Posted on 05/22/2015 2:44:51 AM PDT by iowamark
Johnny Carson’s retirement truly was the end of an era. Jay Leno’s retirement felt like the end of an era. David Letterman’s retirement feels like the end of an argument that probably mattered once upon a time but now drags ceaselessly on due only to the bitter loser’s unwillingness to let go.
It is not hard to trace the long, sad, bitter fall of David Letterman. In early 1992, Letterman lost “The Tonight Show” to Jay Leno. Letterman believed Johnny’s chair was rightfully his (it was), that he was Carson’s heir apparent (he was), and that he had more to offer than Leno (he did).
Letterman turned the heartbreaking loss of a lifelong dream (a dream we, his devoted fans, shared) into a beautiful piece of performance art. He (and we) coped with this injustice through brilliantly subversive jokes aimed at the NBC suits. Out here in the real world, we also hate our bosses. Out here in the real world, we also dream of open rebellion. And here was our Dave, before our very eyes, living in real time through our pain and humiliation, and doing so with humor, honesty, and dignity...
After a promising start in the ratings, Leno began what would become two decades of beating Dave like a drum. Leno won, and did so handily. Like Dave, we his fans were humiliated. We were so sure we were right. We were so sure we’d bury Leno...
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
he’s finally gone. can we all please just forget him?
Nah, I always liked Leno more than Letterman. Lots of Letterman’s stuff was good, but he too often went over to the mean side.
No matter how I tried I have never liked him. Maybe it’s because he always came across like the mean sneering sidekick of the schoolyard bully.
Letterman was no Carson.
I liked Leno much better.
I liked Leno much better, too. Never did care for Letterman much.
He could have become a hack leftist Senator from a blue rotgut state like NY and stayed in office until he left in the horizontal position. He would have made millions of dollars as well. In any event he slinks off to retirement a very rich man. Boo effin hoo.
Letterman is no different that Chris Christie or John McCain. They started sucking up to the left and lost all credibility.
Leno just "expected it" and seemingly didn't do anything in response to Leno to try and take the chair.
BTW: Letterman's also a world-class prick. About 10 years ago now, my wife and I were guests of Team Rahal at the Indianapolis 500. We were blessed to be given a full package for the weekend which included hotel, meals, admission to pit row before the race, the garages, and the after party because Team Rahal won that year.
As we toured the Team Rahal garage, Letterman was there standing in a corner with a bodyguard next to him. (Bobby Rahal and David Letterman were co-owners of "Team Rahal" and the three cars they had entered that year.)
At one point, my wife leaned over to me and pointing at David Letterman said "There's David Letterman."
Letterman's body guard said to her "don't look at Mr. Letterman."
Excuse me? "Don't look at Mr. Letterman?"
Yup, that's what he said. One of the other couples who was with us also pointed and said "there's David Letterman" to which Letterman's bodyguard told them the same thing.
What kind of PRICK must David Letterman have been to have his bodyguard do such a thing. If the asshole didn't want to be seen, he didn't need to be in the garage.
Must've gotten his jollies over it or something.
Good riddance Letterman.
BTW: Letterman once did his show from Chicago at the Chicago Theater. Wife and I had tickets to go see the show taping and we did.
During the show's taping, Letterman never ONCE acknowledged the crowd once his monologue was done. The "commercial breaks" were filled with Letterman doing nothing but sitting at his desk and sipping water. He never once engaged the crowd past his monologue. It was as if the nearly 2,000 people that fill the Chicago Theater weren't even there.
For the first couple of years of the Bush 43 administration, Leno tried to show a conservative side (or at least a fair side) but I think his wife(s) and friends beat it out of him.
One less lefty in the public eye is a blessing.
Only saw part of his program years back, didn’t like it then and certainly won’t care if I ever see him again. He is your typical liberal!
You should hone your analytical skills before you begin posting. Christie and McCain never “started sucking up to Leftists”. There were Leftists from the womb.
This article gives background to all of that.
Good riddance, Letterman.
I agree. Life is better without Dave.
I never found him funny, never. That was during my high school and college days. He struck me as a con man. Someone who never worked hard at what he did. Never paying the dues... but bottom line.. not funny. HIs humor was always to mock the other person. His desk was set up higher than the guests.
Compared to Steve Allen, Johnny and Jay he was an empty suit. Then in his later years, he showed his true colors when his politics seeped into the show.
In short, his high brow humor was for an elite group...not me.
I never found him funny, never. That was during my high school and college days. He struck me as a con man. Someone who never worked hard at what he did. Never paying the dues... but bottom line.. not funny. HIs humor was always to mock the other person. His desk was set up higher than the guests.
Compared to Steve Allen, Johnny and Jay he was an empty suit. Then in his later years, he showed his true colors when his politics seeped into the show.
In short, his high brow humor was for an elite group...not me.
Letterman’s show was usually an hour long, lip curling sneer.
Yep....this run up to his final show is a non event to me. Long been off my radar.
Someone very, very close to me has written for Letterman for 20 years. Letterman came under the influence of his head writer who was a major left-winger. Letterman banned Obama jokes so the other writers were left stymied. Although the show was a happy camp for many years, the last few years were dreadful according to my source.
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