David Letterman

His opening monologues were a drag - but he was quite witty with the guests. His interviews had some unpredictability that I don't find with any other talk show host. And because of it - he had hard time booking the top stars to come on his show.

He used to be funny, a long time ago. Then, his ego got huge and he went on auto-pilot, figuring people would laugh at the same schtick over and over. Plus, he stopping hiding the fact that he is a mean, arrogant asshole.

All that may be true, but I still enjoy his show.

I watched Carson all the way. One time Rickles was telling a story and Carson made a funny comment. Rickles said "Nice try, Johnny, but leave the funny stuff to me" Johnny replied..."When?" Everyone cracked up

I haven't watched him in years, but I don't watch any late night talk shows anymore. I found him entertaining back in the day and still use some old Letterman lines I found funny to this day. I may watch some of it this week just for nostalgia.

I used to watch him all the time when I was in college.

I liked him better than Leno, but I agree with others, he was a bit boring. It seemed like after the top 10 list and his interview with his first guest (almost always the most important one) everything else fell apart after that.

Who?

Couldn't be any worse than Jon Steward.

Conan can be pretty good.

I never found Letterman very funny. I can't wait for Colbert to start.

motorhead- Did you know that Letterman was born and raised in Indianapolis, and was a classmate of Marilyn Quayle (ex VP Dan Quayle's wife). I actually liked Carson and Leno better (guess I'm not cool), and have read several articles corraborating what many posters have written here.

Still, I enjoy surfing several YT vids of his past shows. While watching one of them, I saw that he is every bit the horndog as one of us. Watch his interview with Gwen Stefani, and where his eyes focus.... right where we all focused ours- on Gwen's amply exposed legs.

I think Leno and Carson are better.

Lettermans top 10 lists are usually disappointing

I rarely watch the show, it's usually by accident that I'm awake and watching it. I found him entertaining even if a lot of the above might be true. I thought it was entertaining to see David Clooney handcuff David then put the other handcuff on his arm and then throw the key into the crowd, David squirmed. He said he would wish Clooney a good by but he knew he was going to be sticking around for the rest of the show. handcuffed, lol

Thank God!!!! All this time I was afraid that I was the only man in America who didn't think DL was funny.

I've seen some of his stuff that made me laugh out loud, but they were rare. I won't miss him either.

Carson was, and always will be king. His philosophy was to let the guest be funny (if capable), because the next morning, the conversation would be "Did you see Carson last night?" regardless of who provided the laughs.

Some of Carson's funniest moments happened when he said nothing at all.

Pure, unadulterated genius.

My top three:

(3) Letterman (2) Jon Stewart (it's Stewart, not Steward, you dumbass, Dougster).

and my favorite, (1) John Oliver

lol, I just thought of The Magic Hour. Remember that?

Sorry about that, Josh.

Guess I need to put in more hours listening to The Daily Show and memorizing The Democratic Party Line in place of calling people "fags" on TUSCL.

Unlike Josh43 I cannot stand Letterman - Motorhead was right when he said David Liberalman is not funny, but worse - his writers tried to produce left leaning humor without a clue about what is actually funny. Letterman was unwatchable before he deficed his political agenda was more important than entertainment, then he just got sickening..

Jon Stewart is not much better, but at least he had a few good writers and attempted to put gags ahead of political leanings - sometimes.

And who is John Oliver?

letterman is a certifiable misogynist. not the hyperbole that is slung about here but a no shit woman hater. just another fucking liberal idiot

Carson was genius. He wouldn't even have to say anything, he could just give the camera a look. Letterman is much the same way. Haven't watched the show in years but I always enjoyed it. Love the top 10 lists and loved the banter between him and Paul. Always seemed like it could go haywire at any minute and maybe that was part of what I liked. Leno always seemed rehearsed down to the last detail and i never really like that. Stewart and Colbert crack me up non-stop. Love them both. I hope Colbert will still be as irreverent with a major network looming over his head.

Letterman hasn't been funny since 2000.

If I'm up that late at night, I'm doing something more fun than watching TV.

When I was in high school and Letterman followed Johnny Carson I loved his show. The Chris Elliott, Larry Bud Melman, viewer mail days.

I never found Carson that funny, he just had zero competition.

But Letterman hasn't been funny to me for a while now.