David Letterman went off the
air last night after thirty-five years as a talk show host. And many may not
realize it but it is an important shift in television history. From 1982-1993
he hosted the first incarnation of Late
Night on NBC developed especially for him as a follow-up to Johnny Carson’s
Tonight Show. Since 1993 he has
hosted The Late Show on CBS. And yeah
his show has been fairly generic as of late but still every so often boasted
better writing, interviews, and jokes than the Jimmys for example. And his sense of humour
was really terrific especially back in the day. It’s what got him a number of
guest-hosting gigs on the Tonight Show
before his own started and there his wise-cracking and self-deprecating style
developed into something fairly unique. He also like Carson, took risks at his
show pulling off various random stunts and comedy bits, idiosyncratic segments
some getting him in trouble, like jokingly interrupting another NBC show in the
middle of their broadcast. And that kind of stuff was pretty bold and edgy. And
he maintained a spark of that cutting edge into his CBS years doing things and
ideas no other show would think of. He had a great rapport with guests, never
looking like he needed a script, being friendly but at the same time grating
when necessary bringing celebrities out of their comfort zones. One thing we
wouldn’t have had without him are top ten lists, which he popularized and were
more than anything else his lasting contribution. We make them all the time
(you may have seen a few of mine) and the idea we won’t be able to hear ten
random jokes a night if we choose will take some getting used to. Cracked.com
notes that he basically created youtube: https://youtu.be/ULGPklAhqC8. His
show’s also the reason most know the greatness of Paul Shaffer,
partner-in-crime to Letterman for most of his run. His show also was an early
stepping stone for a number of great writers and comedians including Chris
Elliott, Will Forte, Spike Ferestein, and Dino Stamatopoulos who helped him
make television history over the years. After watching that montage in
that final episode to Foo Fighters’ “Everlong”, it actually looks like a lot of
fun was had.
But I think the saddest
thing about Letterman leaving is he was the last connection to that holy grail
of late night variety: Johnny Carson! Carson who pretty much invented the talk
show and whose sharpness, hilarity, and just chatty fun-loving nature outdid
almost every late night host to come after him. And Letterman WAS Carson’s
successor despite the disputes with NBC and Jay Leno. Now there are a number of
12:30 talk shows, most unnecessary. The only reason that slot opened was
because Johnny and the network liked Dave enough. He was his mentor and a lot
of his influence was seen in Letterman right up to the end capturing that essence
a little better than any of his competitors. Before he died in the mid-2000s
Carson even wrote jokes for him! And so that loss is very much felt. The
final tie to that Carson era of variety television is broken. David Letterman
had a show three years longer than his great mentor and now the landscape of
television has changed. In addition to the departure of the amazing Craig
Ferguson, it feels like American late night has lost some vital limbs. I like
Stephen Colbert so I’m interested in how he’ll turn out, and Conan O’Brien has
always been pretty decent, but apart from that there’s nothing worth watching
in American talk shows. Without the legacy of David Letterman it’s just
recycled bits, poor jokes, scripted interviews, and a lot of unintentional Stupid
Human Tricks!
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