The 2011 Golden Woodys, Part 1
It’s time for the 3rd annual Awards for Excellence in Late-Night Talk Show Doing, aka, The 2011 Golden Woodys.
There are eleven award categories. Each category contains three nominees. Nominees are selected and winners are chosen based on my viewing of late night talk show episodes during 2011. They’re very subjective.
Category: Best Introduction
2009 Winner: The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2010 Winner: The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2011 Nominees:
Conan
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
And the award goes to… Conan
Reason: The first five seconds of the Conan intro is animation that, unlike any other late-night show, changes from time to time. In addition, when the guest is announced there is a background image that identifies what s/he does for a living. That is actually very helpful if you haven’t heard of the person before.
Category: Best Set
2009 Winner: The Late Show with David Letterman
2010 Winner: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
2011 Nominees:
Conan
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
The Late Show with David Letterman
And the award goes to… The Late Show with David Letterman
Reason: You know what it is about the Late Show set that makes it so special? It’s that awesome blue marble floor. It’s beautiful and unique. Plus, that New York model behind his desk is fantastic. Oh, and the rest of the place is majestic too.
Category: Best Band
2009 Winner: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
2010 Winner: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
2011 Nominees:
Conan
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
The Late Show with David Letterman
And the award goes to… Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Reason: The Roots are magnificent in their music, charisma and style. In 2010 they added, dark humor, opinionated and controversial for their musical intro for guest Michelle Bachmann. That is a well-rounded late-night band.
Category: Best Monologue
2009 Winner: The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien
2010 Winner: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
2011 Nominees:
Conan
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
And the award goes to… The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Reason: Craig’s anti-standard monologues really are brilliant. Much like the host himself, they’re so unconventional that they are nothing less than immensely entertaining. Plus, he’s the only host left who doesn’t show clips from the web.
Category: Best Sidekick
2009 Winner: The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien
2010 Winner: The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2011 Nominees:
Conan
The Late Show with David Letterman
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
And the award goes to… Conan
Reason: Andy is a very funny person. His talents improve Conan. The show, and Conan himself, would not be as good without him there.
Stay tuned Thursday for the 2011 Golden Woodys Part II.
– Woody
Admittedly I only watch Craig and sometimes Conan. I love Andy Richter but I will always think Geoff Peterson is superior – especially with the 2 weeks of “trying new chips” in November.
And I will always be sad that Craig will never be nominated for best band or best set.
Maybe you need a category for “best running bit”, then Craig could also be nominated for Secretariat or Paul McCartney or Liza Minelli. 😛
Great comments.
I like the idea of “best running bit.” I’ll keep that in mind for next year.
Geoff won last year for best sidekick. He would have won again this year, but honestly, but now that he has a human voice instead of canned responses, I find him less unique and more annoying. I’m also not liking that Craig is, in my opinion, waaay over-using him. I want to watch Craig, not the Craig and Geoff show.
That’s really an interesting perspective on the sidekick. As stated, I don’t watch many late night shows – so I’ve been enjoying seeing Geoff’s “position” evolve. But, yeah, some nights he does talk way too much – at least until the guests arrive.