February 2, 2012

"Why are we laughing?"/"I'm not sure."

That's the last line of this montage of moments from David Letterman's 30-years of TV. That's at Gawker, and I'm seeing it this morning, so I missed the tip that there was a 30-years celebration on the show last night. I didn't record it, and I don't keep a DVR subscription to the show, a show that I watched all the time 10 years ago. Or was it 15 years ago?

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

More like 20 years ago.

Carnifex said...

It was the time Dave started to slip from funny man to smart ass. Now's he's falling to just ass.

Johnny Carson was the best that I remember, and like a lot of the greats, I CAN go back and watch Carson reruns.(You drive to the Slausen Cutoff...You take out your Slausen, and you cut it off.)

I saw the bushbaby episode live, where the littlest primate you ever saw is perched on Johnny's head, and it takes a pee. OMG! I thought I was going to die. Johnny doesn't even flinch.

Phil 314 said...

Does it include the intimate intern footage?

dreams said...

I think you have to be a liberal to like Letterman, I've never like him. The same for John Daily.

virgil xenophon said...

In the very, very, early days of his show when the Letterman approach was both freshly hip and pretty much apolitical his show was truly funny. Now he's phoning it in half the time and is a sad, bitterly partisan unfunny guy...I check in occasionally just to see if anything has changed--and each time wish I hadn't..

Portia said...

I don't think I've even watched an episode or two without being prompted that someone special is on or something is happening. I always went to Carson or even Dick Cavett but rarely Letterman. Just really never thought he was funny.

Sorun said...

Does he still make that throat-clearing sound? That one never got old.

William said...

I don't watch him much anymore, but I think his self mockery has taken on an air of self congratulation.....If his audience has followed him from late night into late years, a lot of them, like me, have probably become more conservative. I don't think his comedy plays well with such people. He'd have a bigger audience share if he hired a few conservative writers and aimed a few barbs at the left. Corzine certainly deserves more mockery than Chrystie. I watch Leno. His monologues are jokier and don't seem so rancourous and partisan.

rcocean said...

You haven't missed much. Dave went from "funny guy" to "Boring old fart" about 10 years ago.

The Crack Emcee said...

The Bush years ruined him for me and I never looked back.

in a way, Bush did him in,...