The 2013 Golden Woodys, Part 1
It’s time for the 5th annual Awards for Excellence in Late-Night Talk Show Doing, aka, The 2013 Golden Woodys.
There are ten award categories this year. Each category contains three nominees. Nominees are selected and winners are chosen based on my viewing of late-night talk show episodes during 2013. Needless to say, the awards are very subjective, but also very sincere.
Category: Best Monologue Segments
2009 Winner: The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien
2010 Winner: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
2011 Winner: The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2012 Winner: Conan
2013 Nominees:
Conan
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
And the award goes to… Conan
Reason: Conan O’Brien’s monologues consistently contained the highest amount of entertainment value per minute in 2013.
Category: Best Comedy Segments
2009 Winner: The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien
2010 Winner: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
2011 Winner: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
2012 Winner: Late Show with David Letterman
2013 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: Jimmy Fallon and the Late Night team easily put the most effort into creating original, ridiculous and amusing comedy bits over the past year. Their hard work paid off, as many bits were huge hits online.
Category: Best Couch Guest Interview Segments
2009 Winner: Late Show with David Letterman
2010 Winner: Late Show with David Letterman
2011 Winner: The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2012 Winner: The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2013 Nominees:
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Late Show with David Letterman
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
And the award goes to… The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Reason: Guest interviews on late-night talk shows are 85% scripted and 15% spontaneous. That’s fine if the guest is interesting, but boring if the guest is dull. The Late Late Show is 99% spontaneous and 1% scripted. So, even when a guest was lame, Craig Ferguson’s “anything goes” attitude always made the segments fun to watch.
Category: Best Musical/Stand-up/Cooking Segments
2009 Winner: Late Show with David Letterman
2010 Winner: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
2011 Winner: Late Show with David Letterman
2012 Winner: Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2013 Nominees:
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Late Show with David Letterman
And the award goes to… Late Show with David Letterman
Reason: Honestly, I just flat out enjoyed the musicians the Late Show had on in 2013 more. They weren’t loud and flashy, but they were more talented.
Category: Best Band
2009 Winner: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
2010 Winner: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
2011 Winner: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
2012 Winner: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
2013 Nominees:
Conan
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Late Show with David Letterman
And the award goes to… Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Reason: No house band was as cool, talented and integral to the success of a late-night show like The Roots were this year.
Who will win for best late-night host? Find out when Part II of the 2013 Golden Woodys is posted on Thursday, December 26th.
– Woody
Hey, I think you put the wrong winner in the “Best Interview” category…You talked about Craig Ferguson, but put Letterman as the winner.
You’re absolutely right. Thanks for pointing that out. I’ve fixed it.
Yeah, I guess one week of Richice Samobora’s band and 2 weeks of the “invisible, made up shy band” aren’t enough to earn Craig a nomination in this category.
Alfredo Sauce and the Shy Boys are awesome and can totally play anything, though.
Did Sambora and his band come back in 2013? They were one of the reasons why Craig won Best Overall Late-Night Talk Show in 2012. I must have missed them if they came back this year.
And, no, a fake band, while a hilarious running gag, can’t get a nomination for Best Band.