Johnny Carson by no means obtained his palms soiled within the late-night TV wars.
He didn’t need to.
Carson reigned supreme for 30 years. His rivals may solely scramble for second-place standing. Some, like Chevy Chase, lasted simply six weeks.
The Leno-Letterman wars, although, have been one other matter. The speak present titans’ duel proved so dramatic that they made a ebook and a TV movie about it.
Leno emerged victorious within the rankings wars, however each hosts commanded giant, loyal audiences. Their types additionally clashed sharply through the years.
Leno took a Heartland-friendly method, whereas Letterman embraced a hipster sentiment that earned him raves from the vital neighborhood.
Two speak present giants. Two very completely different comedy types. Now, a decade after every known as it quits, they continue to be polar opposites.
And Leno should still have the higher hand.
RELATED: LATE-NIGHT LIES NO LAUGHING MATTER
The “Tonight Present” veteran simply shared some fascinating information about his present comedy tour. Leno, who embraced Carson’s honest and balanced method to political jabs on “The Tonight Present,” erased politics fully from his present set.
Guess what occurred subsequent? Ticket gross sales jumped, Leno reviews.
“I’m on the highway quite a bit. I simply took politics out of it, utterly. I do know ticket gross sales are up 20, 30 p.c, simply because no one needs to be lectured,” he informed “In the present day” anchor Hoda Kotb.
Leno’s headline humor was by no means merciless or slicing. He focused world leaders once they deserved it, swatting each events with out taking sides.
Letterman, compared, leaned into his liberal views in his later years at CBS. He nonetheless saved the give attention to comedy, a minimum of greater than most of in the present day’s late-night hosts.
But Letterman’s progressive views aren’t onerous to suss out now. He not too long ago went to bat for far-Left talker Seth Meyers after President Donald Trump blasted the NBC star’s “Late Evening” sequence.
President Trump says Seth Meyers is affected by an incurable case of TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) pic.twitter.com/0zkMZLsiAR
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) November 16, 2025
And, in doing so, Letterman proved he can pit his Trump Derangement Syndrome in opposition to anybody not named Rosie O’Donnell.
“The president of the USA now needs to fireplace Seth Meyers. Yeah. And I assumed, ‘That is simply pleasant. How do you suppose that’s going to go?’ So, anyway, I’ve by no means been extra happy with Seth Meyers,” the late-night icon stated.
Had Letterman stopped there, he’d have a very good level. President Trump’s social media rants, particularly those who seemingly goal speech, need to be mocked.
What we’ve discovered over the previous decade, although, is that Trump doesn’t observe up on his Reality social broadsides. He’s simply blowing off steam.
And, in fact, it’s unpresidential for him to take action. Let’s not overlook that. It nonetheless calls for context, particularly on the heels of an administration that didn’t threaten to crush free speech.
Letterman saved up his assault on Trump.
“He’s our dictator,” Letterman added. “He’s not going wherever.”
Yawn. Cue the tinfoil hat conspiracies. However Letterman couldn’t cease there.
“Consider the worst factor that you just’ve ever seen people accomplish. [Trump’s presidency] is a lot worse.”
Sure, it’s far worse than the Holocaust, or 9/11, or Pearl Harbor, or the Holodomor.
TDS.
Letterman by no means labored steadily as a stand-up comedian. His main gig lately has come through Netflix’s interview sequence, “My Subsequent Visitor Wants No Introduction.”
We nonetheless miss Letterman’s wit on the late-night scene. There was nobody fairly like him on late-night or some other time slot.
Had he by no means given up his throne, although, he would possibly sound shockingly like Stephen Colbert or Jimmy Kimmel.