Talking today

David Letterman: Jeremy Piven, Elizabeth Banks, Lou Reed

Jay Leno: Terry Bradshaw, Vanessa Hudgens, Jackson Browne

Late Late Show: Little Britain, Tom Morello

Conan O'Brien: LL Cool J, Dead Confederates

Last Call: Christian Lander, Iliza Shlesinger (R)

Jimmy Kimmel: Dane Cook, Dylan & Cole Sprouse, Atmosphere (R)

The View: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Tristan Rogers

Regis and Kelly: Russell Crowe, Isaac Mizrahi

Ellen DeGeneres: Christina Applegate, Sheryl Crow

Tavis Smiley: Peggy Noonan, Scott Glenn

Chelsea Lately: Sharon Osbourne, Heather McDonald, Perez Hilton, Frank Nicotero

George Stroumboulopoulos: Declan Hill, Pink

Bonnie Hunt: Jon Cryer, Gloria Reuben, Tim Reid, Tom Dreesen

Letterman's Top 10

(From The Late Show with David Letterman, Oct. 8, 2008)

Top 10 signs the campaign is getting ugly

10. Three times Straight Talk Express has "accidentally" knocked over Obama's mailbox.

9. Next debate will be moderated by Jerry Springer.

8. McCain keeps referring to opponent as "Sen. Barack Hussein Obama bin Laden."

7. Sarah Palin says she can see Joe Biden's hair plugs from her house.

6. Desperate attempt to connect Obama to the last eight years of Regis.

5. No number 5 -- economy so bad, writer putting everything he owns up on eBay.

4. They have resorted to "Your vice- president's so dumb" jokes.

3. Obama claimed McCain's irresponsibility caused the 1929 stock market crash.

2. Even Dick Cheney thinks they're being cruel.

1. Obama's gloves are off, McCain's teeth are out.

Late-night laughs

(From Oct. 8, 2008)

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

All the networks had their own spin on the debate last night ... each calling it something different. ABC called it Dancing Around The Questions.

It got a little heated at one point when McCain said that we don't have time for on-the-job training. Then I thought, "Well, then, why did you pick Sarah Palin?"

Late Show with David Letterman

I think McCain isn't that great a debater. At one point, he said to Obama, "Hey -- if you're so smart, how come you're not farther ahead in the polls?"

Late Night with Conan O'Brien

The debate between Barack Obama and John McCain is being called flat, boring and uninteresting. As a result, it has been picked up as a fall series by NBC.

The debate was broadcast in foreign countries all across Europe, Asia and South America. Or as Sarah Palin calls them -- Russia.

Today in music history

* In 1962: The BBC banned the song Monster Mash by Bobby "Boris" Pickett.

* In 1965: The Supremes made their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.

* In 1978: Steve Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith were injured when a cherry bomb was thrown onstage at a show in Philadelphia.

-- Hamilton Spectator Internet and wire services