I loved the Carson show, expecially when Jim (I think that was his name) would bring animals on the show. Carson was a master at playing off the animals. I believed his reactions, but never knew how much of it was for the audiece's sake.
Letterman was alright when he first started following Carson. He had all kinds of obscure guests, and his quirkiness was a good contrast to Carson. Letterman quickly became old hat in my opinion.

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