The only holiday of the year that forces us to stay up until midnight is a good time to look back at late-night network TV in the first 10 years of the 21st century.
And while it took the dispatching of Jay Leno to the 9 p.m. hour to get David Letterman securely in first place overall, he's been the dominant force throughout the decade.
Things have been shuffled a bit lately, with Leno's move promoting Conan O'Brien into NBC's 10:35 p.m. slot Channel 4, with Jimmy Fallon taking over at 11:35. It's still to early to draw any conclusions about Fallon, and it's not surprising that O'Brien's daffy style didn't appeal to many of Leno's old (and older) viewers. Late night, even more than prime time on the networks, is aimed at younger viewers.
ABC has a solid host in its post-"Nightline" position, with "Jimmy Kimmel Live" at 11:35 on Channel 12. CBS has the equally (if differently) solid "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson." That means plenty of quality comedy out there on weeknights, for those who stay up late.
Whether you like Letterman's humor is a matter of personal taste. I've always liked it over the Leno model.
But there's something about Letterman that rises above the rest. Think back to his first show after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Letterman showed an ability to deal with sadness that few in the comedy business could handle. It demonstrated a humanity that rarely comes across from the TV pros. A look back at that clip brings back memories of how we all felt in those days after Sept. 11.
Earlier this year, Letterman demonstrated a different side of his humanity, dealing publicly with an attempt to blackmail him over an affair with an assistant. It stands out because it shows he understands how the modern world works.
And it's impossible to avoid comparing it to Tiger Woods' mishandling of his own mess.
Letterman stood up there in front of millions of people and admitted his sins. He got ahead of the story and while there have been other reports about other women since that one, they haven't had much resonance. He followed up the admission with an apology.
He's far from a perfect man. But there's something about Dave that lifts him above the talented late night crowd.
I'm hoping we have another decade to share with him.
Mark Belling signs on through 2012: WISN-AM (1130) afternoon voice has signed a contract extension that carries him through 2012.
In a memo sent out Wednesday afternoon, Jeff Tyler, market manager for Clear Channel's Madison and Milwaukee radio stations, wrote: "Mark is signed and will continue to be the focal point on talk radio in Milwaukee on WISN through 2012."
He's been on WISN for two decades.
Again, don't worry about Fox and Channel 6: As time runs out on the contract dispute between Fox and Time Warner Cable, it's a good time to remember that this doesn't have any impact on Milwaukee's Channel 6, which isn't owned by Fox. That means Fox network programming -- including NFL games -- won't be affected. Fox Sports Wisconsin also won't be affected.
However, some Fox-owned channels -- FX, Speed, Fuel, Soccer and Fox Reality -- could go dark at midnight.
Tim Cuprisin is the media columnist for OnMilwaukee.com. He's been a journalist for 30 years, starting in 1979 as a police reporter at the old City News Bureau of Chicago, a legendary wire service that's the reputed source of the journalistic maxim "if your mother says she loves you, check it out." He spent a couple years in the mean streets of his native Chicago, and then moved on to the Green Bay Press-Gazette and USA Today, before coming to the Milwaukee Journal in 1986.
A general assignment reporter, Cuprisin traveled Eastern Europe on several projects, starting with a look at Poland after five years of martial law, and a tour of six countries in the region after the Berlin Wall opened and Communism fell. He spent six weeks traversing the lands of the former Yugoslavia in 1994, linking Milwaukee Serbs, Croats and Bosnians with their war-torn homeland.
In the fall of 1994, a lifetime of serious television viewing earned him a daily column in the Milwaukee Journal (and, later the Journal Sentinel) focusing on TV and radio. For 15 years, he has chronicled the changes rocking broadcasting, both nationally and in Milwaukee, an effort he continues at OnMilwaukee.com.
When he's not watching TV, Cuprisin enjoys tending to his vegetable garden in the backyard of his home in Whitefish Bay, cooking and traveling.
