Dr. Joy was my favorite

wow only one? You know I'm a TV addict. It's not about one over the other.


Because I've watched it the longest I will pick Oprah but

Rosie O'Donnell
Ellen Degeneres
The View
and Arsenio Hall are all favs of mine too.

For the straight old "TV talk show" best, I tip my hat to pioneer Phil Donahue.
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/07/pfiade.gif

I was a devoted David Letterman watcher in the '80s, but I haven't been much for celebrity panel talk shows since.  I also loved Johnny Carson, but I don't dig Jay Leno.

For news commentary these days I like Keith Olbermann; although, my favorite personality is John Stewart.  "The Daily Show" is not really a talk show, but a self-described fake news show.  However, I think Stewart would make a great "Tonight Show" host!

I picked other for : Rachael Ray.  What's better than a sexy TV host cooking tasty meals?  Not a damn thing! LOL

Other: Parkinson was my favourite

I would've liked to have picked three...

Ricki Lake (more for nostalgia)
Ellen Degeneres (I love a good boogie in the afternoon)
Oprah (c'mon you gotta give her credit. She's a staple and her health tips are so good!)

Oh Martha's in there too! I love how she cuts off all her celebrity guests - too funny. I love her cooking segments.

I thought about setting the vote count to more than one and I should of; Guess it's too late now, though.  Anyway I, too liked Phil Donahue and Queen Latifah, Heck I even liked Jerry Springer back in the day when the shows were real and without all the fighting.

I went with Talk Soup, but  I also love Ellen and Montel.

I went with Talk Soup, but  I also love Ellen and Montel.


Talk Soup was on the list....ugh I skipped right over it.

Talk Soup was on the list....ugh I skipped right over it.

Talk Soup had some great stuff on it, but the E network was so nauseating you hardly wanted to give it your viewership!

I like Judge Judy!  Trooooly awful!
8)

Talk Soup had some great stuff on it, but the E network was so nauseating you hardly wanted to give it your viewership!

I like Judge Judy!  Trooooly awful!
8)


Judge Judy's pretty good but i really like Judge Milian on People's Court... she takes no prisoners.

Tyra and Montell.

Judge Judy's pretty good but i really like Judge Milian on People's Court... she takes no prisoners.


As soon as I heard Judy say:

You, sir, are an idiot!

I was a fan.  It's like Liz Taylor as "Martha" in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
8)

Martha Stewart=Tool 8-P
My Favs would have to be Donahue, followed by Mike Douglas.

Daytime  talk shows are just so crass "Who my baby daddy", or" my husband is a crossing dressing,pyromaniac,transsexual who is having an affair with my mother, who set my tialer on fire cooking up some crystal meth". ::)

Nightime ones aren't bad so I guess I would have to say Letterman.

It's sorta secondhand, but I think the best time for Jerry Springer was in the mid '90s...AFTER the really serious, Donahue type episodes, but BEFORE it totally became trailer park and chair throwing. It was more like Ricki Lake then - youthful and a little more wild, but still felt somewhat serious.

I love Jerry's final thoughts too, lol. :)

There was a spike in the ratings back in '87 when Oprah had a gang of white supremicists getting out of control on her show.  Then Geraldo Rivera tried to get in the action by faking a beating by some nazi kids.  Then it was a race to the bottom.  And for the last 20 years we've seen the the nadir of the whole thing '92 - '98 and then a slow rise in standards for the past decade.

There was a spike in the ratings back in '87 when Oprah had a gang of white supremicists getting out of control on her show.  Then Geraldo Rivera tried to get in the action by faking a beating by some nazi kids.

That explains a lot. What people will do for ratings eh!  ::) I would've liked to have seen a clip of that very Oprah show.

  Only one choice?  For talk shows it was Johnny Carson and David Letterman almost exclusively.  Only watched these for a few years in the late 80s, mostly because my wife-to-be NEVER, EVER missed them.  One followed the other for convenience...

  As a matter of fact she went into labor in the middle of David Letterman.  It was crazy...

  Uh, the shows.  Opening jokes.  Guests.  Talking.  Blah, blah, blah.  Johnny was always funny in his opening monologue.  Dave was unpredictably wacky most of the time...

   Only one choice?  For talk shows it was Johnny Carson and David Letterman almost exclusively.  Only watched these for a few years in the late 80s, mostly because my wife-to-be NEVER, EVER missed them.  One followed the other for convenience...

   As a matter of fact she went into labor in the middle of David Letterman.  It was crazy...

   Uh, the shows.  Opening jokes.  Guests.  Talking.  Blah, blah, blah.  Johnny was always funny in his opening monologue.  Dave was unpredictably wacky most of the time...



I used to watch Carson in the '80s, but I was more of a Letterman guy back then. 

Also remember the first bona-fide modern shock-jock on TV was Morton Downey, Jr.  Springer was a cross between Donahue and Morton Downey.  He tried to be like Donhuel, but he was Downey all the way!