I'll say it. I was never a Letterman fan. I'm not sure why. But I did visit Muncie, IN, where he went to Ball State, and there is a plaque dedicated to the eternal "C" student. Which is really funny.
Maybe it's the New York thing, but Letterman is notorious for not liking stand up comedians on his show. In a sense, maybe that's because he had to be the funniest guy in the room. And the whole late night war with Leno. Leno still tours to keep his comedy chops up and CONSTANTLY promoted comedians. He LOVED comedians. Which is why it was so shocking that Letterman got so much more traction. I dunno. It does speak volumes about the "lemming" hipster thing.
It's not that I never found him funny. His style was a lot of repeat until someone found it funny. "Uma/Oprah" like. Yeah, that's what he found funny. There is a snobbery to it. East coast snobbery, which crowned Letterman more the edgier host than Leno. A lot of criticism for Leno came from his inability to interview. Look, they're not in it for themselves. What Letterman never understood was that the stars came first. Letterman seemed to think he was funnier than the guest he interviewed. There's something that I can't place my finger on that is very phony about him. That suspicion culminated in him firing an intern after she tried to extort money for having sex with him. This scenario paints everyone a fool.
Leno still rides motorcycles up to the The Rock Store and hangs with the people. He drives around town in his many cars. He talks to the people. I'm not sure Dave does.
Anyway, he's gone now. And it is a close on late night as I knew it. I don't watch talk shows anymore, so I'm probably the worst judge of it. But a new batch are taking over and I'm sure they'll add to the legacy.
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