It was an amazing run for David Letterman. He outlasted his predecessor and hero Johnny Carson by four years. What’s more impressive is that David received a second chance which was ridiculed by SNL, pundits and fans of Tom Snyder, aka my grandparents.
Anyone under 40 is probably thinking, what do you mean? Back in the Seventies, the movement at NBC to push Johnny out the door really started to gain traction. Why? Not sure. I’m guessing it was how he had outlasted the two previous hosts (Steve Allen and Jack Paar) and gained enough to clout to threaten the NBC brass. Unlike other late-night talk shows, Johnny allowed other people, usually comedians, to host the show for a night to a week. David had the opportunity sometime around the mid Seventies while the network was allegedly grooming the not-funny Chevy Chase. It was hard to see what Johnny saw in David at the time. David didn’t have a strong monologue, his timing was poor, he had this weird self-deprecating laugh and he lacked what audiences were accustomed to from the more popular/respected Bill Cosby, George Carlin, David Brenner, Joan Rivers and Steve Martin. Still, Carson used a good chunk of his political clout to give Letterman his first show on NBC. I think it required a terrible compromise and/or NBC wanted it to fail because David was on during the day, when the majority of viewers were retired people and the dying class of housewives. I imagine these TV watchers were pissed about their game shows being cancelled for something they didn’t “get.” I was in grade school that Summer too. I saw a few episodes. I didn’t find it very funny but there were a couple comedy gems, namely when the guest was fake/a bit.
After this show was canceled, I’m confident David thought his career was over. He would have to return to cameos on sitcoms (see Mork & Mindy), writing for others and depending upon stand-up as his primary income at the mercy of Mitzi Shore. Having Johnny Carson in your corner in 1981 was the closest thing to having a show-business genie on your side.
Unfortunately, Late Night with David Letterman resulted in Tomorrow with Tom Snyder being knocked out to make room. Tom didn’t exactly suffer, he went to work for Ted Turner’s new cable idea CNN. David made it up to Tom when he moved to CBS, his deal granted him first dibs on who followed Late Show and David brought Tom back.
A quick aside joke, this was predicted on an episode of Larry Sanders.
David getting his second crack via a nightly program at 11:30 PM (where I grew up) was the breakthrough he needed. The core audience who appreciated his delivery and willingness to try outrageous gags was college kids. He also gained my respect along with my brother’s. I will always be a fan of Johnny Carson. Johnny was the master interviewer, delivery and deadpan. David was an awesome 90-degree shift incorporating what he and us whipper-snappers learned from Monty Python, early Steve Martin, The Fire Sign Theater and other off-kilter sources. His first decade had numerous bits my generation imitated, primarily throwing crap out of windows and recording the outcome.
His departure to CBS was bittersweet. I know it’s popular to shit-talk Jay Leno but as I keep explaining to Somara about why I want to see Jay in Vegas, there’s two Jay Lenos; the ass-kissing/not very funny version who did daily hosting duties and the stand-up version who amazes like Carrot Top. David did the right thing telling NBC to suck it and he had the opportunity to keep his show in New York.
Like all programs closely tied to a generation, Letterman’s ratings declined as his base aged out with the weight of their adult responsibilities, the growth of cable, comedy finding other venues, the Internet and tastes. I recall not liking Conan O’Brien for years. Conan’s wackiness and off-center approach felt forced, insincere and cliché after 12 years of Letterman doing it first. David was able to capitalize on how he behaved like a “normal” Midwesterner caught in a storm of New York craziness.
Another great legacies I will always be grateful for, Letterman gave Chris Elliott his earliest comedy/acting work; a handful of writers cut their teeth with David before they moved to LA and worked on some goofy cartoon called The Simpsons. Lastly, in the last decade, I loved how David really pulled down his defenses and let his feelings show whether it was telling Bill O’Reilly he was full of shit in person, having the doctors who operated on him take the stage in which he introduced each surgeon/doctor to thank them personally before his cheering audience. Last year David also shared a picture of him alongside two contemporaries who started out at the Comedy Store with him and he nearly teared up about how much he missed them. Those contemporaries were Richard Pryor and Robin Williams.
Thanks for everything David! You’ve earned a good long, undisturbed retirement. I’m going to miss ya’. You paved the way for The Onion, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and other off-kilter ideas. Before you, most TV comedy was less daring.
Here’s a link to 23 things he brought to talk shows, comedy and fact finders.
I’m surprised marriage equality passed let alone with 62%, I figured it was going to lose but by a slim margin. Ireland is rather socially conservative and too wrapped around the Catholic Church compared to its counterparts. Well, France is oddly more homophobic than I thought too.
