The 2014 Golden Woodys, Part 2
It’s time for the 6th annual Awards for Excellence in Late-Night Talk Show Doing, aka, The 2014 Golden Woodys. If you missed the awarding of the first five categories you can catch up here.
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 2014. Needless to say, the awards are very subjective, but also very sincere.
Category: Best Sidekick
2009 Winner: The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien
2010 Winner: The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2011 Winner: Conan
2012 Winner: The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2013 Winner: The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2014 Nominees:
Conan
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
And the award goes to… The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Reason: Josh Robert Thompson is an amazing talent. First, he puppeteers and voices Geoff the gay skeleton robot while sitting behind a wall out of site from both Craig and the audience. Second, through Geoff, he voices countless other characters on the spot as Craig asks for them. Third, Josh’s improvisational comedy is quick, smart and hilarious. Fourth, he cracks Craig and the audience up constantly. Finally, he is so integral to The Late Late Show that the show wouldn’t be nearly as entertaining without him. You couldn’t ask for a better sidekick.
Category: Best Internet Presence
2013 Winner: Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2014 Nominees:
Conan
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
And the award goes to… Conan
Reason: The TeamCoco website is much more user-friendly than other late-night talk show sites. It also contains more clips of the show, both current and past, and organizes them so related bits done over years are easy to find. Finally, the extras on the website, such as show outtakes, called “Scraps,” are wonderful.
Category: Best Host
2009 Winner: The Late Show with David Letterman
2010 Winner: The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien/Conan
2011 Winner: The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2012 Winner: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
2013 Winner: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
2014 Nominees:
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
And the award goes to… The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Reason: I watched an episode of The Tonight Show recently in which Jimmy Fallon and his guest were having fun coming up with innuendos for “testicles.” They were very careful not to tread anywhere near phrases that could be considered the slightest bit crude. That same day, over at The Late Late Show, I witnessed Craig say the word “testicles” six times just in the cold open. He then swore a dozen times between the monologue and the comedy segment. That fearlessness, combined with his humor and punk rock attitude, is why Craig Ferguson was the best late-night host in 2014.
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 Winner: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
2012 Winner: The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2013 Winner: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
2014 Nominees:
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Late Night with Seth Meyers
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
And the award goes to… Late Night with Seth Meyers
Reason: Late Night with Seth Meyers is a new show, so how can it beat out the more established ones? Here’s the thing: when people ask me (and they don’t) which late-night talk show I look forward to watching because I know it will be consistently entertaining week to week, I automatically go to Late Night. As a host, Seth reminds me of what I enjoy most about Johnny Carson, Conan O’Brien and David Letterman. As a show, Late Night hits a nice balance between funny, smart, comfortable and wicked. One final note: I appreciate that the show has authors as guests. It’s something I wish other late-night talk shows did more often.
Category: Best Late-Night Talk Show That Ended This Year
2014 Nominees:
The Arsenio Hall Show
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: The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson was unlike any other late-night talk show. It’s uniqueness in both humor and style will most likely never be duplicated, and it will definitely be missed.
Congratulations to the winners. Here’s to a great 2015!
– Woody
Surely the final category should be “Best Late-Night Talk Show That Ended This Year” or even better “Late-Night Talk Show That Will Be Most Missed”?
What’s wrong with the “Best Late-Night Talk Show That Ended In 2014″ title I used for the last award?
Perhaps because there will also be a late night show ending in 2015. Though as far as I know there’s only 1 that’s scheduled to end. We’ll see how the new Late Late Show guy does.
2014 actually had 3 shows end. I thought it was going to be 4, but it’s only 3. That’s a really big deal in the world of late night. Especially since 2 ended by choice. (well, the shows didn’t really END, the hosts left and new hosts stepped in)
Absolutely – and having the “Late-Night Talk Show That Will Be Most Missed” category or simply “Most Missed Late-Night Talk Show” allows you to even reference shows that ended outside of the year or haven’t ended yet. I always enjoy the Golden Woodys BTW, and just think that categories should be able to have a winner (or indeed no award) each year.
You both make good points, and I appreciate your feedback.
I went with “Best Late-Night Talk Show…” because I’m super-anal and needed, needed, the title to start with the word “Best.”
I went with “2014” in the title because I honestly didn’t think I’d repeat the category in 2015, since only one show is ending, and I only do awards in which there are at least 3 nominees. However, upon further reflection, I will change the name to “Best Late-Night Talk Show That Ended This Year” so that it can be used in future years.
Great. Now the next time multiple shows end in a year you’ll need to scour the archives to make sure the next time you do the award the title reads the same.
Good call. 😉