Post by Mod City on May 20, 2015 11:42:55 GMT -5
I saw Mighty Jack had some nice comments on David Letterman retiring in his blog (starting here), so I thought we could use a dedicated thread since tonight is his final show. It is very weird to write those words. I've been watching Letterman since back in the NBC days, and while his work on the CBS show has been good, he never really recaptured that rebel heart he seemed to have when the show was Late Night with David Letterman.
Of course, there have been thousands of words written on his retirement, and you can find them everywhere. I'm sure in the next few days we'll get another several thousand retrospectives and tributes, and that's understandable. He's the last of the classic generation, the last link to the Johnny Carson days. I suddenly feel very old looking back at Letterman's career.
I remember seeing bands like Cracker and the Soup Dragons on the old NBC show for the first time. Those appearances were a big deal. There was no Googling a band you wanted to know about or hear immediately. Stuff like that was reason enough to watch Letterman, but on top of that, he was funny as hell. Goofy. The bits where he went out on the street and talked to people or visited businesses were highlights of the week. Letterman was outstanding at that kind of stuff.
So I'll be tuning in tonight, and I'll try to hold it together. Hopefully I do better than Norm MacDonald did last Friday night (if the end of his set doesn't make you choke up, check your pulse).
Jimmy Kimmel is apparently a huge Letterman acolyte, too, and he's running a rerun tonight instead of a new show so he doesn't compete with Dave. So last night, he talked about how Letterman influenced him as a kid. It's another misty moment.
And for the record, the full version of the sketch Kimmel shows from Letterman's "after school special" is below. Full-disclosure - I loved "Voyagers" as a kid and was extremely down when it was canceled. I don't remember this bit from Letterman, but it made me smile.
Thanks, Dave. Late night won't be the same without you.
Of course, there have been thousands of words written on his retirement, and you can find them everywhere. I'm sure in the next few days we'll get another several thousand retrospectives and tributes, and that's understandable. He's the last of the classic generation, the last link to the Johnny Carson days. I suddenly feel very old looking back at Letterman's career.
I remember seeing bands like Cracker and the Soup Dragons on the old NBC show for the first time. Those appearances were a big deal. There was no Googling a band you wanted to know about or hear immediately. Stuff like that was reason enough to watch Letterman, but on top of that, he was funny as hell. Goofy. The bits where he went out on the street and talked to people or visited businesses were highlights of the week. Letterman was outstanding at that kind of stuff.
So I'll be tuning in tonight, and I'll try to hold it together. Hopefully I do better than Norm MacDonald did last Friday night (if the end of his set doesn't make you choke up, check your pulse).
Jimmy Kimmel is apparently a huge Letterman acolyte, too, and he's running a rerun tonight instead of a new show so he doesn't compete with Dave. So last night, he talked about how Letterman influenced him as a kid. It's another misty moment.
And for the record, the full version of the sketch Kimmel shows from Letterman's "after school special" is below. Full-disclosure - I loved "Voyagers" as a kid and was extremely down when it was canceled. I don't remember this bit from Letterman, but it made me smile.
Thanks, Dave. Late night won't be the same without you.