His Late Night show on NBC debuted February 1, 1982. I was a freshman in college.
Many, many years ago... I know. To give you an idea, consider this: at Drake it was unusual for kids to have their own television in a dorm room. There was one downstairs in the lounge/rec area, I didn't watch much TV back then.
Just a couple years later, when I started working at WHO Radio, I woke up to Johnny Carson at 10:30, so I could get dressed and ready for my shift that began at midnight. So, I was up and out before Dave came on the air.
I can barely stay awake for a 10:30 late night show now! Thank heaven for the DVR. For the past few weeks, I've recorded David Letterman's final programs and watched them while more alert in the early evening the day after they air. Plus, I can scan ahead through commercials so it doesn't take a full hour anymore.
Letterman was an early favorite of mine, but my life just didn't fit easily into his days with an 11:30 p.m. show time. After his move to CBS in 1993, it was easier to catch the Late Show. Still, a full hour for a guy with an early morning job was tough to do, so I'd tune in for the monologue, Top 10 List, and hopefully some stupid human or pet tricks. It was a nice way to unwind at the end of the day.
Yet, here we are... 33 years later. His long run of poking the famous and laughing with the regular folks is over. I suspect we'll see him make an appearance from time to time in specials, but the Late Show was really the last of its kind.
When our youngest chose Ball State - it was fun to see David Letterman's name on the Communication and Media building. Letterman gives back to his alma mater and returned each year for a show or talk. One year, Oprah was the special guest, and my son was one of the lucky ones in the audience. That's a nice touch - remembering his roots and giving back.
Jimmy Fallon is pretty good, I think he will continue to find an audience looking for a laugh and send-off for their day. But it's unlikely we'll have the same kind of sarcastic and sometimes acerbic humor and comments we enjoyed with Dave.
Some of the reason for that is the internet gives us soooo much of that, it's an overload.
He took a genre and made it his own, changing through the years, always more hip than most of us, but not in a way that left us put off.
I'll miss you, Mr. Letterman, Good Night.
Please don't tell me about the final show - it's still on my DVR!
Comments
Post a Comment