Late Night Talk Show Discussion

[Valeyard]

Stuttering John made bank to use a coffee mug. Best deal there is. His podcast is pathetic, though. Bitter little man.

 

[King Kamala]

Is there any well adjusted ex Stern Show castmember though? Billy West maybe?

 

[Valeyard]

Billy West if only because he hates talking about it and doesn't like it being brought up. Ultimately he won the Stern hunger games. But reading accounts of people who leave is pretty interesting. Never has a teenage hero let me down as much as Stern.

 

[strummer]

What happened with Billy? He left just before I became a big fan

 

[Valeyard]

I think since he was doing Ren and Stimpy as well as appearances on Stern, he just got offered more to do voices and not fly to New York for a few days every couple(?) weeks. I don't think it ever truly came out but that's the prevailing theory as far as I know. Stern naturally resented this and saw it as a betrayal so he's been more or less scrubbed. From what I gather when people ask him about it at cons he's embarrassed by his work and just thought it was shitty.

Other theory is Billy got fucking pissed when they brought in John K (and his young intern...) without telling him just to make him uncomfortable and have a surprise reunion. Having seen that a few times, I know I'd leave.

 

[geniusMoment]

They kinda go into it here. It is one of my favorite reviews of the old Stern because it isn't all bitter or all PR fluff.

 

[Valeyard]

Jackie looks better than I thought. Like, happy. Still the worst standup comic I have ever, ever, ever seen.

If we're going this direction, the infamous Channel 9 shows are all on Youtube. The ratings were really impressive and they beat SNL a few times, depending on who you believe. Late night was never the same!

 

[strummer]

Does anyone remember when Howard made Jessica Hahn cry on the air when he told her her belly button smelled? Because I certainly do

 

[Valeyard]

I didn't get anything Stern until I got E! and watched when I could. I think I've gone back and heard the clip, or I can at least imagine the exchange really vividly. E! show was some quality late night for the time, too. I must've watched Stuttering John/Baba Booey get punched in the head by AJ Benza a hundred times.

 

[strummer]

I probably was at the peak of my Stern fandom in 98 and I thought the CBS show was awful. Iirc there was some backstage drama behind the scenes which led to the original exec. producer being fired and being replaced by one of Howard's flunkies

 

[Valeyard]

That he doesn't own these shows is remarkable. Stern or Sirius are hoarding everything else, why not go out and get awkward early Billy West or that time they temporarily (sadly not permanently) ended the pending Eagles reunion?

What's funny how bad he is at being a late night host, even doing stupid shit.

 

[strummer]

As for Stern side shows I probably enjoyed the channel 9 show the best, followed by his brief E! Interview show, then CBS.

I guess not counting the daily E! Show since that was just stuff from the radio show

 

[Valeyard]

I count the E! show. Didn't get the radio show so it's kind of special. Stern was one of my heroes. He made me get into radio. Late night trying to watch him without my mom catching me and just getting into the atmosphere and dynamics was so cool. Either way he got more fun guests than the others. Higher in my esteem than Leno, although it's Leno.

 

[King Kamala]

Stern's CBS show showed up two or three years to late to try and kick SNL's ass IIRC. If it'd started in '96 instead of '98, it may have worked at least as a second tier alternative. After a few weeks, it even lost to MADtv after the first few weeks. Maybe he felt the need to try and awkwardly avenge Norm MacDonald but either way, it seems like everyone almost immediately recognized it was a bad idea.

I had no idea it lasted three seasons too. My local CBS affiliate dropped it after one season max. I definitely remember WWF Jakked was airing in that slot by '99!

 

[King Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1398273963990659073

I didn't know how close we got to the The Late Late Show With Michael Ian Black. I have no idea how things would have been different. I feel like it's 50/50 over whether Michael Ian Black would still have that show today and drastically alter Craig Ferguson and James Corden's career (take the good with the bad) or whether he would have gotten axed in 2 or 3 years after people got sick of his snarky fuckface schtick.

 

[Brocklock]

He got on so many people's nerves those VH1 I Love The Decade shows and he didn't really have that much screentime. He can be funny in very small doses with limited lines, but his shtick gets grating so fast. No way he would make it more than a year.

 

[King Kamala]

I saw him do stand up around this time period at a punk rock venue/billiards hall of all places and he was even more aggressively snarky than he was on VH1. I remember he closed with a Hurricane Katrina joke and this was pre Twitter when doing that type of joke wasn't as unfortunately commonplace (and it was actually funny and not just edgelord-y IIRC). He seems like he has the lethal combination of being aggressively snarky and overly sensitive....which feels like tendencies shared by the best AND worst late night hosts.

 

[Epic Springs]

I do actually remember the MIB rumors and got really excited as I am a fan but totally get that he's not everyone's cup of tea. I like the Stella/State crew as a whole too and wonder why Tom Lennon doesn't get more work.

 

[King Kamala]

Just looked it up and other two finalists for the 12:35 AM CBS timeslot at the end of 2004 were DL Hughley and Damien Fahey (the guy who replaced Carson Daly as the host of TRL. Remember him? You don't!?)

Idk why CBS would consider someone who is lesser version of the host of the 1:37 AM NBC show that no one watches. However, DL Hughley probably could have been really good IMO.

 

[Valeyard]

I fucking despise Michael Ian Black and was happy he didn't get the show. Ferguson was a weird out of left field for me, but then he became my all time favorite.

It's funny how Kilborn's legacy is just setting up successful acts despite the hard push.

 

[King Kamala]

The Craig Kilborn era was nice because it felt good that GenX had their own version of Chevy Chase.

Someone will says that at their respective peaks, Kilborn wasn't nearly as successful as Chevy Chase but that fits the (false) cliche that GenX was underambitious too!

 

[Brocklock]

I remember being really excited for The Craig Kilborn show for some reason when I was 11. Must of got suckered in by the hype. I watched the first couple episodes and lost interest.

 

[King Kamala]

Love love loved Craig Kilborn on SportsCenter. I haven't rewatched it because uh, do people rewatch 25-30 year old sports highlights but I have to imagine he is still one of the Top 10 people to ever do that job. I really enjoyed his Daily Show for what it was and it took me like two years to get used to Jon Stewart as anchor but I really had no interest in Craig Kilborn as a late night talk show host. Even as an 11 year old, I thought (in a less articulate way); he's one of the best snarky commentators on cable TV, why would he want to leave to be like the 5th or 6th best talk show host?

 

[strummer]

He got on so many people's nerves those VH1 I Love The Decade shows and he didn't really have that much screentime. He can be funny in very small doses with limited lines, but his shtick gets grating so fast. No way he would make it more than a year.

Yeah that's the thing with MIB. He's funny in a sketch or cameo type scene but he becomes unbearable when he's the center of anything. Just off the charts smugness. Worse than Seth Meyers probably.

Not surprising that Black was Letterman's choice as I could see Dave liking him. Kinda surprised Ferguson was the networks choice, especially an old timely conservative place like CBS

 

[strummer]

Oh shit, I haven't heard the name Peter Lassally in years. Almost forgot he existed

 

[King Kamala]

I'm amazed he's still alive (and to be reminded that he was still producing late night television until 2015). Him and Doc Severinsen are really battling it out to see who will be the last Carson era Tonight Show alum standing.

 

[strummer]

Yeah just looked him up. He'll be 90 next year! I swear I haven't heard his name mentioned since like 1993. Amazed he lasted until 2015

 

[King Kamala]

I guess he was brought out of retirement in 2004 to help figure out who'd replace Kilborn, which makes sense. I think almost all of his post '92 career can be owed to fact that he was the one executive that was loyal to Letterman in the Late Night Wars of '92.

 

[Valeyard]

Kilborn was just douchechills. Why watch a guy who looks and acts like the scum villain of an '80s teen movie?

 

[King Kamala]

Yeah. I think we're getting close to hitting nail on the head as to why he was such a mediocre late night host. You need some sort of likable component to work night in and night out as late night talk show host. Smarmy douchebaggery can work as a sports anchor or celebrity commentator but you're going to need to give a reason for people to like you if you're hosting a talk show. That's probably why Chevy Chase bombed so hard as a talk show host too.