Johnny Carson Special Tonight [Say Anything]

I just saw on television that Jay Leno is going to have a tribute to Johnny Carson tonight on the Tonight Show.

That's nice and all, but does anybody else find it a little bit funny that Leno be the one to offer the tribute when its pretty clear that Carson liked Letterman better?

Its probably appropriate that Carson's tribute be on the show he made famous, but it still struck me as odd.

Anyone thinking Letterman's nose is a little out of joint about it?

[Cross-posted at Say Anything]

[Ace's Addendum] One Last Repost For the Road? A commenter says that Letterman hasn't been funny since he jumped to CBS. Apart from the funny walkie-talkie stuff he did early in his tenure, I think that's right.

An old but funny top ten follows.

Top Ten Signs That David Letterman's Heart Just Isn't In It Anymore

10. Recent Stupid Pet Tricks include "Sit," "Shake hands," and "Hump the Leg"

9. Has become so jaded he demands that at least one guest per show get up on his desk and perform a striptease; last week's show with Nathan Lane was particularly uncomfortable

8. Old Letterman comedy staple: puckish irony
New Letterman comedy staple: nonstop racial slurs

7. To amuse himself during interviews, has begun playing drinking games; drinks when someone calls a director "generous," chugs when someone says "This script really spoke to me"

6. Wardrobe for show has degenerated into nothing but baggy sweatpants and "Who Farted?" T-shirts

5. Features a new twenty-minute segment in middle of every show called "Dave's Quiet Time," in which audience members are asked to "pursue independent reading" or "engage in quiet group-study"

4. Questions to celebrity guests sound suspiciously similar to clues to the day's New York Times crossword puzzle

3. Last Thursday's show was nothing but a taped teleconference with his tax lawyers, interspersed with "wacky" sound effects and still photos of Larry "Bud" Melman

2. Standard end-of-show sign-off, "You've been great! Drive safely!" replaced with ominous-sounding "Another hour nearer the sweet embrace of death"

... and the Number One Sign That David Letterman's Heart Just Isn't In It Anymore...

1. He's "really looking forward to" his next-scheduled bout of pink-eye

posted by Ace at 10:50 PM

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