Woody After Hours

The 2011 Golden Woodys, Part 2

If you missed the first five awards, also known as Part 1 you can catch up here.

 

Category: Best Desk Segments

2009 Winner: The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien
2010 Winner: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

2011 Nominees:

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
The Late Show with David Letterman
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

And the award goes to… Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Reason: Unlike 2010 where it was roughly a 50/50 split, in 2011 Late Night had many more really great and less truly terrible desk segments. Like last year Late Night tried harder than any other late-night show to entertain people with this segment.

 
Category: Best Couch Guest Interviews

2009 Winner: The Late Show with David Letterman
2010 Winner: The Late Show with David Letterman

2011 Nominees:

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Show with David Letterman
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

And the award goes to… The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Reason: Craig’s interview style can best be described as “completely unstructured and out of the box.” It’s a radically different format compared to the rest of the late-night hosts, and in 2011 it produced radically better results.

 
Category: Best Musical/Stand-up/Cooking Segment

2009 Winner: The Late Show with David Letterman
2010 Winner: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

2011 Nominees:

Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
The Late Show with David Letterman

And the award goes to… The Late Show with David Letterman

Reason: The Late Show had some wonderful musical guests this year. The cooking segments were the funniest of any late-night talk show. Finally, the stand-up, while not great, wasn’t as bad as on the other shows.

 
Category: Best Ending

2009 Winner: The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2010 Winner: The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

2011 Nominees:

Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

And the award goes to… The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Reason: The Late Late Show’s “What Did We Learn on the Show Today Craig?” is still far and away the best way to end a late-night show.

 
Category: Best Host

2009 Winner: The Late Show with David Letterman
2010 Winner: The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien/Conan

2011 Nominees:

Conan
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Show with David Letterman

And the award goes to… The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Reason: Each year I find that this is the hardest category to not only decide who to nominate, but then also who to pick as the winner. Every late-night host has strengths that make them worthy of their position in the competitive world of late-night entertainment. In the end though, when I think about which person went the farthest to be the best host possible to both the studio audience and the audience at home, in 2011 it was Craig Ferguson.

 
Category: Best Overall Late-Night Talk Show

2009 Winner: The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien
2010 Winner: The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

2011 Nominees:

Conan
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

And the award goes to… Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Reason: Late Night made significant leaps this year. I think the show and its host have finally found a good rhythm that is working well. It’s also obvious, to me at least, that they are still constantly pushing their limits in order to make the show even better.

 

Congratulations to the winners. Here’s to a great 2012!

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