8. LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN; THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG FERGUSON (CBS)
Late-night's funniest one-two punch-liners. Letterman used his grumpiness to full media-storm effect this year, as when he hammered John McCain for ditching Late Show to allegedly get back to D.C., then cut to a CBS News live feed of the candidate primping for Katie Couric just five blocks away. Much of the rest of his year was usefully spent ridiculing celebrity culture. I have such fond memories of the way he made Spencer Pratt look like an arrogant prat with a few terse put-downs and withering stares. Meanwhile, his follow-up act, Ferguson, knew precisely how to fine-tune sincerity and daffiness, no more effectively than when this new American citizen eloquently implored us all to vote.
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