My favorites are:

Johnny Carson
Conan O'Brien
Jon Stewart
Jay Leno

3 favs for me are Carson, Letterman & Leno :)

I chose David Letterman....twice ??? and Johnny Carson

No offense to Letterman but he seems a tad bit too arrogant for me.

My favorite is Conan O'Brien, although Jay Leno is a close second.

I like them both because they're funny but both have a "moral" maybe that's the wrong word to use, but neither one of them acts better than other people and as much as they make fun of people, they're none to shy to give praise and compliments to others.

Not to mention Leno and I have a lot in common, he wrestled in high school, really loved wrestling, he studied theatre in college and he has a real love for people.  On the badside to it although a lot of people disagree with me on this, I think I look like him, not that he's ugly or anything but we both got the big lower jaw chin thing going on.

Older shows: Arsenio and Johnny

Newer shows: Conan and Jay

I like Jon Stewart, but I don't consider his show as a variety one.

Tanya

Steve Allen and Johnny were great because they had the most natural, easy-going rapport with their guests. 

Jack Paar was skillful, but a bit affected. 

Arsenio was a great, great talent, vastly underrated.  Oh, come on. 

Conan's great because he's very smart, but very personable -- self-effacing and unaffected.

I love that Letterman's been around so long and is such an institution that he has no reason to be awed by anyone, yet revels in playing the lovestruck adoring fan when interviewing the celebrity babe du jour.  Plus he's got that New York curmudgeonliness and cynicism down pat while at the same time not taking any of it too seriously.

And Jay's just a mensch -- you can tell he's just the salt of the earth and probably goes to bed at night truly thrilled and grateful for what he's been able to achieve.

Dave Letterman is hysterical, but my vote goes to animated superhero/talk show host Space Ghost. What do you get when Conan O'Brien and Star Trek have a baby together? You get Space Ghost: Coast to Coast. The guests are typically B and C-list stars like Weird Al, Adam West, William Shatner, Martin Mull, Bobcat Goldthwait, and Carrot Top.

The storylines that correspond with each other are weird and perfect for a late-night cult cartoon talk show series. Zorak (the keyboardist in the band) and Moltar (the director) are hilarious villains, even when they're not being evil. Moltar is addicted to CHiPs and Zorak wanted to do a musical tribute to Jack Klugman on the women episode (Guests: Fran Drescher, Carrol Channing, and Alice Cooper  ;D). The writing is hysterical and can probably top any other talk show before and since and forthcoming.

Space Ghost himself starred on the original Space Ghost cartoons in the 1960s, with the voice of Gary Owens. George Lowell has been voicing the Ghost since 1994 when the show began. He is really absurd and makes the show very entertaining to watch over and over again.

Letterman

Conan. He kicks some major ass.
Thomas Haden Church has been on his show more than once.

Jay Leno
Arsenio Hall



Howard

Conan O'Brien