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I've been watching Letterman on and off during the week leading up to his last hurrah tonight. I really enjoyed the nostalgia of it and I thought it was a very classy farewell.
I was trying to put my finger on when I stopped enjoying the show and I think it was not long after the CBS show started. That seems to be when I stopped watching regularly and would only tune in if there was someone I was interested in seeing. After about the mid-90s Dave would make me chuckle but he rarely made me laugh out loud. Maybe that's just me.
But for a long time the laughs were non-stop and I always loved the attention and appreciation he showed for great artists and sportsmen like Warren Zevon, Paul Newman, and Alex Zanardi. Thanks for everything, Dave.
The past ~6 weeks were special. Last night's Top Ten was greatness, as was the Foo Fighters playing him out (self admitted man crush for Dave Grohl ;) ). Agreed that Dave was best on The Late Show. He mellowed with age. IMO, he never quite recovered after Leno got The Tonight Show gig.
Napoleon
05-21-15, 07:22 AM
Did anyone else here watch his morning show that preceded his late night show. I loved it and could not believe it got canceled. It was the best thing on TV.
While I watched him less and less over the past recent years, his show was the only late night show I'd watch.
Will get more sleep now. Hope you do too, Dave.
opinionated ow
05-21-15, 09:47 AM
I've only seen it on and off over the last decade. I'm pretty convinced Letterman is the only genuinely funny person to host an American TV chat show. I will miss stumbling across him from time to time. I always enjoyed Small Town News and the completely absurd Will it Float.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBf8MyGaEk4
Nappy, I was a sophomore in college when his morning show started. Have to admit, my roommate and I skipped a few classes to watch. This may been about the time that we tried to have three martini lunches......
Even earlier, I was clued in on Letterman when I would visit relatives in Indy and they would brag about this nutty weather guy who also did a late night movie show on weekends.
Ironically, I have been laid up with a kidney stone this week and have been watching Indy 500 classics. I think it was Tuesday, but one of the replays had Letterman interviewing Mario at turn 4 after he went out of the race. Jim McKay initially says let's go to Chris Economacki , cut to Letterman and Mario, and then McKay says sorry, that was David Letterman in turn 4.
I was left wondering if that was a little ESPN homage to Dave......
To add, there was a time a few years ago when Letterman got a little too political for me. Not enough to turn him off, but enough to think that he was just beating up on "insert Republican here".
He is certainly our generation's Carson.
To throw another name out there, I really enjoyed Craig Ferguson. Not often I will laugh out loud at a tv show, but Craig was consistently LOL funny. Just plain absurdity at times.
To add, there was a time a few years ago when Letterman got a little too political for me. Not enough to turn him off, but enough to think that he was just beating up on "insert Republican here".
I enjoy political humor (on both sides of the aisle) but Dave took it too far (see the Palin daughter joke). For a while be seemed to press an agenda that quite frankly was not why I tuned in. I was there for the wacky humor not promoting an agenda (any agenda) or social commentary, although all can be done but not as blatantly as he did. I feel he backed off that in the past year or so. Starting last night's show with "our long national nightmare is over" (http://gawker.com/watch-three-presidents-give-thanks-that-letterman-is-en-1705955605) was fitting. I appreciate that three former Presidents and President Obama participated.
Napoleon
05-21-15, 12:59 PM
I'm pretty convinced Letterman is the only genuinely funny person to host an American TV chat show.
I bet Colbert turns out to be genuinely funny as well.
I pondered whether it was because of the political stuff but I lost interest in the '90s and I don't think that started until after the Iraq war. Thinking about his best bits they're almost all from the NBC show or early in the CBS show.
Craig Ferguson was probably the funniest guy on late night for a while but the talk part was kind of hit and miss. The guy who replaced Ferguson is a waste of air time. He seems like a less mature, less funny version of Graham Norton.
Jimmy Fallon does some funny stuff but he's a little too precious at times.
Lux Interior
05-21-15, 06:42 PM
My favorite - The Alka Seltzer Suit:D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAu0USchCrI
opinionated ow
05-22-15, 05:39 AM
My favorite - The Alka Seltzer Suit:D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAu0USchCrI
I'll take that and raise you this
rbjCqmZCGiw
RaceGrrl
05-22-15, 10:23 AM
This one will always be my favorite.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9uxxqKGmYg
This one will always be my favorite.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9uxxqKGmYg
Yes, but every grown man wants to do this....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5spRGiakb0
:)
Lux Interior
05-22-15, 01:22 PM
I miss Larry Bud Melman. "If you want a nice snack that's easy and quick try Larry Bud Melman's toast on a stick"
Just stupid. :rofl:
RaceGrrl
05-22-15, 02:08 PM
Yes, but every grown man wants to do this....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5spRGiakb0
:)
Not just grown men want to do that... I liked the dropping things off buildings bits. Too funny!
All of these videos remind me why he was so good. He hasn't done any of this for years. It wasn't just the Jimmies that took his audience, it's just as much because he lost an edge.
I went to 3 Late Show tapings. That's where you really saw what a showman Dave was. He'd always still be in front of the audience doing his Q&A when the band started the opening theme song. He'd then sprint backstage, put on his suit jacket, run across to the other side of the stage and then calmy walk out as if he'd been waiting back there forever.
One of his first two jokes was always a callback to something or someone from the Q&A. As an audience member, you immediately felt like you were in on something that the millions of viewers had no idea about.
Sometimes, that rapport would carry through the entire show. I was at a show were the warm up guy introduces Dave, and the first words out of his mouth are, "What a beautiful day in New York. How about we all say 'forget the show' and go to a park and get ***** faced?" (to some pretty big applauds) Later on, when the show comes back from a commercial and Dave remarks, "What a beautiful day in New York. Hey audience, how about we all say 'forget the show' and go to a park?" The audience, in on the joke, went crazy.
That was the magic of Dave.
Here's one of my favorite stories to come out: http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/19/opinions/jillette-letterman-retire/
And the video of the incident in question. The epitome of a joke with a slow burn.
uBRETpVkhNk
I went to Hello Deli last week and met Rupert. He's no different than he was on the show. A truly nice person. I told him the next time he sees Dave to tell him Steve from Indiana stopped by. He said sort of wistfully that he never sees Dave and doubts he ever will again.
/brush with greatness
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