Dave beat Jay every night last week

[somegen...@aol.com]

Unless I missed something, Letterman beat Leno every single night last
week in the ratings. Sure, Jay was in reruns, but I'll take it!

Matt
cafepress.com/numberica
themilanconference.com

[roy]

What you missed (or that CBS won't mention in its PR) was that the
start time of "The Tonight Show" was delayed every night last week for
Wimbledon highlights.

--roy

[helena]

i think letterman has gotten too angry anyway-- he used to be
hysterical and now he just seems so bitter. iam not surprised at his
normally lowwer ratings...

[Thomas Allen Heald]

>i think letterman has gotten too angry anyway-- he used to be

>>hysterical and now he just seems so bitter. iam not surprised at his
>>normally lowwer ratings...
>

>Sounds like somebody needs a Slurpee(tm).... er ... "Rupert Jee's Frozen Fruit Whippy!"
>
>

But seriously. This conversation has been beaten to death over the years
at TVBarn/Late Show News. Jay's an arrogant pandering clown, Dave's
angry... lather rinse repeat.

[Sue Trowbridge]

And don't forget "Will It Float -- a hilarious bit that gets better
with repetition!" or "Will It Float -- pathetic time-waster."

I don't have to watch "The 70s House" because I LIVED it,
--Sue T.

[Jeffries, Mark]

> But seriously. This conversation has been beaten to death
> over the years at TVBarn/Late Show News. Jay's an arrogant
> pandering clown, Dave's angry... lather rinse repeat.

And Koppel's got a Howdy Doody head, Conan can't interview, Kimmel's a
fratboy moron, Carson Daly's a tool and Stewart's a dreamboat. Oh, and
Ferguson's Scottish. Did I leave anyone out?

Mark Jeffries

[David Bruggeman]

--- Sue Trowbridge <lou...@gmail.com> wrote:

>
> I don't have to watch "The 70s House" because I
> LIVED it,
> --Sue T.
>

If it was of a kind with the other "The (insert decade
here) House" it might be worth a TiVo enhanced (read
FF) viewing. But this screams badly executed on many
levels.

David Bruggeman

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
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[Greg Schienke]

"Jeffries, Mark" <mjef...@wr-llp.com> wrote:

>And Koppel's got a Howdy Doody head, Conan can't interview, Kimmel's a
>fratboy moron, Carson Daly's a tool and Stewart's a dreamboat. Oh, and
>Ferguson's Scottish. Did I leave anyone out?

Depending on the schedule, Griffin's an idiot and Leela's a cyclops.

Greg

[LittleWinki]

I don't even want to mention that LAURA is on TELEMUNDO at the same
time in my time zone.

[jbelkin]

I always thought of Jay as the Big Chined Sycophant but I suppose that
other thing will work ...

[Diner]

And this week, Jay will win every night because Dave is on vacation.
AGAIN.
And so it goes.

-Tim

[somegen...@aol.com]

And today from The Programming Insider by Marc Berman:

Late Night Scorecard:
Based on ratings from Sept. 20, 2004 through June 26, 2005, although
NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno remains the late night franchise
to beat, CBS' The Late Show with David Letterman continues to narrow
the gap. The Tonight Show and ABC's Nightline and Jimmy Kimmel Live are
down by minor proportions year-to-year, while NBC's Conan O'Brien
continues to own the 12:30-1:30 a.m. hour.

What follows are the season to-date results in late night (with change
versus the year-ago period in parentheses):

Mon.-Fri. 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m.
The Tonight Show With Jay Leno (NBC)
HH: 4.2/11 (- 5), Total Viewers: 5.80 million (- 4), A18-49: 2.0/ 9
(-13), A25-54: 2.4/ 9 (- 8)

The Late Show With David Letterman (NBC)
HH: 3.3/ 9 (+ 3), Total Viewers: 4.49 million (+ 4), A18-49: 1.6/ 7 (no
change), A25-54: 1.9/ 8 (no change)

Nightline (ABC)
HH: 2.6/ 7 (-10), Total Viewers: 3.53 million (- 9), A18-49: 1.1/ 4 (-
8), A25-54: 1.4/ 5 (- 7)

Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC)
HH: 1.2/ 4 (- 8), Total Viewers: 1.53 million (- 6), A18-49: 0.6/ 3
(-14), A25-54: 0.7/ 4 (-13)

[LittleWinki]

Dave's on vacation for TWO WEEKS I think.... Jay can have the summer
audience. Gives me a chance to see HEADLINES and JAYWALKING .. .and
then return to whatever I've recorded earlier!

[Keith Privett]

I lived it and watched it. Better than you might expect. But no "Beauty and the
Geek."

Unlike the PBS-style ????'s House-type shows, it is also a game show (with HP
media stuff, a 2000's version VW Beetle and a European trip as the prize
package.)

Game play is structured a la Rebel Billionaire et al: Teams (which change
weekly) compete in challenges that make them take 70's life into 2005 world.
Two members of losing team are chosen by "Oscar" (present only by speaker
phone, a la Charlie - and actually an exec producer) for an elimination game.
Criteria is who "shows least committment" to 70s lifestyle, such as using
contemporary slang. First elimination game: the game "Operation," next week -
trivia quiz with questions by Jimmie "JJ" Walker.

Oh and any time a claxon airs on the PA, "The Hustle" will follow, and all
contestants must stop whatever they are doing and dance. (2nd time, a male
contestant had to jump out of the shower.)

Hostess "Dawn" is actually Natasha Leggero who previously was Rita the Drunk on
Joe Schmo 2. Bil Dwyer from Battlebots plays a parody of Bob Eubanks for some
segments. Theme is by Russ Landau (Survivor, et al).

Why to watch: Seeing pampered Gen Y'ers deprived of their high tech toys - and
ticked that MTV Punk'd them into thinking they were going on the Real World.
The groovy and thankless committment of Leggero to her camp counselor-like
duties. Sadism of the Hustle. Eye candy of youth in form fitting 70s garb.

Why not to watch: You lived it and dare not return. Yet another elimination
game show. "Operation" elimination causes flash back to Marc Cuban's Jenga
games in the Benefactor. Combination of 70's fabric patterns and MTV on-screen
graphics may cause seasickness. Mocking the 70's is so 90's.

[Kyle B.]

somegen...@aol.com wrote:
> And today from The Programming Insider by Marc Berman:
>
> Late Night Scorecard:
> Based on ratings from Sept. 20, 2004 through June 26, 2005, although
> NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno remains the late night franchise
> to beat, CBS' The Late Show with David Letterman continues to narrow
> the gap. The Tonight Show and ABC's Nightline and Jimmy Kimmel Live are
> down by minor proportions year-to-year, while NBC's Conan O'Brien
> continues to own the 12:30-1:30 a.m. hour.
>
> What follows are the season to-date results in late night (with change
> versus the year-ago period in parentheses):
>
> Mon.-Fri. 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m.
> The Tonight Show With Jay Leno (NBC)
> HH: 4.2/11 (- 5), Total Viewers: 5.80 million (- 4), A18-49: 2.0/ 9
> (-13), A25-54: 2.4/ 9 (- 8)
>
> The Late Show With David Letterman (NBC)
> HH: 3.3/ 9 (+ 3), Total Viewers: 4.49 million (+ 4), A18-49: 1.6/ 7 (no
> change), A25-54: 1.9/ 8 (no change)
>

Considering NBC's collapse in primetime, and CBS's dominance, it's
telling that Letterman is only up 3%, and Leno is only down 5%. I have
been seeing these "Letterman's narrowing the gap" stories for over a
year and a half, but in actuality he's still closer in ratings to
third-place "Nightline" than he is to the dominant "Tonight Show".

It always kind of amuses me when Letterman partisans write these
ratings updates. The reality is that it's highly unlikely Letterman
will ever regularly beat "The Tonight Show" again. Letterman usually
can't even beat "Tonight" reruns. He'll win a night here and there in
the overnights if he has a really newsworthy guest, or if Leno has both
hands tied behind his back (i.e. is on vacation *and* airing 15 minutes
late).

My unsolicited advice to those who enjoy his show is to stop being
concerned about the ratings (it's not like he's in danger of being
cancelled) and about what other people are watching. It's really not
that important in the grand scheme of things. Personally, I think both
Letterman and Leno are pretty tired, and I'd rather watch whatever is
on CN.

[Jeffries, Mark]

> Hostess "Dawn" is actually Natasha Leggero who previously was
> Rita the Drunk on Joe Schmo 2. Bil Dwyer from Battlebots
> plays a parody of Bob Eubanks for some segments. Theme is by
> Russ Landau (Survivor, et al).

One of the things I had heard is that Dwyer is doing more of a Gene
Rayburn--complete with the car-antenna mike.

Mark Jeffries

[Jeffries, Mark]

> My unsolicited advice to those who enjoy his show is to stop
> being concerned about the ratings (it's not like he's in
> danger of being
> cancelled) and about what other people are watching. It's
> really not that important in the grand scheme of things.
> Personally, I think both Letterman and Leno are pretty tired,
> and I'd rather watch whatever is on CN.

And besides, Jay's a lame duck--a *long* lame duck but a lame duck
nonetheless--and Dave's probably going into his homestretch in
late-night. He may even give it up before Jay does, especially if
Stewart decides he wants to move (I know, longshot) or Ferguson makes
inroads on Conan (even bigger longshot).

Mark Jeffries

[Kevin Marousek, RPCV]

> Dave's probably going into his homestretch in
> late-night. He may even give it up before Jay does, especially if
> Stewart decides he wants to move (I know, longshot) or Ferguson makes
> inroads on Conan (even bigger longshot).

Dave will leave before Jay, or on the exact same day. He will not want
to know if his ratings would be better or worse than Conan's Tonight
Show.

These are my predictions.
--
Kevin Marousek, RPCV
maro...@gmail.com
http://groups.msn.com/KevinsPicPalace
http://cindycrawford.blogspot.com
http://thisiswhoweare.blogspot.com
http://360.yahoo.com/kevinm...@sbcglobal.net

[donz5]

Kevin and Mark wrote:

>> Dave's probably going into his homestretch in
>> late-night.  He may even give it up before Jay does, especially if
>> Stewart decides he wants to move (I know, longshot) or Ferguson makes
>> inroads on Conan (even bigger longshot).

>Dave will leave before Jay, or on the exact same day. He will not want
>to know if his ratings would be better or worse than Conan's Tonight
>Show.

>These are my predictions.

With respect -- you're both 180 off.

I won't elaborate.

[Kevin Marousek, RPCV]

> With respect -- you're both 180 off.
>
>
> I won't elaborate.

If you won't elaborate, we get to make stuff up.

Letterman's gay.

Jay molests collies.

[Gary Clark]

After a major health scare and fatherhood, I think Letterman is concerned less about ratings than ever. Looks like he's having fun doing the show, he gets to do it on mostly on his own terms and what else would fill that void?

[Sue Trowbridge]

On 7/7/05, donz5 <do...@aol.com> wrote:

> >These are my predictions.
>
> With respect -- you're both 180 off.
>
> I won't elaborate.

Aw, man -- The Donz knows all the good gossip, and can't tell!

Can't you write it as a blind item -- "Which late night talk show host
has been known to molest collies?"

--Sue T.

[Anthony Foglia]

On Thu, 7 Jul 2005, Gary Clark wrote:

> After a major health scare and fatherhood, I think Letterman is
> concerned less about ratings than ever. Looks like he's having fun doing
> the show, he gets to do it on mostly on his own terms and what else
> would fill that void?

Spending time with his kid before he kicks the bucket?

I've always felt that Letterman himself doesn't know when or if
he'll quit, and there's no point trying to guess. I agree: He's past
trying to chase Leno in the ratings, and is just doing it for himself.
Watching Regis do his show, Letterman has to believe age won't be a
factor. So that just leaves when he gets bored.

But if anyone here knows something, it'll be Donz.

--Anthony

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't just live. Live vicariously.

[Keith Privett]

Dwyer's playing it too too stiff (physically and verbally) to be a Gene
Rayburn. I remember Gene as playful, wicked, and a bit loosey-goosey in his
demeanor (and loved him for that).

The mic is right. But as I think about it, no matter how much he's trying for
gene, he's coming off as a local station rip-off of Wink Martindale or worse,
the Mr. Gameshow doll, instead. Nailing Gene or Bert's style would be better -
and probably more up his alley. But then it's just one episode so far...

[Ed Dravecky]

Sue Trowbridge <lou...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Can't you write it as a blind item -- "Which late night talk show host
> has been known to molest collies?"

Or "Which game show host and failed late night talker once shot a man
just to watch him die but got distracted and missed it?"

--
Ed Dravecky III
who apologizes to Dave Foley for stealing his joke

[Steve Timko]

The blowing in the hands is Dave's signal that he's bored, whether he
knows it or not. He started doing it in 1995 a lot right before the
ratings tanked. He's doing it again, although not that much.
My prediction is that he's gone before Leno. I think he wants to live
in Montana with his kid.

[Gary Clark]

Spending time with his kid? Have you seen the Letterman schedule? Four day weeks and lots of vacations. He's not being deprived of attention in the status quo. Won't be long until the little guy is going to school and starting a life of his own.

[donz5]

SteveTimko wrote:

>My prediction is that he's gone before Leno.

I could grab a lot of cash betting against these predictions.

[Dellboy]

> It always kind of amuses me when Letterman partisans write these
> ratings updates. The reality is that it's highly unlikely Letterman
> will ever regularly beat "The Tonight Show" again. Letterman usually
> can't even beat "Tonight" reruns. He'll win a night here and there in
> the overnights if he has a really newsworthy guest, or if Leno has both
> hands tied behind his back (i.e. is on vacation *and* airing 15 minutes
> late).

Isn't it still the case that the Tonight Show and Late Show ratings
difference roughly mirrors the 11pm local news ratings, and that NBC
local news still nominates CBS at 11pm? And that Late Show beats
Tonight in the very odd market that CBS wins at 11pm....yawn ... and
basically the late night ratings have little to do with either show.??.
Or am I just a victim of Dave propaganda??? zzzzzz

[Steve Timko]

Most of the two week stints off air involve one week of work preparing
sketches and doing other things.And the four days he does work are
supposedly very long days. I'm guessnig Letterman wants to take a cue
from Johnny Carson and retire gracefully to enjoy life.

On 7/7/05, Gary Clark <garyc...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Mark Evanier]

On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 07:48:33 -0700, "Dellboy"
<garycolin...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>Isn't it still the case that the Tonight Show and Late Show ratings
>difference roughly mirrors the 11pm local news ratings, and that NBC
>local news still nominates CBS at 11pm? And that Late Show beats
>Tonight in the very odd market that CBS wins at 11pm....yawn ... and
>basically the late night ratings have little to do with either show.??.
>Or am I just a victim of Dave propaganda??? zzzzzz

ME: That was never particularly true. Well, you could deduce that
from some cities but others tell the opposite story.

I mean, let's be logical. If the quality of the show and the host
didn't impact the ratings, CBS and NBC could fire both Dave and Jay,
and get the same numbers with much cheaper guys doing much cheaper
shows.

There's an awful lot of "spin" in all these statements and press
releases. There are times when you're losing in the ratings and you
go to your press people and say, "Put out a statement about how we're
winning." And the poor press guy has to sift through the numbers,
ignore the reality, and issue a page that says, "Yes, we're up .0003%
with albinos named Phil who work at Kinko's."

It's the same thing with the excuses. When Leno was behind, NBC had
all sorts of reasons -- lead-ins, prime-time ratings, pressure on
guest bookings, etc. -- why it wasn't the basic product that was
flawed, while CBS was saying that Dave was winning because America
loved him more. When Leno pulled into the lead, the networks swapped
rhetoric: Suddenly, NBC said Jay was the nation's fave while CBS and
Letterman's people trotted out every conceivable excuse why the
decline of David Letterman's show was everyone's fault but David
Letterman's. If the ratings ever reverse, we'll be back to the old
arguments.

As for how long Dave will do the show: I've always thought Letterman
would emulate Mr. Carson who spent a long, long time saying,
privately, "I doubt I'll do more than another X years," and changing
his mind. There were several points over two decades when those
closest to Johnny were certain the end was in sight, and it wasn't.
It wasn't until Johnny went public with his decision without telling
anyone in advance. There are those who think Carson announced it that
way in order to trap himself.
----------------------------------------------------
www.newsfromme.com (Mark Evanier's daily weblog)
www.POVonline.com (Mark Evanier's not-daily website)

[Gary Clark]

Come on, Steve, you're telling me Dave is in the office on the second vacation week, doing what...working on new ways to say, "How's the go going?" to Rupert? They don't do sketches much any more and if they do, they involve Dave introducing the produced piece that features Biff.

 

If that second week was an intense work week, they might as well just do shows.

 

Dave lives for that hour on the air every day and he won't find anything to replace it. He has a great deal -- more money than he could ever need, very little network interference, very little ratings pressure. He's having the time of his life.

 

[Steve Timko]

I got an email from a Late Show staff member once that said the second
week of the two weeks off air right before sweeps were hectic and
stressful. I had made a snarky comment about all the vacation they
get. It's when they shot a lot of remotes, did editing on other pieces
and basically got their act together for the sweeps month. I confess,
this was before Letterman's artery problems. Maybe it's changed since
then. One thing to support that would be the fact that Letterman has
four executive producers. Maybe he's not such a control freak any more
and has farmed out the work to Burnett, Pope, Brennan and Gaines.
I used the word sketch in a prior post. I guess remotes and prepared
pieces are a better term.

[Steve Timko]

From a CBS press release

July 8, 2005

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, "THE LATE LATE SHOW" DELIVERS MORE VIEWERS
THAN "LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN"

"The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" Up +13% in Viewers, +17% in
Men 18-49 and +20% in Men 18-34 From the Comparable Week Last Year

"Late Show with David Letterman" Tops "The Tonight Show" In Viewers,
Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54 For the First Time in a Year

CBS'S THE LATE LATE SHOW with CRAIG FERGUSON delivered more viewers
than "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" for the first time ever while
LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN topped "The Tonight Show" in viewers
and key demographics, according to Nielsen ratings for the week ending
July 1.
*EDITORS NOTE: Last week, NBC's late night programs were rebroadcasts
and delayed due to Wimbledon highlights.
LATE LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG FERGUSON posted a 1.5/05 in households with
1.93m viewers. Compared to the same week last year, LATE LATE SHOW
was up +15% in households (from 1.3/05) and +13% in viewers (from
1.71m).
LATE LATE SHOW attracted more viewers than "Late Night with Conan
O'Brien" (1.5/06, 1.92m) for the first time ever -- with any host.
The program matched "Late Night" in households for only the second
time ever (the last time being the week ending January 20, 1995, the
second week LATE LATE SHOW was on the air). Note: "Late Night with
Conan O'Brien" rebroadcasts aired at 12:52AM Monday to Thursday last
week and at 1:07AM on Friday.
LATE LATE SHOW was up +17% in men 18-49 (0.7/04 from 0.6/04) and +20%
in men 18-34 (0.6/04 from 0.5/03) compared to the same week last year.
LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN finished ahead of "The Tonight Show"
in households (3.4/9 vs. 2.8/8), viewers (4.57m vs. 3.67m), adults
18-49 (1.5/7 vs. 1.3/6) and adults 25-54 (1.9/8 vs. 1.6/7), while tied
in adults 18-34 (1.1/5, each). The last time the LATE SHOW finished
ahead of "The Tonight Show" in households, viewers, adults 18-49 and
adults 25-54 was the week ending July 2, 2004 (the same week last
year).

[Gary Clark]

I wouldn't question that the staff works hard -- but that doesn't mean Dave is slaving away in those "off" weeks. He hasn't been involved in that stuff for a long time. Now it's Biff with the Yankees, Rupert skydiving, Harold Larkin looking for celebrity impersonators, etc.

On 7/8/05, Steve Timko <steve...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Elliott]

Jeffries, Mark wrote:
> > Hostess "Dawn" is actually Natasha Leggero who previously was
> > Rita the Drunk on Joe Schmo 2.

What can I say, Natasha Leggero (AKA Dawn) is amazing. Just made a site
about her: http://www.geocities.com/elliottbrueggeman/