The talk-show host may be the most ubiquitous and intimate member of our long television history.

And they offer us the rare chance to see stars and idols and legends in what look to be "real" and "informal" circumstances. These are generally promotional but still rewarding.

After days of reading about Mel Gibson’s transgressions and impending divorce, it is interesting to finally see him, in the flesh, acting like a normal person, answering Jay Leno, when asked if his coming child was a boy or girl, that it would be "a human being." We think then we are seeing the REAL Mel, not the tabloid Mel.

So talk shows have their values, including Jack Paar’s unique sensitivity, Dick Cavett’s in-depth showing off, Johnny Carson’s humorous mischief, Jay Leno’s sheer likeability and nice guyness. This is the country’s informal celebrity forum going on nightly.

I look to see who’s on Leno and Letterman these days, but I can’t stand to watch it all. And I can take or leave all the younger, newer ones, with the exception of my pet, Craig Ferguson, late, late at night on CBS. He is sardonic and off the wall, but not a sadist like Letterman.