The 2009 Golden Woodys, Part 2
If you missed the first five awards, also known as part 1 go here.
Category: Best Desk Segments
Nominees:
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
The Late Show with David Letterman
The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien
And the award goes to… The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien
Reason: Honestly, no late night show had a consistent level of great desk segments. That being said, The Tonight Show desk segments came the closest by containing the best mix of funny, effort, variety, production and length.
Category: Best Couch Guest Interviews
Nominees:
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Show with David Letterman
The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien
And the award goes to… The Late Show with David Letterman
Reason: Letterman has an age-refined dark sense of humor. This wit makes for decent monologues and fantastic guest interview conversations. He is truly at his best when he uses the gift of speech to love the people he respects, learn about people he wants to know better and torture the people he despises. No two guests are treated equally, and that makes the interviews fun to watch.
Category: Best Musical Guests
Nominees:
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
The Late Show with David Letterman
The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien
And the award goes to… The Late Show with David Letterman
Reason: Like the Best Band award, this category was difficult. All of the nominees had musical guests that gave great performances. The Late Show, however, also had the best variety of musicians, from big stars to bands few people have ever heard of before. A late night talk show has the power to give little-known groups the opportunity of a lifetime, and the Late Show used this power better than the rest.
Category: Best Ending
Nominees:
Jimmy Kimmel Live
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
And the award goes to… The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Reason: While every other late night show competes for how fast they can thank their guests and go to the credits, The Late Late Show goes in the completely opposite direction. Craig ends each show with a segment called “What Did We Learn on the Show Today Craig?” in which Craig, sans tie, sits with his feet up on the desk like he’s had a really hard day, and talks about the show, or anything else that comes to his mind. Then he thanks his guests. It’s funny, it’s different and it’s refreshing.
Category: Best Host
Nominees:
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Show with David Letterman
The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien
And the award goes to… The Late Show with David Letterman
Reason: Letterman had a pretty rough year full of unwanted attention. First, after years and years of procrastination he got married. Then he told an extremely misunderstood Palin joke. Finally, he admitted to multiple affairs and an attempted blackmail plot. Most television personalities would have thrown in the towel, but not Letterman. Instead he used each situation as an opportunity to enrich his monologues and desk segments and bond with his audience. He made jokes about himself as unforgiving as if the problems belonged to another celebrity. Letterman isn’t perfect, but he is a class act.
Category: Best Overall Late Night Talk Show
Nominees:
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Show with David Letterman
The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien
And the award goes to… The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien
Reason: The 2009 award for Best Overall Late Night Talk Show goes to the Tonight Show for delivering the most consistently entertaining late night show viewing experience. Nuff said.
Happy New Year everyone.
