that are suck-ass interviews. Of course, those folks hated to go on Letterman anyway...

RayChuang

Let's face it folks. The show is most likely going to be taken over by Craig Ferguson, despite what everyone else thinks.

I think CBS may NOT want Stewart or Colbert to take over, because everyone knows their shows can get quite political and that could turn off too many viewers for a "mainstream" late night snow. There could be consideration for bringing in Conan O'Brien or Ellen DeGeneres, but after O'Brien's fiasco at NBC hosting The Tonight Show, he may be out, and no one is sure if Ellen DeGeneres' style will translate to late night TV.

Rypro 525

"when this show stops being fun i'll retire.... 10 years from later" So Letterman kinda hinted that he's been phoning it in since 2004-05?

dolphinboy

There's a zero percent chance the show will go to Ferguson.

I knew this was coming but the news today still made me very sad, as I grew up with Dave.

I'm basically just like Kimmel except only a very few end up worshipping someone and then following in their footsteps. I loved Letterman from day one and my parents just had to give up on me going to bed before his show was over.

Everyone who knew me knew I was obsessed with him and his show. I introduced him to all my friends and girlfriends.

There's no doubt he's kind of be phoning it in some for a long time, but he's still the best there ever was and it will be a shock to my system to not have him on anymore. I'm already in the mode of wondering what guests will never get a chance to return now. I would have to think Bill Murray would be a no-brainer to be his final guest.

Stewart would get the show (if he wanted it) if he was 5-10 years younger. No way Tina Fey would give up movies and television for a risky move, Chelsea Handler would be a disaster and I'm not sure Colbert would even want to give up such a good thing that he's got or if he could even be himself as he would need to be to host. It's amazing to me that I can't think of one person that really stands out now as the best choice. If only we could clone Jennifer Lawrence.

PhantomStranger

It's going to either be Stewart or Jay Leno. You can counter-program Fallon's show and Leno fits in perfectly with CBS's main audience. Leno never wanted to retire in the first place and will work until he's dead.

Mike86

Stewart would be great but I don't see him turning away from doing political humor and that wouldn't appeal to the mainstream audience that CBS wants I'm sure.

In order for Ferguson to be able to host The Late Show he'd pretty much have to change everything that makes The Late Late Show unique. I just don't see him wanting to do that. I love the guy and find him absolutely hilarious but I just don't think he'd be willing to concede to the network's demands. He jokes about it but I think it's probably partly true that the only reason he gets away with half the things he does now is because the higher ups probably rarely actually watch his show.

PenguinJoe

I wonder if Chelsea Handler knew something because she just announced she's leaving E!

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment...says-1.7551864

She's kind of like a female Jimmy Kimmel.

story

I don't really have any ideas of who would be a good replacement, off the top of my head. If I had to speculate, I wonder if there's someone from the Judd Apatow writing / performing gang who will be groomed for this. Does CBS have a go-to producer for this sort of thing the way NBC has Lorne Michaels?

I was thinking that the paths the different late-night hosts (and the other hosts that have been mentioned in this thread) may say something about their style of show and why they appeal or don't appeal to us. Personally, I love writing and improv so I'm not surprised that my favorites are Conan and Colbert (plus Carson wasn't a trained improvisor but seemed to enjoy it as far as I can tell).

These are really oversimplified paths, but it's interesting to see how very different all of their paths really are:
Steve Allen: radio > The Tonight Show > The Steve Allen Show
Johnny Carson: radio > TV game shows, etc. > The Tonight Show
Stephen Colbert: Second City / Chicago improv scene > Strangers with Candy / TV > The Daily Show > The Colbert Report
Ellen Degeneres: stand-up > film / TV > Ellen > The Ellen Show > The Ellen Degeneres Show
Jimmy Fallon: stand-up / TV > SNL > Late Night
Craig Ferguson: rock bands > TV / theater > The Drew Carey Show > The Late Late Show
Chelsea Handler: stand-up > The Chelsea Handler Show > Chelsea Lately
Chris Hardwick: radio > stand-up > film / music / TV (including dating show hosting gigs) > The Nerdist podcast
Craig Kilborn: sports > SportsCenter > The Daily Show > The Late Late Show > The Kilborn File
Jimmy Kimmel: radio > cable > Jimmy Kimmel Live
Jay Leno: stand-up > TTS stand-up guest / guest host > The Tonight Show
David Letterman: Weatherman > TV writer / TTS stand-up guest > David Letterman Show > Late Night > Late Show
George Lopez: radio > stand-up > George Lopez (sitcom) > Lopez Tonight
Joel McHale: Almost Live! / improv > TV > The Soup > Community
Seth Meyers: improv > film > SNL (Weekend Update) > Late Night
Conan O'Brien: Harvard Lampoon > SNL > The Simpsons > Late Night > The Tonight Show > Conan
Jack Parr: radio / film > stand-up > The Tonight Show
Jon Stewart: stand-up > TV / The Jon Stewart Show / Late Late Show guest host > The Daily Show

Here's another way to look at it:
Radio to Hosting: (6) Steve Allen, Johnny Carson, Chris Hardwick, Jimmy Kimmel, George Lopez, Jack Parr
Stand-Up to Hosting: (5) Ellen Degeneres, Jimmy Fallon, Chelsea Handler, Jay Leno, Jon Stewart
Writing to Hosting: (2) David Letterman, Conan O'Brien
Acting/Improv to Hosting: (4) Stephen Colbert, Craig Ferguson, Joel McHale, Seth Meyers
Sports to Hosting: (1) Craig Kilborn

So the original Tonight Show hosts all came from radio because that was the dominant media but Hardwick and Kimmel are contemporary hosters and they started there, too (Lopez probably should be listed as stand-up here instead of radio, I dunno). Leno seems to have had the track with the least number of stepping stones. He ended up hosting the show he appeared on the most and even guest hosted from time to time. Conan is the one who appeared the least on stage or in front of a camera before hosting. Many of the actors/improvisers seem to have a niche but dedicated following.

Which path will the next person take?

Cellar Door

The guy who played Sheriff Carter on Eureka? He's doing Maytag commercials now, so CBS could probably get him for a song!

Rypro 525

Someone on twitter suggested Drew Carrey. i think he'd be a good fit

Kicker_of_Elves

I'd like to see them do something different. Instead of going with a comedian who does interview, go after an actor who's got some charisma and knows how to have fun. Someone like Neil Patrick Harris or Josh Charles would be cool to see in Late Night.

TGM

Patton Oswalt?

mcnabb

I loved Letterman when he was on NBC from 1982-1993, as his show was the only thing ever to rival Carson.

Then something happened to him when he got to CBS, and he lost that edge that made his NBC Late Night show so great. Maybe it was the money, maybe he got too arrogant that he could be funny without trying, but to me it was never the same.

Then in the last few years, he looks disinterested and comes off as an angry old man. And then he also got political when Obama get elected, and would do very few jokes about him (unlike the days when he would joke about any President whether he was a Republican or Democrat), and that is when I tuned him out on a regular basis.

I will say I still feel bad for him that he didn't get the Tonight Show after Carson left, because he did deserve it. Maybe he was never same for that reason?


He guest hosted for Craig Ferguson on April Fools Day, and was great. Carey is likeable, very quick on his feet with his guests, and doesn't take himself too seriously. I do wonder if he would leave the cush job of the Price is Right for the pressures of Late Night TV?

JeffTheAlpaca

It would get old after listening to him suck up to all the rappers

No love for Tina Fey?

Don't know how she would do in interviews but she probably could excel in the monologue.