Letterman

Yeah, I know, wrong forum. Go fuck yourself.

I haven't tuned into Dave since college - when he was funny and not really, really bitter - pre-bypass if you will (or pre-sobriety).

I'm curious to see how tonight's last show will go. Missed Bill Murray last night, which would've been nice, but I'll tune in tonight and see how this goes.

Dave as a show to watch died for me when he came back from his bypass and declared that he was off the sauce and drinking decaf - "just as good as non-alcoholic gin" he said. That was it.

Pretty funny Top 10. Steve Martin is an ageless wonder and Bill Murray is still the man.

Drive thru Taco Bell bit was classic Dave.

Solid send-off without being over the top.

Think I'll watch it. I thought he was dead for about 10 years then caught him again and check in now and then. Ski to be watched the stars walk out of the building. Maybe he'll do a TR.

I guess it's too late to hope he'll be funny some day.

I thought the "day in the life" segment was pretty interesting. I guess I was under the impression that he rolled into work at like 3:00, couple dry runs on the jokes, film for an hour and a half and then a limo ride right back to his compound. Seems like he worked pretty damn hard on the show, funny or not.

Thinking back over his career, I realized I actually never watch the show. I might have watched a few minutes flopping through the channels, but never once a whole sjow. Did miss someting? Now that I think about it, the same applied to Leno. I guess late night ended for me with Carson.

Stopped being funny after 2000 or so. The stuff before that was great.
I don't get late night these days. It's all a race to mediocrity. Jon Stewart is the only thing I can watch.

I love letterman. Haven't regularly watched since the 90's but would still catch a show here and there along with clips online. He always had great musical guests and is great with the interviews. 1000x better than Leno ever was. Show last night was a great send off.

Ive been soaking up every last drop, I'm a huge Letterman fan. I have last night DVR'd, Im looking forward to it. That man is fucking icon. Its all Kimmel going forward.

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Originally Posted by Dhelihiker

Ive been soaking up every last drop, I'm a huge Letterman fan. I have last night DVR'd, Im looking forward to it. That man is fucking icon. Its all Kimmel going forward.

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I was reading an interview w Letterman from a few years back where he essentially said the same thing about his viewing of Carsons last shows. Soaking them up and feeling it slip away a little bit every time Carson threw to commercial. He said he had a profound sadness for weeks after Carson left the show.

I found an even older bit that was about him consoling a kid whose favorite TV show was cancelled.

"Don't worry Timmy, your show will live on in syndication and reruns [and now youtube] and you can visit it anytime."

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Originally Posted by Dhelihiker

Its all Kimmel going forward.

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Colbert is going to eat Jimmy's lunch.

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Originally Posted by mud

Colbert is going to eat Jimmy's lunch.

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blasphemy

It will be interesting to see what Colbert does. I like Colbert but kinda wish Craig Fergusan had gotten that gig. Huge respect to Kimmel and Conan for telling their viewers to watch Letterman and thanking him for their careers. Seth Meyers redid the Late Nite opening and had some good moments. Even That Tubby guy did a nice bit w Sting and a decent top ten list to jump lately onto the band wagon. Fallon is a more talented Leno but Meh everything he does seems soooo disneyfied so I couldn't stand to see him say anything on the topic.

Fallon is a little too safe and one dimensional, but he seems like a cool guy. Ran into him in bozeman at the filling station back in '99. That says something in my book!

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Originally Posted by Yonder_River

Fallon is a little too safe and one dimensional, but he seems like a cool guy. Ran into him in bozeman at the filling station back in '99. That says something in my book!

Sent from my SPH-L710 using TGR Forums

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It's says he needed gas or had to take a dump. Actually I agree he is prob cool, I think my main problem w him is the horrible non conversational and relentlessly shilling interviews.

Dave stopped being worth watching in the 90s IMHO. That's on top of me never liking Paul Shaffer, despite his being in Spinal Tap. Early on I thought the show was hilarious, especially Super Dave Osborne and Chris Elliott's "Guy under the seats," but Dave himself? Meh. Guess I'm not a late night network guy - Carson was too sugary for me, then Leno deserved to be beaten with a bat. Kimmel has some great bits as does Conan, but the format in general just kinda bugs me. We'll see what Colbert brings to the table. I honestly hope he breaks the tried and true format of "Stand-up > recurring skit > guest interview > musical guest."

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Originally Posted by Tippster

Dave stopped being worth watching in the 90s IMHO. That's on top of me never liking Paul Shaffer, despite his being in Spinal Tap. Early on I thought the show was hilarious, especially Super Dave Osborne and Chris Elliott's "Guy under the seats," but Dave himself? Meh. Guess I'm not a late night network guy - Carson was too sugary for me, then Leno deserved to be beaten with a bat. Kimmel has some great bits as does Conan, but the format in general just kinda bugs me. We'll see what Colbert brings to the table. I honestly hope he breaks the tried and true format of "Stand-up > recurring skit > guest interview > musical guest."

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I grew up watching Letterman and then Conan in the 90's, for some reason I never liked Leno. I think maybe you just don't like that format, but Dave pulled it off better than, well, anyone. There was something authentic about his ambivalence towards celebrity, and that authenticity made him great at the actual interviews. I think Letterman has great timing, certainly isn't as witty as Conan, but he wasn't just a comedian; he was a broadcaster as well. He also did a lot of good for music, especially indie, folk, and americana. Plus, he skis in Carhartts at Targhee. Come on, that is pretty badass.

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Originally Posted by mcski

It's says he needed gas or had to take a dump. Actually I agree he is prob cool, I think my main problem w him is the horrible non conversational and relentlessly shilling interviews.

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The filling station in Bozeman is a dive bar that sometimes gets surprisingly good musical acts.

Sounds like most of you punks were to young to see Carson in his heyday. Everything since has just been an also ran. Of course some say the same about Jack Par, but I'm not that old. I went to a couple tapings of Carson (had an uncle who was as NBC exec, great seats up front, stage door access), he was even better in person

Carson was king and Letterman wouldn't put himself in that class...but I would. I loved watching Carson. He was cool. But I also recall some painfully brutal SNL take downs during the downslope of his career. All the same complaints of letterman in recent years. Carson didn't disembowel phonies like Letterman or take on political hacks. His ripping McCain for lying to him was only 7 years ago. That was genius. And all the bands that got their break on the show was amazing.

As another old fart weighing in, I'll say Carson was very good in his way but Letterguy was cutting edge for the first half dozen years. Cutting edge and fucking hilarious. Must say in haven't watched but a few odd minutes of Dave for 20 years but did catch the final (much to the detriment of my sleep), but I figured I owed it to Dave. The photo Montage at the end of the show made me misty eyed. Some of my very formative years (20-25) were spent watching him and likely my sense of humor was influenced by his comedy. So long Dave, you set the standard high.

I always hated Letterman. Unwatchable. I think Fallon is the true successor to Carson.

Fallon is extremely talented and can be extremely funny. But he is comedy for the masses. Safe is boring comedy. No one is safer. Plus he is awful at interviewing.

Carson and NBC both picked Dave to succeed as the host of the tonight show and he was offered the gig at least twice. That says it all.

Fallon's bits are the contemporary equivalent of Aunt Blabby and Floyd r Turbo.

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Originally Posted by mcski

Fallon is ...awful at interviewing.

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He has a fun show for sure. However, I agree that his interviews turn into him giggling like a school girl which really gets annoying after a while.