David Letterman Implores Brian Williams To ‘Stop Going On’ Jay Leno’s Tonight Show

by Colby Hall | 1:03 pm, March 1st, 2011

» 3 comments

Comedians are notoriously a strange breed of character; the line between an affably absurd outlook played for jokes, and a cynical self-loathing personality is a dangerously thin one that could break at any minute. Which is why David Letterman‘s beseeching of NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams to never go on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is so entertaining. Because while you know that he’s just joking around, you can honestly sense Letterman’s palpable dislike of Leno in a way that almost makes Williams uncomfortable.

Of course there is no love lost between Leno and Letterman, and their rivalry is likely conflated for comedic purposes. But in the following clip, embedded below courtesy of CBS, one can honestly see that Letterman would rather his own show be the sole province of Williams’ well known comedic chops, network loyalty be damned.

David Letterman, Jay Leno, Jon Stewart, Tom Brokaw

Scott_in_MI

Letterman is a mean, bitter man. He thought Leno’s handling of Conan would mean a Late Show victory over the Tonight Show, but since people see his contemptuous nature, Leno once again is kicking his ass. This leads to the jealous man we see in the above clip.
Cactus

Kicking his ass? 3.9 million vs. 3.6 million in total viewers. Three-way tie with Nightline at 0.9 rating/4 share for A18-49. Meh. I don’t see the ass kicking.

Does the viewing public really choose its entertainment based on how “nice” the host is? Why was Rosie O’Donnell’s show popular for so long, then?
http://wlso.fm Uncle Shag

I remember how much better we all were as a nation when the TV sets went dark overnight, just after the Star Spangled Banner was heard and the test pattern appeared…