Metal Sludge Gossip Board

Worst late night talk show host of these options from 1990-2025 ?

Arsenio Hall
David Letterman
Jay Leno
Conan O’Brien
Jimmy Kimmel
Stephen Colbert
Jimmy Fallon
Craig Ferguson
Seth Myers
Carson Daly

Out of the ones I've seen and know, Jimmy Fallon.

Seth Meyers is the shits.

Of those options, it's probably Jimmy Fallon, although his show is generally more fun that Seth Meyers.

However, the worst late night host from that time period is James Corden, and it's not remotely close. Corden is as fun as a wet sock, and he's a smug prick to boot.

How they went from one of the best hosts of that era in Craig Ferguson to a trainwreck like Corden is beyond me.

Anybody voting for anybody other than Jay Leno has never watched Jay Leno. I do understand why Jimmy Fallon has some votes though. He just comes off as fake and his interviews sound like they were written by a 10 year old. He's still not as cringe as Leno though.

The last good one was Craig.

Magic Johnson.

Magic? Rick Dees? They were worse than the listed ones. But I voted for Carson Daley because he offered absolutely nothing interesting.

Fat_Elvis wrote: ↑Wed May 28, 2025 2:38 pm Magic? Rick Dees? They were worse than the listed ones. But I voted for Carson Daley because he offered absolutely nothing interesting.

That's actually a good one. He was worse than Jay because his show was totally pointless. Like you said, he offered nothing.

Chevy Chase was bad, but funny with the awkward moments he created. When he was interviewing Jonathan Frakes (from Star Trek) he brought up that he used to date his wife.

https://youtu.be/2Q2gz0PnpWs?si=UGMzEaYn-TXBRrRO

Fallon. He's always been the absolute worst.

Wanda Sykes.

Tommy wrote: ↑Wed May 28, 2025 2:11 pm The last good one was Craig.

Craig and Dave are the top tier.

Carson Daly was never good at anything.

Jimmy Kimmel is a spineless simp.

kimmel is, hands down, the biggest bought and paid for toggaf pussy hypocrite
carson daly wins on absolute blandness and zero charisma

As the least funny half of the man show, it can only go to Kimmel

It's none of those guys. Why do a poll when you obviously know nothing about the subject?

Venus Flytrap wrote: ↑Wed May 28, 2025 2:24 pm Magic Johnson.

This is the winner
End thread

Ferguson and Kilborn

CBS … they had the time slot after Letterman, they were THE best.

Letterman was must see. I think I bought & got wise to using a VCR specifically to tape Letterman, that & Night Flight. Remember, to set the time for your recording you has to spin the little wheels?
Agree with the poster above, James Corden was the worst & that Carpool Karaoke is dumb.

I think the OP was trying to narrow it down by including the shows that lasted for a period rather than listing the obvious bad ones that were cancelled quickly.

gtrjay wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 7:59 am

Venus Flytrap wrote: ↑Wed May 28, 2025 2:24 pm Magic Johnson.

This is the winner
End thread

Yeah when you thought that Chevy had set the bar as low as it could go... BOOM! Are you ready for Magic?

Mister Freeze wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 3:18 pm People forget this, but Chevy was the reason a green Conan O'Brien succeeded. Their two shows debuted weeks apart and Conan looked a million times better by comparison.

How so? They weren't in competition with each other (different time slots)

Bono Nettencourt wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 3:32 pm

Mister Freeze wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 3:18 pm People forget this, but Chevy was the reason a green Conan O'Brien succeeded. Their two shows debuted weeks apart and Conan looked a million times better by comparison.

How so? They weren't in competition with each other (different time slots)

I'm sure you'll recall... this was back when we didn't have a million different talk shows. Carson was gone and there was the drama between Leno and Letterman. Chevy debuted on Fox to a lot of hype and flopped in spectacular fashion. Conan took over Letterman's old slot a few weeks later. DIfferent time. DIfferent channel. But they were the two new guys, and both had a lot of pressure and attention on them. Conan was "not bad," which was miles ahead of Chevy, who was pure shit.

Yes i recall Conan being pretty geeky and awkward when he started. He was able to turn it into his shtick later, but at the time it was who he was and he couldn't really control it.

Agree with you that altho Magic may have been objectively worse, CC was a bigger disappointment because he was expected to succeed. AFA why he tanked so badly, the mighty Carson himself said that "he couldn't ad-lib a fart after a baked bean dinner."

Post Letterman/Ferguson, it is really bleak out there, isn't it?
Also, hard to believe that at one time I'd turn on NBC and get to watch Carson then Letterman followed by Costas.

tooth wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 10:09 am Letterman was must see. I think I bought & got wise to using a VCR specifically to tape Letterman, that & Night Flight. Remember, to set the time for your recording you has to spin the little wheels?
Agree with the poster above, James Corden was the worst & that Carpool Karaoke is dumb.

Back in high school, I recorded letterman every night and watched it getting ready for school. Once he did a “morning show” episode for people who taped it and watched it in the morning getting ready for school/work. Was great and I never forgot it.

Dave was the best back in the day, but I also love those old Carson episodes. He was so good at interacting with the guests and everyone would just hang out and smoke haha.

Anthrax442 wrote: ↑Wed May 28, 2025 2:03 pm Of those options, it's probably Jimmy Fallon, although his show is generally more fun that Seth Meyers.

However, the worst late night host from that time period is James Corden, and it's not remotely close. Corden is as fun as a wet sock, and he's a smug prick to boot.

How they went from one of the best hosts of that era in Craig Ferguson to a trainwreck like Corden is beyond me.

Well, the answer is that they took Worldwide Pants out of the equation.