Top 5 Current Talk Show Hosts

Current because I didn't feel like doing all-time. (Carson? Dick Cavett? etc.)

Ryan's Top 5:

1. Conan O'Brien - The most consistently funny talk show that I've ever seen. He doesn't have off-nights like Letterman, Jon Stewart, and certainly Jay Leno (who doesn't have on-nights). Great and original recurring characters (see: Masturbating Bear, PimpBots). He has more than one funny sketch a night, whereas SNL can go entire seasons without funny sketches.

2. Stephen Colbert - I decided after seeing about two episodes of The Colbert Report that it was better than The Daily Show, and hey, I was right. Bring out the dead to me board.

3. David Letterman - Letterman is to funny as Leno is to boring. Letterman's show is worth watching, and he's good with guests.

4. Jon Stewart - The Daily Show is really not as good as it used to be, but it's still a lot better than most shows on television.

5. Carson Daly - Just kidding. The real number five is...

5. Graham Norton - His show is on BBC America so I don't get to see it all too often. It is, however, really funny.

Dan's Top 5:

1. Stephen Colbert - Probably tied with Conan as the funniest talk show host on air today. I give him the slight edge because of his uncanny ability to stay in character and not laugh at himself. If you want a real treat, watch him alongside Amy Sedaris in "Strangers With Candy," which regularly had me in stitches.

2. Conan O'Brien - Two words - Walker Lever. The skits and characters on Late Night are hit or miss, but if they miss, you can always count on Conan wallowing in self-pity, citing the horrible Late Night budget and getting laughs that way. I agree that SNL is rarely funny anymore, but the last really good episode I remember was the one hosted by Conan.

3. David Letterman - Give me Letterman over Leno any night. He especially deserves a spot in the Top 5 having trademarked his own nightly Top 10. Tends to miss on a few jokes, but pretty funny otherwise, and I agree that he's good with his guests.

4. Jonathan Ross - That's right, I've never seen his talk show, but I imagine that, given his performance in the final episode of "Extras," he's one of the best personalities on British television. I can't say for sure, though.

5. Jon Stewart - Really, I don't watch The Daily Show anymore. It seemed dead to me after I discovered the Colbert Report. Nonetheless, I'm giving props to Stewart here due to his appearance on CNN's "Crossfire" a while back, and the tireless effort he's put forth in the past to ensure that we don't take politics and the media seriously.

I guess I could consider more serious talk show hosts such as Larry King... but seriously, why put forth the effort and perhaps revise my list?

Tim's Top 5:
This is absurdly hard given the amount of television I watch.

1) Stephen Colbert - I don't think there's anything even remotely close to this good on television. The Daily Show is just not as funny as it once was and really does just seem like Jon Stewart's personal agenda. Stephen Colbert is so astoundingly hilarious that I wish they'd release his show on DVD, because I would gladly watch reruns of a show based on current events years in the future.

2) Conan O'Brien - If I had to be any celebrity, there's little to no doubt that I'd choose to be Conan O'Brien. He's funny and he's at his funniest when the material isn't funny at all.

3) Keith Olbermann - Wikipedia lists Countdown as a "talk show", and everytime I've watched Countdown, it's been intriguing. Keith Olbermann is one of the smartest people on TV, and it comes across well, even if he does get in too many bouts with O'Reilly, lending credence to his idiocy.

4) Jon Stewart - Ok, I really do think the Daily Show is lame anymore, but I have already pretty much run out of shows I'll ever watch.

5) Jay Leno - Because he's going to stop doing the Tonight Show and turn it over to Conan O'Brien, I feel obligated to give him credit. Headlines are funny. The rest of the Tonight Show sucks and Jay Leno's not funny. But Letterman's no better.

Tory's Top 5:

1) Conan - Going on fourteen years and still as funny as ever. Not to mention he wrote for SNL and Simpsons. Right?

2) Stephen Colbert - He is very funny.

3) Henry Rollins - A hilarious man with an excellent taste in movies. His show is on IFC if you ever attempt to watch it. I think it only has one episode per month.

4) Letterman - I suppose it's just from watching him so much when I was young.

5) Charlie Rose - I never really watch his show, but I always want to watch his show. It's good when it's on a special edition DVD.