Talk Shows The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time  

Ranker TV
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What are the best late night talk shows you always stay up to watch? This list compiles the names of the greatest late night talk shows in the history of television. Everyone knows that each host is different for every franchise; take the Tonight Show franchise, for instance. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is a very different show from The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. Additionally, we all know that each show by the same host is different too; The Jon Stewart Show on MTV is vastly different from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central (owned by MTV), not to mention The Daily Show with Trevor Noah or even with Craig Kilborn.


Screw soap operas -- "late night talk" is the most drama-filled genre in all of television. Read a book by Bill Carter to hear the secrets behind the greatest late night talk shows (and the worst) ever aired. Even with a rich history that dates back to Steve Allen, there is always breaking news on the late night talk show front. Conan births Pete Holmes, Fallon usurps Leno, and Seth Meyers usurps Fallon. But will Kimmel usurp Letterman?

list ordered by

1
98 41
Late Night with David Letterma... is listed (or ranked) 1 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
1982 Late Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night ...more

2
93 37
The Tonight Show Starring John... is listed (or ranked) 2 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
1962 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from October 1, 1962 through May 22, 1992. It originally aired during late-night. ...more

3
95 44
Late Show with David Letterman is listed (or ranked) 3 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2011 Late Show is an American late-night television talk and variety show on CBS. Late Show with David Letterman first aired in August 1993 with host David Letterman, who previously hosted Late Night ...more

4
95 47
The Late Late Show with Craig ... is listed (or ranked) 4 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2005 The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson is an American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish American comedian Craig Ferguson, who was the third regular host of the Late Late Show franchise. It ...more

5
126 66
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is listed (or ranked) 5 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
1993 Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, ...more

6
87 60
The Colbert Report is listed (or ranked) 6 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2005 The Colbert Report is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005 to December 18, 2014 for 1,447 ...more

7
74 47
The Late Show with Stephen Col... is listed (or ranked) 7 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2015 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS, 2015) is an American late-night talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert.

8
66 43
Last Week Tonight with John Ol... is listed (or ranked) 8 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2014 Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO, 2014) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by comedian John Oliver. The half-hour-long show takes a satirical look at ...more

9
75 58
Conan is listed (or ranked) 9 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2010 Conan is a late-night talk show airing each Monday through Thursday on TBS in the United States. The hour-long show premiered on November 8, 2010, and is hosted by writer, comedian and performer ...more

10
76 66
Jimmy Kimmel Live! is listed (or ranked) 10 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2003 Jimmy Kimmel Live! is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by James "Jimmy" Kimmel, and transmitted on ABC. The nightly hour-long show made its debut on January 26, ...more

11
64 57
The Daily Show is listed (or ranked) 11 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
1996 The Daily Show (Comedy Central, 1999) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program. Described as a fake news program, the show draws its comedy and satire from recent news ...more

12
46 42
The Graham Norton Show is listed (or ranked) 12 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2007 The Graham Norton Show is a British comedy chat show broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom. It was shown on BBC Two from February 2007 to May 2009 and has been on BBC One since October ...more

13
56 57
The Tonight Show with Conan O'... is listed (or ranked) 13 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2009 The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show that featured Conan O'Brien as host from June 1, 2009 to January 22, 2010 as part of NBC's long-running Tonight Show ...more

14
43 45
The Late Late Show with James ... is listed (or ranked) 14 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2015 The Late Late Show with James Corden (CBS, 2015) is an American late-night talk show hosted by James Corden. The fourth iteration of The Late Late Show, the talk show features popular segments, ...more

15
38 48
Late Night with Seth Meyers is listed (or ranked) 15 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2014 Late Night with Seth Meyers is an American late-night talk show that airs at 12:37 am Eastern/11:37 pm Central on NBC in the United States, Monday through Thursday. The hour-long show premiered ...more

16
55 82
Ranker Video
2014 The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014 and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal ...more

17
34 52
Real Time with Bill Maher is listed (or ranked) 17 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2003 It's shaping up to be an interesting last few months of 2007. The price of gas keeps spiraling to record highs, while the approval ratings for the man in charge keep plummeting to record lows. ...more

18
40 70
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is listed (or ranked) 18 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
1992 The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that initially aired from May 25, 1992 to May 29, 2009, and resumed production on March 1, 2010 until its ...more

19
24 44
Politically Incorrect is listed (or ranked) 19 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
1993 Politically Incorrect is an American late-night, half-hour political talk show hosted by Bill Maher that ran from 1993 to 2002. It premiered on Comedy Central in 1993, moved to ABC in January ...more

20
40 73
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is listed (or ranked) 20 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2009 Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is an American late-night talk show that aired weeknights at 12:35 am Eastern/11:35 pm Central on NBC in the United States. The hour-long show, which premiered on ...more

21
24 43
The Jon Stewart Show is listed (or ranked) 21 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
1993 The Jon Stewart Show is a late night talk show hosted by comedian Jon Stewart. The program premiered on MTV in 1993 as a thirty-minute daily program. At the end of its first season, MTV's ...more

22
0 0
The Dick Cavett Show is listed (or ranked) 22 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
1968 The Dick Cavett Show was the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks, including: ABC daytime originally titled This Morning ABC prime time, Tuesdays, ...more

23
0 0
The Wanda Sykes Show is listed (or ranked) 23 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2009 The Wanda Sykes Show was an American talk show hosted by comedian Wanda Sykes on Fox that debuted on November 7, 2009. The show was announced in March 2009 by Kevin Reilly. Comedian Keith ...more

24
0 0
Tonight Starring Steve Allen is listed (or ranked) 24 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
1954 Tonight Starring Steve Allen is a talk show hosted by Steve Allen. It was the first version of what eventually became known as The Tonight Show. Tonight was the first late-night talk show, as ...more

25
16 37
Dennis Miller is listed (or ranked) 25 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
looksharp added 2004 CNBC Dennis Miller was the third tv talk show series hosted by comedian Dennis Miller. This series was on for 2 seasons from 2004 to 2005 on CNBC.

26
17 40
Tom Snyder On CNBC is listed (or ranked) 26 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
looksharp added Tom Snyder On CNBC

27
18 44
The Dennis Miller Show is listed (or ranked) 27 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
looksharp added The Dennis Miller Show NBC

28
19 46
The Arsenio Hall Show is listed (or ranked) 28 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
1989 The Arsenio Hall Show is an American late-night talk show created and hosted by Arsenio Hall. There are two separate programs that have been titled The Arsenio Hall Show, both airing in ...more

29
12 31
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee is listed (or ranked) 29 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (2016) is an American news comedy program that airs on Mondays on TBS.

30
11 37
Insomniac with Dave Attell is listed (or ranked) 30 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2001 Insomniac with Dave Attell is a television show on Comedy Central hosted by comedian Dave Attell which ran from August 5, 2001 until November 11, 2004.

31
10 35
The Eric Andre Show is listed (or ranked) 31 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2012 The Eric Andre Show (Adult Swim, 2012) is an American surreal comedy television series created by Eric Andre. Hosted by Eric Andre with Hannibal Buress, the late night talk show features ...more

32
8 30
The Jonathan Ross Show is listed (or ranked) 32 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
The Jonathan Ross Show is a British chat show presented by Jonathan Ross. It was first broadcast on ITV on 3 September 2011 and airs on Saturday evenings following the conclusion of Ross' BBC ...more

33
13 43
Chelsea Lately is listed (or ranked) 33 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2007 Chelsea Lately is an American late night comedy talk show hosted by comedian Chelsea Handler which was broadcast on E!. The show debuted on July 16, 2007, and was produced by Handler's ...more

34
11 38
The Late Late Show with Craig ... is listed (or ranked) 34 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
1999 The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn is a comedy TV program.

35
10 37
Red Eye w/Greg Gutfeld is listed (or ranked) 35 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2007 Red Eye is an American late-night/early-morning satirical talk show on the Fox News Channel, airing at 3:00 am ET Tuesday through Saturday, 11:00 pm Saturday, and 2:00 am Sunday. The show ...more

36
11 39
The Chevy Chase Show is listed (or ranked) 36 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
1993 The Chevy Chase Show was an American late night talk show hosted by actor, comedian and Saturday Night Live alumnus Chevy Chase that aired in 1993 on Fox. The series was canceled after just five ...more

37
11 41
Brand X with Russell Brand is listed (or ranked) 37 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2012 Brand X with Russell Brand was an American late-night talk show, stand up comedy television series that premiered on FX on June 28, 2012, starring English comedian Russell Brand and created by ...more

38
7 32
Later with Bob Costas is listed (or ranked) 38 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
looksharp added 1988 Later was a nightly half-hour-long talk show that ran on NBC from 1988 until 2001. Later typically aired for half an hour at 1:30 a.m. following Late Night with David Letterman from 1988 to ...more

39
5 26
Watch What Happens: Live is listed (or ranked) 39 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2009 Watch What Happens: Live is an American pop culture-based late-night talk show hosted by Andy Cohen that premiered on July 16, 2009. It features Bravo's own reality programming and celebrities ...more

40
9 40
Lopez Tonight is listed (or ranked) 40 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2009 Lopez Tonight is an American late-night television talk show that was hosted by comedian George Lopez. The hour-long program premiered on November 9, 2009, on cable network TBS. Lopez was the ...more

41
7 34
Last Call with Carson Daly is listed (or ranked) 41 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2002 Last Call with Carson Daly is an American late night television program hosted by Carson Daly and broadcast on NBC. Formerly a traditional talk show, the half-hour program consists of several ...more

42
8 38
Kathy is listed (or ranked) 42 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2012 Kathy is an American late-night talk show hosted by Kathy Griffin. The show debuted on April 19, 2012 at 10:00 p.m. on Bravo and aired every Thursday. The show was renewed for a second and final ...more

43
6 32
Later With Greg Kinnear is listed (or ranked) 43 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
looksharp added Later With Greg Kinnear

44
6 33
The Pete Holmes Show is listed (or ranked) 44 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
The Pete Holmes Show

45
6 36
Thicke of the Night is listed (or ranked) 45 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
1983 Thicke of the Night was an American late night talk show starring Alan Thicke produced by MGM Television, distributed in syndication by Metromedia and broadcast in first-run syndication during ...more

46
4 34
The Kilborn File is listed (or ranked) 46 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2010

47
3 31
Alan Carr: Chatty Man is listed (or ranked) 47 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2009 Alan Carr: Chatty Man is a BAFTA award-winning British comedy chat show presented by comedian Alan Carr. The show features interviews with celebrity guests, sketches, topical chat and music. The ...more

48
1 28
Talkshow with Spike Feresten is listed (or ranked) 48 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
2006 Talkshow with Spike Feresten was an American late-night talk show television program on Fox starring Spike Feresten that aired from September 16, 2006 to May 16, 2009. It was the longest-running ...more

49
1 31
The Edge with Jake Sasseville is listed (or ranked) 49 on the list The Best Late Night Talk Shows of All Time
The Edge with Jake Sasseville was an American late-night television talk show created and hosted by 24-year-old Jake Sasseville. The series combined celebrity interviews, unscripted comedy, and ...more