If you weren’t watching Letterman last night — and why would you be? Leno is so much funnier! — then you missed a pretty decent guest-hosting gig from Adam Sandler. The comedian-turned-serious-actor- who-still-has-a-funny-voice has been out plugging his 9/11 drama, Reign Over Me (he is in fact staring at me from Regis and Kelly right now), and when Letterman went down with the stomach flu, Sandler jumped in to host, bringing costar Don Cheadle with him. The two were subsequently late to their own premiere, but I’d say it was worth it for introducing America to the Ed McMahon-like charms of Matzoball, Sandler’s English bulldog, and for one very special man-on-man rendition of "Endless Love." (That magic moment can be seen here, as can the opening monologue.)
We certainly hope Dave gets better soon — and more than that, we hope that the mysterious e-mail we received yesterday telling us that Calvert DeForest, a.k.a. Larry "Bud" Melman, had passed away turns out to be a hoax, and had nothing to do with Dave’s absence. Meanwhile, PopWatchers: On the scale of awesome Letterman guest-hosts, where would you put the Waterboy? And who remains the best-ever? I’d have to vote for Bonnie Hunt, but that’s because she remains the most underappreciated woman in showbiz…
UPDATE: Oh my god… SARCASM, people.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Because I can’t leave anything alone today, kids…MASSIVE POPWATCH PROPS to commenter "aa," who dropped a brilliantsuggestion: Next timeDave needs a guest host? How about putting in a call to Neil PatrickHarris, a.k.a. Barney from How I Met Your Mother,whose episode-ending Top 10 list from Monday night– complete withdead-on Letterman giggle — was, indeed, a thing of rare beauty.
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I didn’t get past the opening sentence of this article….are you kidding me? Leno, funnier than Letterman? Maybe if your IQ is less than 80.
I missed it, sad to say. I wish I hadn’t. Adam might get panned by some, but I will watch/listen to/buy everything that he ever does based on the strength of “They’re All Gonna Laugh At You”. Funniest freaking CD in the last fifteen years. He’s got my loyalty, no matter how many “Little Nickys” he makes.
mnblue – I’m pretty sure they were being sarcastic. Otherwise I might have to stop reading this blog.
Whitney – When you say Leno is funnier, you mean dumbed-down funny, right?
Have to admitt that Sandler was really good last night. I don’t know if I would want to hear him say “I su*k at this” everynight….but he was a lot of fun and did a good job.
Still think Bonnie Hunt was the best guest host when Dave was sick.
Whatever happened to the guest host? Growing up when Carson was sick it was how we were introduced to some great comics/actor including Gary Shandling, Joan Rivers (back when she was funny) and others. Are they all scared that is they miss a show and someone is better they will lose their jobs?
Mark, did you really need to bring up Joan Rivers? Look, it’s 9:00 AM where I am, and I’m trying to eat breakfast for Christ’s sake! I’ve got to get the vision of her freakishly reconstructed face out of my mind before I can stomach another bite now. Thanks…
Phantom-it was a calculated risk I was willing to take. Sorry, tums on me!
I could not remember who else used to sub for Carson….anyone remember anyone else (besides Leno)
Vince Vaughn was the best fill-in host, back when Letterman had shingles. He was a natural. I wish he had his own show.
Vince Vaughn? Really? Yeah, I could see that. I think he would kill that sort of thing.
Mark, I forgive you. Next time just post of pictures from “Faces of Death” or something. It will be less traumatic.
Joan Rivers is still alive?
PS Vince Vaugh seems like he’d be a fun talk show host.
Damn, I missed it. I realized it was on at about 12:24 last night!
I missed Sandler last night, but Vince Vaughn killed it when he hosted a couple of years ago. He was a natural and really funny. If his film career ever tanks, someone should hook him up with a talk show.
There was apost about a month ago asking who should take over Conan’s slot after he moves up. I wouldn’t mind seeing Vince Vaughn have a crack at it.
I liked Janeane Garofalo with her taping off the desk area and moving forward on the stage. She didn’t want to pretend that she was Letterman’s peer, but she was.
She had indie musicians and a comedian who played the piano and did this dry monologue about working crap jobs and trying to commit suicide by jumping off the roof of the Pizza Hut, but only hurting his leg, and having to go back and finish his shift, “serving Crazy Bread with a limp.”
I liked her because she shared the limelight with people who never would have gotten a big gig like that, but deserved to. She’s cool.
And hey, Joan Rivers was funny back a hundred hears ago. She and Phyllis Diller kicked open the door for female stand ups. Yeah, she’s a train wrecking into a four-alarm fire during an earthquake now, but she was one funny broad in her day.
I LOVE Bonnie Hunt. I think I’ve had a mad crush on her for years. And Rachael Harris, too. I must have a thing for smart funny blondes.
I thought Sandler was pretty weak. The opening monologue was fine but once he got to the interviews it was kinda painful. And I like him.
This may not be popular opinion around here but i thought Kathie Lee Gifford was one of the best guest hosts. Despite her reputation for cooing over her children, she could be very funny.
I realllly hope the Leno comment was sarcasm.
Vince Vaughn was the absolute BEST guest host Dave had while he was away…by far…I did catch the Sandler monologue last night and it was ok…but w/ out Dave, its not the same…Leno isn’t funnier, sarcasm or not..heh..
I actively root against Vince Vaughn’s movie success in the hopes he’ll give up and get a talk show. His movies are bleh, but he killed on Letterman.
Whitney, Leno funnier than Letterman? What are you, 17 years old? I would much rather watch Letterman ask the tough questions and deliver “old-school” comedy than watch Leno kiss someone’s ass in the chair next to him for 2 segments. Leno couldn’t think of a good question to ask Jesus if he was sitting next to him.
Whitney, darling, just because you were banned from ever going to another taping of Letterman doesn’t mean you have to go out there making crazy, untrue statements like “Leno is funnier” than Letterman.
Everyone knows the only way that could be true is if you’re Kevin Eubanks and a big part of your job is to laugh too loudly drown out the tepid response to Leno’s hacky “humor”
Seriously, the best (actually only good) thing he does is “Headlines”…and those are mostly funny because of the mistakes, and not so much anything Leno does.
Sorry I didn’t catch the update, but I was too horrified to read on before I commented…thank God for the update.
Leno funnier Letterman? No. Leno creepier than Letterman? Yes, definately yes.
Leno’s head twice the size of Letterman’s? Definitely.
Since we are getting all honest about Leno, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out how much of his show material has been ripped from Howard Stern (the disc jockey, not Anna Nicole’s creepy, money grubbing lawyer).
i knew Ms. Pastorek was kidding with the Letterman/Leno thing, but if I had to endure Adam Sandler hosting for an entire hour-and-a-half I would have broke my TV. just the thought of him makes me angry. his sense of humor suits nine-year-old boys. i can’t stand him…
OK, people, settle down already and read the update. Whitney, remember next time that this is the “inter-web” and people’s sarcasm-o-meter tends to be…less finely tuned.
Obviously Whitney knows Letterman is funnier people. As she wrote, SARCASM people. Don’t you know Whitney by this time?
Now I happened to catch Sandler, and he was not terrible, as in his movie personality type terrible. And considering he was a last minute choice, no one should complain. But that is not to say he should ever be invited back. He is too much of an introvert to be a good host. As Whitney wrote, Bonnie Hunt would be the best choice.
Just adding to the chorus — Vaughn was far and away the best fill-in for Dave.
I would love to see Amy Sedaris guest host. I think she is a Letterman favorite.
I am a Letterman through and through…I rarely think Leno’s show is funny at all.
However, if you are a fan of stand up he is one of the best on stage, and tours constantly.
I think Leno is funnier than Letterman. So I missed Sandler last night cause I don’t even switch channels to see who’s on Letterman anymore.