Letterman went through a really terrible period a few years back I like to call the 'will it float' era -- he has been much better since then, but it is definitely his turn to fade away. A year or so to say goodbye to Dave is more than enough time for a proper send off to a late night legend.
I mentioned Leno before, but Letterman would probably be an even better replacement for Piers Morgan. Leno's the better technical comedian but Letterman's real gift is as a conversationalist. O'Brien is the best of both worlds because his relative intelligence and writing experience allow him to immediately "use" everything or anything that pops up in an interview.
this would be a disaster <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23EXCLUSIVE&src=hash">#EXCLUSIVE</a>: <a href="https://twitter.com/chelseahandler">@ChelseaHandler</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/CBS">@CBS</a> in Talks for Late Night Spot <a href="http://t.co/2b0jMyg1QS">http://t.co/2b0jMyg1QS</a></p>— TheWrap (@TheWrap) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheWrap/statuses/452239080344928257">April 5, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Probably just weekend stuff or the Late Late slot in case Ferguson gets bumped up, which would actually be completely fine. Just as much of a disaster that she's the only female (talk show) talent out there.
Doubtful, Letterman's deal is up in 2015, it was actually a one year add on to his last contract that happened before Fallon's Tonight Show started. He's been ready to retire I think, but he waited for Leno to go first, kind of like a "last of the old guard" type of thing. I think it's definitely Colbert's job now, Conan would be option 2. Handler is probably being offered a show that would be on after Ferguson against Carson Daly with the option to move up to Ferguson's spot if he decides to leave the network when...errrr...if they choose to buy him out instead of giving him the Late Show. The next interesting thing to think about is what CC would do with Colbert's slot? Would there be another Daily Show spinoff? Oliver would have been the guy but he's gone now. None of the current best damn news team members really have a personality to carry a show.
30+ years in the game!! Great career.. always liked him better than Leno and every other late show (besides Prime Arsenio). The Top 10's are classic.
If it isn't Conan or Colbert, I'll be pretty pissed off. Letterman's one of my all-time favorite comedians, and I would hope they'd get someone worthy to replace him. That Chelsea Handler rumor is worrisome.
It's not going to happen, either, at the end of a long day, the last thing most guys want to hear is another chattering female. :grin:
They are absolutely not considering Chelsea Handler. They are just covering their asses in case some hashtag activist wonders why a woman wasn't considered for the job. But like I said, they might give her a later show.
I never really watched Letterman, but he has a pretty rabid group of fans, so he must have been doing something right for all these years. From what I've heard, echoed by many here, he was genius back in the NBC days and the early days of his show on CBS. It appears that Colbert is the favorite to replace him, but I have the same question that another poster had. Will he do the show in the same character that he uses for his show on Comedy Central? I would assume yes since that is all we've ever known him to do, but I wonder if that character will play as well when the show is not necessarily all about politics. Tina Fey is someone who I think would do a really great job in a role like this. Like Fallon and Kimmel, I think she would think outside the box on what a late-night host should be. But I don't think she would ever do any sort of show that wasn't going to be an NBC production. I think she's more or less married to that network at this point. On more of a side note, I'm really interested in what Conan's next career move will be. I was as big a fan as anyone in his days doing Late Night, but I gave his show on TBS a try for a few weeks and really haven't watched him at all since then. He seems content with where he is professionally, as he doesn't feel as restrained on a cable network, but I can't imagine TBS is the last stop for him.
Colbert would flop hard. Conan is a loss leader for TBS so he isn't going anywhere. They have to bring in a fresh face to counter Fallon who it appears will crush the ratings for the next decade.
Arsenio is almost 60 and Lopez isn't going to go from getting canceled on TBS to taking over the flagship late night show on a major network.
