Worst late night talk show host from 1990- 2025 ?

[RaceFan3]

Carson Daly was never good at anything.

He somehow was good enough for Jennifer Love Hewitt when she was an early 20s smokeshow. Still can't figure out how he pulled that off.

[Sleek]

Jimmy Fallon sucks at everything.

[JourneyRules]

Alright, who voted for Conan?

Kindly remove yourself from this board.

[NineteenEightyFour]

Jimmy Fallon is so far from the greatness of Carson that I wonder how he has been in that job for so long.

[Nate S Axel]

I know it's popular to shit on Fallon, but the guy is talented. He was at his best in the late-night slot. He doesn't seem to have the right producers now. His Neil Young impression is fantastic.

Yeah, Jimmy Fallon is FUN! Not always funNY, but most of the time. I love Mad Lib Theater. “Stay golden, Ponyboy!” He’s a fuckin’ goof sometimes, and it’s refreshing.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=48pP0WFju ... 5pZ2h0bGli

The only one I don’t like is Kimmel. I barely remember Carson Daly’s show; TRL was better!

If I ranked my favorites only on this list, it’s Letterman, Jimmy, and then Conan. Used to dislike Leno but like him more over the years on other projects after he “retired”. I like Arsenio clips and he’d probably make the list too, but I was too young at his peak.

[Velvis]

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.

Dave was the best of all time when he was on NBC. When he moved to CBS the whole vibe changed, and it just wasn't the same. It might have been after 10 years it was going to change anyways, but I never got into it after he left NBC.

[Sleek]

If you like Dave, this is a must watch: https://youtu.be/4FRLaVlWYh0?list=PLi0g ... uhF7CEm8Sd

He's doing his whole sarcastic thing, but playing off of a corny band. Interesting blend.

[tooth]

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.

Har! I do remember the “morning show” episode.

[Bono Nettencourt]

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.

Dave was the best of all time when he was on NBC. When he moved to CBS the whole vibe changed, and it just wasn't the same. It might have been after 10 years it was going to change anyways, but I never got into it after he left NBC.

He was trying too hard to be the next Carson. He kept doing some of the crazy shit like talking to the local merchants etc, but it was never the same.

[Wiseacre]

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.

Dave was the best of all time when he was on NBC. When he moved to CBS the whole vibe changed, and it just wasn't the same. It might have been after 10 years it was going to change anyways, but I never got into it after he left NBC.

He was trying too hard to be the next Carson. He kept doing some of the crazy shit like talking to the local merchants etc, but it was never the same.

Yeah, it was kinda like when Stern dropped the Wack Pack.

No more awesome guests like brother Theodore, Chris Elliot or Larry Bud, crushing shit with the press, tossing things off the roof. No more Velcro wall

[Bono Nettencourt]

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.

Har! I do remember the “morning show” episode.

He actually did have a morning show a year or so before he got the 1230 gig. It was a failure.

[Wiseacre]

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.

Har! I do remember the “morning show” episode.

He actually did have a morning show a year or so before he got the 1230 gig. It was a failure.

Yes. I never actually saw it but my mom watched it and said it was just kinda weird.

[DangerZone]

Arsenio had the best music

[Dee Dee King Diamond]

Arsenio. Not even close. No comedic skills. Awful at interviews. Seriously, watch some old clips. It's painful.

[Bono Nettencourt]

Arsenio had the best music

He did. He invited all the rock and R&B acts that fuddy-duddy Carson wouldn't touch.

[Tymaster]

Dave was the best of all time when he was on NBC. When he moved to CBS the whole vibe changed, and it just wasn't the same. It might have been after 10 years it was going to change anyways, but I never got into it after he left NBC.

He was trying too hard to be the next Carson. He kept doing some of the crazy shit like talking to the local merchants etc, but it was never the same.

Yeah, it was kinda like when Stern dropped the Wack Pack.

No more awesome guests like brother Theodore, Chris Elliot or Larry Bud, crushing shit with the press, tossing things off the roof. No more Velcro wall

It was ten times better than what Leno was doing but the whole vibe changed. A large part of it was having a big budget and an entire network behind it. Part of the appeal of Late NIght was that it was done on a shoe-string budget. It was almost counter-culture and subversive. That was lost.

[Wiseacre]

Arsenio. Not even close. No comedic skills. Awful at interviews. Seriously, watch some old clips. It's painful.

He was definitely an awkward interviewer, but I did enjoy the show most of the time. The musical guests were generally cool compared to the other big shows. I loved letterman, and half his band was Ace’s ‘78 lineup, but the musical guests always had to perform with them. While they were great players and it was a unique idea, it almost never sounded very good.

Speaking of Arsenio, I remember the classic Rob Lowe SNL sketch like it was yesterday. He nailed it. Wifey and I still use the “yeah…what was that all about?” on the regular

SNL sketch:
https://youtu.be/9wAIQB2btAo?si=Fz3WF72jdAxu_04v

[LitaStrauss]

Alright, who voted for Conan?

Kindly remove yourself from this board.

This. There always has to be one contrarian!

[TheDeadBastard]

Slight thread Jack but I’ll say Ferguson was hands down THE best late night host in the post-Carson era. He was better than his boss an hour earlier.

[DangerZone]

Slight thread Jack but I’ll say Ferguson was hands down THE best late night host in the post-Carson era. He was better than his boss an hour earlier.

Yes!
I did crowd work in LA back in 2012 and was at his show about 5 times.
He was very quick witted. And the guy playing the skeleton was even better

[dweezil]

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."

It took Conan a good year and change to finally get into a groove that worked. It came off as super clunky prior to that.

Jimmy Fallon... he works best when he's doing scripted sketches.... his monologues are stiff. The interviews, like someone said here, comes off as written by a 10 year old behaving like a superfan. Or better yet, it's almost like it was written by those kiss-ass-y paparazzi shows like Entertainment Tonight or Access Hollywood.
I could see why he scored his late night gigs.... he attracted the stoner crowd that loved him on SNL.
It bugged me a lot when Fallon basically behaved like he was in disbelief that he's hosting The Tonight Show.... FOR FIVE FUCKING YEARS!

Magic Johnson was barely a decent talk show guest, let alone host. There's a reason that the only notable thing on that show was Howard Stern appearing on the show, and did nothing but sexually harass Sheila E, the bandleader.

Chevy Chase was way too much of a narcissist to host a late night show. I had a hard time imagining him giving any spotlight to someone else, especially given his reputation for being a total asshole to everyone he worked with.

Jay Leno had some decent bits.... but he was a very VERY safe choice. He wasn't going to offend anyone ever. Whatever I liked about him got tainted with the whole NBC fucking over Conan to put Leno back in thing.

James Corden saw his talk show as little more than an opportunity to further his own acting career in the US. Up until the show, he was most known in theater (he did win a Tony) with a few bit parts in films.

Carson Daly is the dictionary definition of someone who was in the right place at the right time over and over again. First at KROQ, then MTV, then to NBC. All he had going for him was that he looked decent on camera. He has the personality of wet cardboard.
A huge plus for Last Call.... a LOT of interesting music was showcased on that show, especially after they dropped the 'late night show' format and just had segments with Carson just appearing in bumpers between the segments. And to think the show only ceased production because Daly didn't want to do it anymore. He was barely on the show for 5 minutes out of 30-60.

I like Colbert... his work on The Daily Show certainly helped The Late Show. He kills with the monologues, and he knows how to interview properly. Meaning he knows to joke with the celebrities, and get down to business with the authors and politicians that appear on his show.

Seth Meyers....not the best interviewer, but kills it with his Closer Look segments. It helped that he basically went from Weekend Update to A Closer Look.

I never cared for Jimmy Kimmel..... he comes off as a slightly edgier Jay Leno. I contend that his best work will always be as the sidekick on Win Ben Stein's Money.

Arsenio Hall pushed the envelope with the musical acts for his time, which was great. But Arsenio relied more on his youth to drive the show. When his show came on, there was nothing for the under 30 demographic, so I think his popularity was for that reason alone. Once Leno came on, that demographic ran to him and all Arsenio had was his black audience. While significant, it wasn't enough to keep his syndicators happy. And when he attempted a comeback show, it was largely DOA

Craig Ferguson was an OK talk show host.... no real opinion. I thought he was a better actor than a host.

Letterman was outstanding in his prime.... his show definitely went on a few years too long.

Out of that who list, there is one glaring omission.
Terrible interviewer... was strangely awkward delivering monologues... comedy bits were more miss than hit..... and the show lasted 2 years.... George Lopez!!! Given his standup background it could have been great... it just wasn't.

[Bono Nettencourt]

Also missing Pat Sajak, Rick Dees, Dennis Miller, and Jonny B.

[VinceLeeRose]

Stephen Cole-Bert is pretty lame

Always thought Craig Ferguson was pretty underrated.

Didn't appreciate Conan at the time (but never paid much attention). Learned to appreciate him when I go back and see old clips

[Wiseacre]

Also missing Pat Sajak, Rick Dees, Dennis Miller, and Jonny B.

I loved Dennis Miller back then and thought his show was great.

[Bono Nettencourt]

Also missing Pat Sajak, Rick Dees, Dennis Miller, and Jonny B.

I loved Dennis Miller back then and thought his show was great.

His HBO show? Hell yeah.

His 1992 syndicated show? Not so much.

[Wiseacre]

Also missing Pat Sajak, Rick Dees, Dennis Miller, and Jonny B.

I loved Dennis Miller back then and thought his show was great.

His HBO show? Hell yeah.

His 1992 syndicated show? Not so much.

I liked his talk show.

[Bono Nettencourt]

He was gone almost as fast as Chevy Chase.

[DangerZone]

best host is Jimny Glick

[Sleek]

Meh, He's no Alan Partridge.

[Nate S Axel]

best host is Jimny Glick

Now we're talkin'!

He interviewed Conan as well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp8nLcLp4Jw

And Jimmy Fallon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2TEAb-bCvY

And Bill Maher (and roasted him good):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kjqZHrDUlU&t