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My boy Carson Daly takes a lot of heat. People complain that he is a late night talk show hack, and that he is basically unwatchable. Sure he is not the leader of the pack, maybe not even close to the leader, but his show rocks and it's about time people appreciate it before he's replaced with someone even lamer.
We'll admit that his opening monologue is always just a bunch of poorly delivered bad jokes. Sure, that can be annoying but how is that so much worse than Jay Leno who's openers consists of better delivered, bad jokes? Bad jokes are bad jokes, and only Conan's been able to pull it off in recent years. Dave's been good but he's fallen off hard.
Carson may be a douche in real life, that's obvious, but he's at least better at pretending he knows these alleged "friends who happen to be on publicity tours" that end up on his couch on a personal level. Jay just comes off like a dick, Dave's got his head up his ass and doesn't relate well with others, and even Conan comes off a little awkward and "in character". Carson is able to summon his ass kissing radio days, and put the celebs on their pedestals. He even rubs elbows with some of them off camera, making the fake conversation a tiny bit less fake-feeling.
Also Carson rocks. No, he himself doesn't rock, but the person who books the musical acts has damn fine taste. It's not just the dumb predictable circus acts you hear on every cheese-ball radio station, but instead young upcoming acts that are sure to break big, or bands with huge followings that aren't "mainstream". Sometimes it looks like the entire crowd is there just because the band is that good, with fans knowing every word to the songs, ect.
And If you have a case of insomnia, or if you're just up late all the time (and you're not hooked up with cable) Chanel 4 is one of the few non infomercial stations at those hours. So yeah, maybe you hate Carson Daly's guts, but it's really not better than hearing about the latest real estate scam? The only real crime is that they've started showing this horrible Texas hold'em show when his show ends, and the damn clicking together of their chips makes you wake up from the coma Carson's show is so good at putting you in. DAMN!
Carson Daly gets a bum rap, and is subject to all kinds of rumors, such as his recent gauntly-ness being a result of the cocaine addiction he developed when his talk show started broadcasting from Hollywood. As if New York was completely devoid of any cocaine. Suuuure. But who cares? Being some famous weasel with an alleged drug problem shouldn't be a factor in judging his show. So maybe Carson Daly sucks, but he's not that bad.
Photo by the Carson Daly Sucks blog
