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Leno laments today's late-night shows: 'Everyone has to know your politics'

posted 5 years ago by Satan2016 (23504)
5 replies | jump to latest

Carson and Leno are the last late-night hosts I watched. Nobody funny left. Was Leno the only one to joke about Obama?

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/433765-leno-laments-todays-late-night-shows-everyone-has-to-know-your-politics

"Do you miss being on the show, or is it such a different time that it would be hard to do?" "Today" host Roker asked Leno.

"No, it’s different. I don’t miss it. You know, everything now is, if people don’t like your politics, they — everyone has to know your politics," Leno replied.

"I kind of used Johnny’s model. People couldn’t figure out. 'Well, you and your Republican friends' or 'Well, Mr. Leno, you and your Democratic buddies.' And I would get hate mail from both sides equally," Leno said, referring to his predecessor at "The Tonight Show," Johnny Carson.

"But when people see you as one-sided, it just makes it tough," Leno, 68, continued. "And plus, I did it when, you know, Clinton was horny and [George W.] Bush was dumb, and it was just a little easier."
"Now it’s all very serious," he said. "I’d just like to see a bit of civility come back to it, you know? People say, 'Oh, it must be easy to do jokes with Trump.' No, it’s actually harder because the punch line of the joke used to be 'That’s like the president with a porn star.' Well, now the president is with a porn star. Where do you go with that? How do you get more outrageous than that?"

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Leno was one of the last decent hosts. Nobody left is correct.

[–] liscarkat (16600) 3 years ago

The late-night shows were watchable when they made fun of everybody equally and you couldn't really tell what party the host belonged to. There was no sucking-up to the left or right, and no fear. Now they so clearly pander to the woke, and there's a feeling of great caution, like in a totalitarian regime where not only must one never say the wrong things, but must be sure to be heard saying the right things.

[–] Kowalski (59275) 3 years ago

CARSON WILL ALWAYS BE KING...BUT LENO DID A DAMN FINE JOB FOLLOWING HIM.

[–] KaiMaster (792) 2 years ago

True.

[–] andersonb85 (1598) 2 years ago

I was never that big on Letterman. I remember watching Carson with my father and constantly laughing. I watched Leno when he took over for awhile then lost interest. I still prefer him over Conan O'Brien. The only other hosts I watch now is Jimmy Kimmel or Seth Meyers but only on occasion.