Late Night Television Sucks
I was really skeptical about Leno leaving the late night lineup, and my fears have been justified. Granted, I’m not even supposed to be up for late night television … I’m supposed to be in bed by 22:00. But I’m a single mother of two … do you really think that I’m gonna be in bed much before midnight? (Need to find a way; I lose weight so much faster when I’m getting to sleep before 10.)
Leno was a decent comedian and host. He was an equal-opportunity jokester; though it wasn’t hard to figure out what his biases were, no one and nothing was off limits in his jokes. He had some interesting guests, and some intriguing recurrent skits like Jaywalking and Headlines. His humour was sometimes fairly intellectual, and seldom cruel or juvenile.
David Letterman, on the other hand, hasn’t been truly funny in years. His skits are stupid, goofy things that never appealed to me at all. His top ten lists are unpredictable. One night, the list is brilliant; the next, it’s inane. He’s not very good with the guests, either.
And Conan? Sorry, I have never liked Conan. (Much as I wanted to. I’m kind of partial to tall, red-headed, Irish guys. Sigh.) Too much innuendo in his comedy, when he’s not being puerile in the extreme. Triumph the comic wonder dog has got to be the most childish and idiotic dreck I’ve ever subjected my poor brain to. I mean, isn’t late night tv supposed to be for adults? Most of the adults I know stopped finding urinals (and other humour related to bodily functions) funny when they were about 16 or 17.
Maybe I’m expecting too much. But I can say this for sure and for certain: I’m not tempted to stay up for the late show on NBC anymore. Which means that Jay has been right about them all these years — because that’s about the only thing on NBC that I ever tuned in to. And which also means I might start getting to bed a little earlier. Conan O’Brien as a cure for sleep deprivation. Who knew?