My relationship with David Letterman began in college when he hosted his first late-night show on NBC. I immediately fell in love with his sense of humor. I will never forget favorite moments, such as:
- Christmas with the Letterman family
- Catch-phrase tryouts (“They pelted me with rocks and garbage.”)
- Dave telling Billy Idol that his parents must be awfully proud of him
- Anything with Larry “Bud” Melman
After graduation, I recorded his show every night and watched it the next morning as I got ready for work. Cincy and I got tickets during a trip to New York in 1991. Before the show, when Dave came out to greet the studio audience, my hand shot up in response to his soliciation for questions about the show. I knew what I wanted to ask, but fumbled it badly. Pregnant with Kate, I meant to ask if everything would be OK for Cincy during the show. Dave turned it into a joke during the monologue. “I’m no medical man, but it generally takes 9 months (to have a baby),” he said, as the camera focused on Cincy.
In 1993, I championed Dave’s move to CBS and developed a hatred for Jay Leno that has grown exponentially since then. Michael and I got tickets for January of 2000, just as Dave was rushed to surgery for his famous quintuple bypass. Thinking there wouldn’t be a show, I received a telephone call from a Late Show intern while we were in New York asking if we would at the last minute be able to attend the taping of his return show. Absolutely! It was a historic show for a long-time fan like myself and I have a treasured souvenir t-shirt from the event.
I still record Dave every night, on DVR now, though, instead of VHS (or Beta). But I seem to have less time to watch complete episodes. I now fast-forward to the Top Ten List, a feature I used to despise (because I thought he was losing his edge) but now find comfortable, and any guests that I find interesting. I can “watch” an episode in less than five minutes, or when I get behind, as I did recently, 11 episodes in under an hour.
While I will always consider Dave to be the King of “Late Night TV”, I must admit he hasn't outgrown his propensity for hammering a joke into the ground. It’s never turned me off because with my sense of humor, I also tend to beat a dead horse or two. But it’s much easier these days to catch only a few minutes and know exactly what Dave is going to say.
There’s something going on with Dave lately, though. Part cranky old man, part “just doesn’t seem to care anymore”, Dave is absolutely fascinating to watch when his guests are from the news media. I’ve always gotten my news from Dave instead of watching an acutal newscast or reading it from a “respectable” source, so I always watch guests like Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw. And I’ve seen an evolution in Dave in recent years.
I first noticed it when his son, Harry, was born. Dave suddenly seemed very interested in environmental issues, expressing what seemed to be a genuine concern for the future of the planet. He frequently hosted “no-name” guests to talk about global warming and other concerns.
Then, somewhere along the way, he started asking the tough questions; the ones everybody thinks, but won’t really speak. He has grown increasingly persistent, refusing to let anyone off the hook, rephrasing his questions until he either gets a response or is interrupted by a commercial break. The thing is, they are mostly rhetorical questions for which there are no concrete answers, yet by asking them so passionately, he highlights the nonsense and hypocrisy. Dave may appear left-wing in his rants, but he doesn’t retreat from being critical of the current administration and really speaks common sense for all of us.
Here’s one recent example, where Dave discusses the whereabouts of Moammar Gaddafi with Anderson Cooper. This is a perfect example of how he’s not willing to accept the standard “line” from Washington; watch how he uses Bin Laden as a comparison:
And here’s a longer clip with Brian Williams where they discuss the folly of the Republican primary debates. Notice how he’s not being personal; he doesn’t blame any one person for what happened. Instead, he cries out, was there not ANYBODY on that stage who had the balls to defend the gay soldier who was booed? It gets really good at about 4:30:
I will admit that David Letterman too often relies on “Chris Christie is so fat” jokes (although who cannot laugh at a supposed clip of him speaking when the character appearing onscreen is really Jabba the Hutt), but you’re not likely to find a better common sense analysis of the futility of politics than in his grilling of news media (and political) guests. If you haven’t watched Dave lately, you’ve got to give him another try!
And, just so you don't think he's gone all-serious, here's a terrific clip that makes me laugh every time I see it:
I love you, Dave. Long live the King!