I watched David Letterman more episodes than anyone probably alive, I'm a night owl. Going back to the 80's on his NBC shows, even when Jay Leno was a frequent guest, they never made jokes about politicians. Leno biggest attraction was his sort of ad-lib routine, pulling out a copy of TV Guide and making fun of the shows of the day. Letterman had Chris Elliot as a regular skit doing satire like the bounty hunter, or Marlon Brando, and who can forget Larry Bud Melman.
It wasn't until Letterman moved to CBS and Leno replaced Johnny that political humor came into being in late night monologues. After Conan replaced Letterman on NBC, he almost never did political humor. He stayed along the same lines that Letterman had setup in his time.
I believe ratings currently for SNL and the late night talk shows will show the largest numbers in the age group of 18 to 34, not really much appeal for those of us who are set in our lives, careers and have seen the good years of the shows.
