Letterman v Colbert

So, I've been watching Colbert as I am looking for someone who can interview interesting people and not be vapid, like Fallon.

Letterman was a great interviewer, especially for people he found interesting. Part of Letterman's charm was that you could tell who he wasn't interested in. His political interviews and interviews with people he didn't agree with (Bill O'Reilly for example) were to me, must see TV.

Colbert has had interesting people on his show, but his interviewing is a mixed bag. With movie, music and TV stars he tries a routine that are going for the YouTube hits. With people that he is interested in his interviewing is very good, not great. He is a bit wooden and I think it will come with time as he is very smart and quick on his feet.

Colbert sings which is interesting, but takes away from the star. For example, he sung with Andrew Lloyd Webber and James Taylor, not necessary but good for shtick.

What I don't like about Colbert is that he prepares everything. His monologue is extremely short, going for instead a political bit after the open going for laughs but really has the results of dividing his audience along political lines, which is a problem for his older audience which swings right. For example after the Paris tragedies he did a prepared bit which was very good. But Letterman would have ad-libbed for 7-8 minutes instead and deliver something much more honest and meaningful.

Clearly this may be a long-term issue for him. He is definitely left, but he is a practicing Catholic, even trying to get Bill Maher to turn back to God. Both of these will cause parts of his audience to be alienated.

CBS will keep him around despite his numbers being worse than Letterman (and sometimes worse than Kimmel) but much better at getting a younger demographic which is important to CBS. But his show needs rework.

I miss Dave, but it was time for him to go.

Colbert isn't funny, everything he does seems
strained and planned. The opposite of Letterman,
Fallon and Leno.

Not sure who the worst talk show host was, possibly Magic Johnson. Some people just don't adjust to the format of pure talk show host. Many have tried, and many have fallen short. Some are very niche. I both hated and loved Tom Snyder. He acted like an obnoxious p###k cutting off his guests sometimes and had a terrible sense of humor, but other times he was really engaging at interviews and never better.

Quote: boymimbo

So, I've been watching Colbert as I am looking for someone who can interview interesting people and not be vapid, like Fallon.

Letterman was a great interviewer, especially for people he found interesting. Part of Letterman's charm was that you could tell who he wasn't interested in. His political interviews and interviews with people he didn't agree with (Bill O'Reilly for example) were to me, must see TV.

Colbert has had interesting people on his show, but his interviewing is a mixed bag. With movie, music and TV stars he tries a routine that are going for the YouTube hits. With people that he is interested in his interviewing is very good, not great. He is a bit wooden and I think it will come with time as he is very smart and quick on his feet.

Colbert sings which is interesting, but takes away from the star. For example, he sung with Andrew Lloyd Webber and James Taylor, not necessary but good for shtick.

What I don't like about Colbert is that he prepares everything. His monologue is extremely short, going for instead a political bit after the open going for laughs but really has the results of dividing his audience along political lines, which is a problem for his older audience which swings right. For example after the Paris tragedies he did a prepared bit which was very good. But Letterman would have ad-libbed for 7-8 minutes instead and deliver something much more honest and meaningful.

Clearly this may be a long-term issue for him. He is definitely left, but he is a practicing Catholic, even trying to get Bill Maher to turn back to God. Both of these will cause parts of his audience to be alienated.

CBS will keep him around despite his numbers being worse than Letterman (and sometimes worse than Kimmel) but much better at getting a younger demographic which is important to CBS. But his show needs rework.

I miss Dave, but it was time for him to go.

I miss Dave too. He was the king of late night. His sense of humor and quirky interests clicked with me. He also had the best band and band leader. Paul Shaffer is a musical genius.

I tried watching Colbert a couple of times, but don't find his political, nerdy schtick nearly as funny. His guests didn't seem very comfortable talking to him.

If you want to see a great talkshow host, catch Tavis Smiley on PBS. He's a great listener, and gently guides his converstations with his guests. He is very well prepared for each guest.

Now if he only had a great bandleader/sidekick, and would drop stuff off the top of a five story building in slow motion, his show would be so much awwwwsomer.