Norm Macdonald Wanted To Host A Morning News Show For College Kids (2016)

"The way I felt was this: at one point there was Johnny Carson and there was David Letterman, and that was it. And now I feel there's five thousand Johnny Carsons and no David Letterman. There's no twelve-thirty show. The twelve-thirty shows and the eleven-thirty shows are identical. I wanted originally to do a morning show. I thought, you know, if I did a show for the college kids that woke up, 'cause now they watch MSNBC and Morning Joe and stuff like that, you know, I could give them their news."

“People have a preconceived notion of what Norm is, and a lot of times it’s incorrect,” said Lori Jo Hoekstra, who has worked with Mr. Macdonald since “Saturday Night Live.” In helping to develop new projects for him, Ms. Hoekstra said she had found that people “think he’s much edgier than he is.” She added: “I think he would have been a great replacement for Regis Philbin. I mean that with all sincerity.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/06/arts/television/norm-macdonald-rises-again-on-comedy-central-sports-show.htm