'The Voice': Anyone else suddenly realize they missed Carson Daly?

After Carson Daly left TRL, he was pretty much dead to me. He’d left the loyal TRL viewers with the likes of Damien Fahey (who comparatively has the personality of a baked potato) to do a talk show during what I then knew only as “that hour when old dudes make jokes that aren’t funny.” (I’ve changed my opinion — I think.) So he’s been generally out of sight and out of mind since 2002 — save New Year’s Eve, when he and the puffy coat brigade camp out in Times Square. Then, I bumped into him on The Voice last night, and found myself wondering why he hasn’t been on primetime TV this entire time and who made the unfortunate decision to bury him on Last Call.

I didn’t realize until last night how much I missed Fun Carson, as we watched him wait backstage with the contestant’s families. There was no shtick, no banter that was secretly being used to bring attention to himself, no frosted tips. (Yeah, I might be talking about someone.) It was just Carson Daly, friend to the people, sort-of-nerd, all-around chill guy, who was once again hosting a show that we’re probably now going to overly invest in. It was great.

My favorite part of last night’s episode, for example, was when he started celebrating with Tje Austin’s family after the singer was picked to advance. “I want to be in this family!” Carson said, inviting himself into the group hug that was taking place. It was genuine and sort of dorky — which is how Carson won us over in the first place.

Are you with me, PopWatchers? Did it feel as though Carson appeared out of nowhere and wedged his way into your good graces? Did you enjoy him as a host as much as I did? And do you miss TRL? (Okay, that’s not totally related, but I do. So I wanted to make sure I wasn’t alone.)

Follow Sandra on Twitter: @EWSandraG

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