David Letterman to retire from 'Late Show' in 2015

[T-post Tom]

That puts him at right around 33 years on nightly t.v. Wow. Amazing. Wonder if Bill Murray will be on his last show... You know Chris Elliott will be back and there'll be a tribute to Larry Bud. You can tell it's time for him...but still sad. End of an era.

[RealSNR]

The more I think about it, the more I think Ellen is perfect for the job.

Her brand of humor appeals to so many different tastes, both high brow and basic.

And rather than getting laughs out of photoshopped images and sketches, she takes basic everyday things and twists them into funny gags. It's unlike the other stuff out there, but it works great.

Her day time show already is nearly perfect for late night. She just needs to make it cooler and sexier, and it's an instant hit.

[tk13]

I think Ellen could do a talk show pretty much any time of the day and make it work.

The rumors seem to indicate that CBS wants Colbert. He'd have to drop his act though.

[tk13]

Stephen Colbert is CBS' top choice to replace the retiring David Letterman, and has indicated that he's willing to take over the Late Show when the time comes, people familiar with both sides of the discussions tell Mashable.

Colbert has not had any formal contract discussions with CBS, and no agreement is in place, but sources tell Mashable that he first engaged with network executives while Letterman was still mulling the timing of his retirement. Though CBS has had conversations with other candidates, including Colbert's Comedy Central counterpart Jon Stewart, individuals with knowledge of the situation say Colbert is currently the front-and-center candidate.

---

Colbert's contract to host The Colbert Report on Comedy Central runs through the end of 2014, which would free him up in time to move over to CBS when Letterman ends his 33-year run in late-night TV. Letterman left the exact date of his departure vague while announcing his retirement plans on Thursday.

“We don’t have the timing of this precisely down; it will be at least a year or so," Letterman said on Thursday's episode of the Late Show. "But at some time in the not-too-distant future — 2015, for the love of God."

Colbert would leave behind the pseudo-conservative persona he's cultivated at The Colbert Report and just be himself at his CBS home, one of the individuals told Mashable. He has stepped out of character on rare occasion, though not on his show, and possesses the same wry, incisive interview skills that Letterman has showcased for decades.

http://mashable.com/2014/04/04/steph...an-late-night/

[PunkinDrublic]

A great replacement would be Samuel L. Jackson.

[ILChief]

Colbert will be a mistake. He is a character. What you see on tge Colbert report isn't really him. It would be like hiring ron burgundy.

[CoMoChief]

Jon Stewart would be much better than Colbert.

And Conan O'Brien would be better than all of them....and it would spark a legitimate late night TV war.

[ILChief]

Originally Posted by CoMoChief

Jon Stewart would be much better than Colbert.

And Conan O'Brien would be better than all of them....and it would spark a legitimate late night TV war.

I agree.

[CoMoChief]

Originally Posted by SNR

The more I think about it, the more I think Ellen is perfect for the job.

Her brand of humor appeals to so many different tastes, both high brow and basic.

And rather than getting laughs out of photoshopped images and sketches, she takes basic everyday things and twists them into funny gags. It's unlike the other stuff out there, but it works great.

Her day time show already is nearly perfect for late night. She just needs to make it cooler and sexier, and it's an instant hit.

Ellen sucks.

Any guy who thinks Ellen is entertaining needs to jump off a ****ing bridge.

Her daytime show is great for stay at home moms and that's about it.

[ghak99]

They all ****ing suck.

The only one on any of these lists that I can stand is Ferguson and I can't see his act moving to that slot all that well.

[The Bad Guy]

Originally Posted by Anyong Bluth

Stern isn't delighted with Sirius and has cut down to max 3 days a week. With other days off and vacation I bet he wont do over 120 shows this year tops. You don't think he'd be tempted to take that way bigger audience on network vs Sirius, and it's 5 x 45min shows a week - or roughly about 2 days of his radio show and actually less work than his cutback radio show now.

You don't think he wants a larger audience and Q rating? Why else do AGT? Fits perfectly with expanding his fanbase and people seeing him that wouldn't otherwise and just think he's crude and sleazy, even though he's a master at the interview.

As for Louis, he needs cable and a longer leash IMO, dude's a true genius and if you know his deal with Fx there's not a chance in hell he's going to be overlorded and put up with network politicking.

Stern loves the Sirius platform. He's had issues with management and false promises, and doing a late night talk show is much more than just 45 minutes of their time each day. He's working at that gig a lot more than Sirius. He's uncensored at Sirius and that's gold for Howard. Plus, he's not bringing that entire crew with him to a late night talk show. Gary would likely make it, and so would Robin, but I doubt the rest of them would have a place.

The gig he has at Sirius is gold. A Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday schedule is a walk in the park compared to Letterman's.

Why do AGT? Because Stern thinks he's an authority on everything. He loves to give his opinions and that's a good platform for him to critique. He has reached a wider audience that would never listen to his radio program and has become more endeared with AGT.

[The Bad Guy]

Originally Posted by CoMoChief

Jon Stewart would be much better than Colbert.

And Conan O'Brien would be better than all of them....and it would spark a legitimate late night TV war.

Disagree. Conan has become irrelevant with the move to TBS. He'd be competing with Fallon now, and Fallon would crush him. Fallon has Conan's target audience locked up and that's not changing for a long time.

[Direckshun]

According to Stern, AGT was a simple matter of being offered piles of ****ing cash to do essentially nothing.

[Anyong Bluth]

Originally Posted by The Bad Guy

Stern loves the Sirius platform. He's had issues with management and false promises, and doing a late night talk show is much more than just 45 minutes of their time each day. He's working at that gig a lot more than Sirius. He's uncensored at Sirius and that's gold for Howard. Plus, he's not bringing that entire crew with him to a late night talk show. Gary would likely make it, and so would Robin, but I doubt the rest of them would have a place.

The gig he has at Sirius is gold. A Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday schedule is a walk in the park compared to Letterman's.

Why do AGT? Because Stern thinks he's an authority on everything. He loves to give his opinions and that's a good platform for him to critique. He has reached a wider audience that would never listen to his radio program and has become more endeared with AGT.

Don't disagree with you actually, just playing devil's advocate.

I'd just as soon he stick with his radio show and 4+ hours on a daily basis. My only wish is he would go back to 5 days. I'd really like if he at least did 4 days and have a Friday show. Have an off day on Wednesday or Thursday.

He's just off so much, but lately he's seemed happier with doing the show, so I'll take his abbreviated schedule versus him hanging it up for good.

I honestly think he'd go crazy if he ever tried to retire from everything. He's even said if he did he'd probably stream an open mic and just **** around from his house over the Internet.

[Rudy tossed tigger's salad]

Not a Stern fan at all.

How about Joel McHale?

[BigRedChief]

I was never a big David Letterman fan. I met him last year at the St. Petersburg grand prix. Talked to him for about 5 minutes while he waited for his teams car to hit the track. Was just as nice and friendly as anyone could be that is famous and owns the car. Talked to him about the city, the race and its future.

I assumed he was friendly and talked to us because we were talking about racing and the track and not his show.