CBS Late Night Changes

I wasnt getting a diner (rocknroll) feel. I was getting a Mid-Century 60s modern vibe. Sorta like a sophisticated MadMen vibe. Which is currently in vogue here in the states. Not sure about the Chinese screens backdrop near the performance space. Ehh.

I'm genuinely surprised at how good it was right from the word go. And that's not an insult to James at all, quite the opposite. I genuinely think this is one of the best debut episodes of a late night talk show i've seen. Craig Ferguson's first show was terrible in comparison, and look what he became. The big introduction sketch was great. James himself comes across as very genuine, and not overly enthusiastic like Fallon (i did suggest this before, but that was from a short clip). The Tom Hanks films bit was great too.

One thing that always amuses me is just how much getting a show like this is a big deal in the States. Just imagine James doing that introduction speech on a UK show. People would laugh him out of the studio!

Reggie Watts pretty much provides nothing but the music, but i'm happy with that. The amount of times I've wanted Paul Shaffer to shut the hell up shows that the band should provide the music and nothing else! Though one thing that Reggie Watts can't seem to do that Paul does so well is react to things that are going on with music. When Tom Hanks prompted him to play some wedding music when Mila Kunis accidentally announced her marriage, he couldn't really do it. Paul Shaffer would manage it easily.

It's the budget for a late late night talk show which amazed me - here even at 10pm it would be do the show as cheap as possible, but it really felt like there was no expense spared there. It's easy to see why even ignoring the salary that the opportunities such a slot gives could tempt UK stars to pack up their lives and move.

Do we know if there has been any interest at all from UK broadcasters - most could easily accomodate it Tuesday to Friday at 11pm (the Friday shows will be repeats from May) and with James Corden hosting it comes across as much less American than his rivals. I just wonder if CBS has set the price too high.

I was watching a clip from The Late Show during the whole Conan/Leno thing, and it wasn't until somebody pointed it out in the comments, but Paul literally just repeats what Letterman says, sometimes more than once at a time, and I think it's supposed to be passed off as comedy. It doesn't work.

Yup that's pretty much his thing. Especially when Dave gets a round of applause after a joke, Paul often repeats the punchline several times like one of those electronic parrots The Jay/Conan episodes are a good example. Dave makes a joke that ends with 'Jay gave his State of the network speech' Cue applause. Cue Paul in the background saying 'State of the network....state of the network....state of the network speech...." Yes Paul, we got the joke, you don't have to repeat the punchline 47 times!

Although "the end of an era" is a bit of an overused cliche, tonight literally is the end of an era for US late night TV, as David Letterman bows out as the host of The Late Show on CBS and retires the longest running late night talk show host. I doubt this is the last we'll ever see of Dave though. He'll probably do some surprise cameo appearances on other TV shows over the next year or so.

By my reckoning they'll be about to start recording the final show at the Ed Sullivan Theater as I type this.

Anyone know why he went out on a Wednesday?
Unless it makes the last show a nice round number of shows done, there doesn't appear to be a logical reason.

Would have thought Friday, with the last working day before the Memorial Day holiday would have been a better choice

(yes before I'm flamed - I know Fridays show is pre-rec'ed on Thursday, but as it would have been his last show - doubt it would have protested too much)

Says a lot about how people rate Letterman that his rivals on other channels in some cases actually cancelled their episodes, or in the case of Conan actually demanded you switch over and watch Letterman instead of them Class acts

I believe he chose this Wednesday because it was the end of the May sweeps. In case you don't know sweeps ratings are typically used for programming and advertising decisions. I believe performance during sweeps is used for determine how much money a station can charge for upcoming ad spots. Typically stations and networks will pull out all the stops during sweeps to draw in viewers which will result in higher ratings.

I think he will definitely win the time slot for his final episode but I believe Jimmy Fallon will still win the month.

If any of you plan on recording it be sure to add an extra 20 minutes.

Also I had no idea the show aired internationally.

Does it even air in UK anymore? I know Jimmy Fallon is shown on CNBC, but its a cut down version of mins straight run.

According to this, it doesn't:



Site: davidtennantontwitter.com

Sky one had it in the Mid 90s? ITV2 had the rights but what happened after 2002? Edit: found an old thread:
http://www.tvforum.co.uk/tvhome/diva-tv-drop-late-david-letterman-28540/

* Diva TV 7 years ago.