It’s time for the 2009 Awards for Excellence in Late Night Talk Show Doing. Or, if that’s too much of a mouthful, it’s time for the 2009 Golden Woodys. Yay!

There are eleven award categories. Each category contains three nominees. Nominees are selected and winners are chosen based on my viewing of late night talk show episodes during 2009. It may appear that the entire process is ridiculously subjective. I assure you, however, that all decisions were arrived at through deep and intelligent meditation during two twelve-hour car rides between North Carolina and New Jersey.

Category: Best Introduction

Nominees:

Jimmy Kimmel Live
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

And the award goes to… The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Reason: The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson’s introduction is funny, enjoyable to watch repeatedly and does the best job of giving people an accurate preview of what the actual show will be like.

Category: Best Set

Nominees:

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
The Late Show with David Letterman
The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien

And the award goes to… The Late Show with David Letterman

Reason: The Late Show set works for many reasons. First, it’s as sharp as the three-piece suits worn by the host. Second, the theater building has a ton of charm. Third, it does the best job of being huge but feeling warm and intimate for both the audience and home viewer.

Category: Best Band

Nominees:

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
The Late Show with David Letterman
The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien

And the award goes to… Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Reason: This was a very difficult category. All three bands are extremely talented. The Roots, however, brought a freshness to late night television that deserves to be acknowledged and rewarded.

Category: Best Monologue

Nominees:

The Late Show with David Letterman
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien

And the award goes to… The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien

Reason: Conan’s monologues contain the funniest jokes and bits, delivered at an unmatched energy level, the most consistently.

Category: Best Sidekick

Nominees:

Jimmy Kimmel Live
The Late Show with David Letterman
The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien

And the award goes to… The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien

Reason: Andy Richter is damn funny, and his chemistry with Conan makes him a lot of fun to watch.

Stay tuned Thursday for the 2009 Golden Woodys Part II.

If you missed the first five awards, also known as part 1 you can scroll down to my previous post and catch up.

Category: Best Desk Segments

Nominees:

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
The Late Show with David Letterman
The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien

And the award goes to… The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien

Reason: Honestly, no late night show had a consistent level of great desk segments. That being said, The Tonight Show desk segments came the closest by containing the best mix of funny, effort, variety, production and length.

Category: Best Couch Guest Interviews

Nominees:

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Show with David Letterman
The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien

And the award goes to… The Late Show with David Letterman

Reason: Letterman has an age-refined dark sense of humor. This wit makes for decent monologues and fantastic guest interview conversations. He is truly at his best when he uses the gift of speech to love the people he respects, learn about people he wants to know better and torture the people he despises. No two guests are treated equally, and that makes the interviews fun to watch.

Category: Best Musical Guests

Nominees:

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
The Late Show with David Letterman
The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien

And the award goes to… The Late Show with David Letterman

Reason: Like the Best Band award, this category was difficult. All of the nominees had musical guests that gave great performances. The Late Show, however, also had the best variety of musicians, from big stars to bands few people have ever heard of before. A late night talk show has the power to give little-known groups the opportunity of a lifetime, and the Late Show used this power better than the rest.

Category: Best Ending

Nominees:

Jimmy Kimmel Live
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

And the award goes to… The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Reason: While every other late night show competes for how fast they can thank their guests and go to the credits, The Late Late Show goes in the completely opposite direction. Craig ends each show with a segment called “What Did We Learn on the Show Today Craig?” in which Craig, sans tie, sits with his feet up on the desk like he’s had a really hard day, and talks about the show, or anything else that comes to his mind. Then he thanks his guests. It’s funny, it’s different and it’s refreshing.

Category: Best Host

Nominees:

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Show with David Letterman
The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien

And the award goes to… The Late Show with David Letterman

Reason: Letterman had a pretty rough year full of unwanted attention. First, after years and years of procrastination he got married. Then he told an extremely misunderstood Palin joke. Finally, he admitted to multiple affairs and an attempted blackmail plot. Most television personalities would have thrown in the towel, but not Letterman. Instead he used each situation as an opportunity to enrich his monologues and desk segments and bond with his audience. He made jokes about himself as unforgiving as if the problems belonged to another celebrity. Letterman isn’t perfect, but he is a class act.

Category: Best Overall Late Night Talk Show

Nominees:

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Show with David Letterman
The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien

And the award goes to… The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien

Reason: The 2009 award for Best Overall Late Night Talk Show goes to the Tonight Show for delivering the most consistently entertaining late night show viewing experience. Nuff said.

Happy New Year everyone.