When I was a kid, the first stuff I stayed up late to watch on TV were horror movies, and David Letterman.



I think I first saw him as a guest on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. I remember having no interest in Johnny at all; I just didn't get him. But that guy Dave was electric! So damn funny and wacky. I became a superfan in later years, watching every night and reading interviews and the Late Night Wars books voraciously.



His sense of humor: dry, sometimes dark and harsh, but also self deprecating and silly, kind of showed me what funny was. I love the non sequiturs he came out with.




Anyway, his final show aired last night and it was great. It really feels like the end of an era! Granted, the new era is well underway and there's lots of great stuff out there. But Dave will always be special.

He's truly a cultural icon…!

I thought this was going to be a discussion about what kinds of pants we like. My answer was going to be: jeans.

Worldwide Pants.

I watched Letterman back in 1997 when my parents refused to subscribe to cable television. Small suburban cities have limited basic channels and CBS was one of the three. So, for one year, I would mess with the rabbit-ear antennas until the top ten ended and I would switch it off.

I tuned in for the last half of David Letterman's final episode. His send-off seemed pretty quiet. The montage of guest clips at the end (many beloved actors like Robin Williams, Joan Rivers, and Paul Newman) was a reminder of how many famous humans he was able to interact with during his time on The Late Show.

Also, The Foo Fighter's “Everlong” sounded exactly like their studio version. I wanted to hear “Monkey Wrench” immediately afterward.

It is definitely an end of an era! Conan is the last remaining late night talk show host from the 1990s.

Sorry I grew up watching Johnny Carson and usually hated when David Letterman guest hosted. I did watch his show, mostly for the top ten lists but it never swept me up like Carson did. Though I fondly remember some of the gags from his original show. I'm old enough to remember when Carl Sagan first went on Carson to pitch Cosmos.

bravo1102 wrote:
Sorry I grew up watching Johnny Carson and usually hated when David Letterman guest hosted. I did watch his show, mostly for the top ten lists but it never swept me up like Carson did. Though I fondly remember some of the gags from his original show. I'm old enough to remember when Carl Sagan first went on Carson to pitch Cosmos.

That's a sign of the age… that we are aging…. Still, events like these mark the end of something that was a part of who we are as culture….

tupapayon wrote:
bravo1102 wrote:
Sorry I grew up watching Johnny Carson and usually hated when David Letterman guest hosted. I did watch his show, mostly for the top ten lists but it never swept me up like Carson did. Though I fondly remember some of the gags from his original show. I'm old enough to remember when Carl Sagan first went on Carson to pitch Cosmos.

That's a sign of the age… that we are aging…. Still, events like these mark the end of something that was a part of who we are as culture….

And makes me realize just how much all of it has just passed me by. I miss Craig Ferguson but love Jimmy Kimmel. He's like a 21st century Steve Allen.

Huh? Steve who?

I first caught Dave when he was on weekday late mornings/noon-ish. It was a skit show, and included video shorts from Rich Hall, who was also hilarious, and I think it's where stupid pet tricks debuted.

I loved the silly, irreverent, non sequitur humor then, and was sorry that he had to ratchet it down a bit (though not always) for his celebrity guests when he got his late night slot.

As for the Tonight Show, Dave was an odd choice to sub for Johnny. Both talented but very different vibes. I get that anyone who was expecting one would be disappointed with ending up with the other. No surprise that the network played it safe and gave the job to Jay, who was stylistically Johnny's apprentice.

Letterman is good but hey, he's no Chuck Barris!

I have many pairs of pants, or trousers if you will… So many.
Antique pairs, vintage pairs, uniform, evening dress, morning dress, leather, flared, codury, flared corduroy, chetah print flares wih fake fur panels, riding breeches… so many pairs of trousers. Too many :(

ayesinback wrote:

I first caught Dave when he was on weekday late mornings/noon-ish…
Dave was an odd choice to sub for Johnny. ..

…Both talented but very
different vibes. I get that anyone who was expecting one would be
disappointed with ending up with the other.

Ah, the fabled morning show! All I've seen of that were a few clips that showed up years later, like some of the Andy Kaufman stuff. Wild, man! Looks like it was quite wacky, especially for a morning show!

That's an excellent point about the difference between Carson and Letterman. Leno IS closer to the Johnny Carson vibe. Jimmy Fallon makes sense in that context too, as the new Carson/Leno.

Conan is more Dave like, while Colbert is kind of the Letterman of now. Or at least he was. It remains to be seen what the new Late Show will be like, but Colbert makes the most sense to me as Dave's replacement.

And time marches on…