After Losing to Jay Leno, David Letterman’s Bitterness Cost Him His Indiana Soul

Breitbart News ^ | 20 May 2015 | John Nolte

[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...

[TBP]

Leno was fair minded and mocked everyone. Letterman is a bitter, angry, unfunny leftist.

That’s why Stephen Colbert is the perfect successor.

[miss marmelstein]

Talk show hosts don’t engage the audience or their guests during the commercial breaks. As a kid, several of my family members wrote for Carson and I was often at Rockefeller Center to see the show. Carson never spoke to his guests or the audience once the lights went down. Something about “saving it for the show” was always the answer to my question. Comedians are infamous for not being either funny or particularly pleasant off-stage. They’re kind of angry.

[PistolPaknMama]

I never did watch The Tonight Show again after Leno got it. Just never warmed up to him. But I never watched Letterman much either. Neither of them had the class that Johnny Carson did.

[MuttTheHoople]

I used to be a HUGE Letterman fan. He started turning me off in the late 1980's when he tried to do a show during the Writer's Strike...he was absolutely horrible.

That showed me he was nothing without his writers as a crutch. You can watch "funny Letterman" every night on the Conan O'Brien show.

Also, Letterman used to abuse (emotionally and sexually) his female staff workers. Finally, his bit against Bristol Palin . He deserves to be throat-punched.

[7thson]

I think people like Letterman were always mean. Once he became ensconced in his leftist environment, he let it all hang out. I can not see how you can call someone intelligent who thinks the person currently residing in the White House is a decent person. One of the best things about Carson, his show, and his guests, you did not know their politics - which was cool. They were on to either plug their latest project or just to hang out and talk. It was loose and informal. Another thing about Carson - he was one of those individuals who never lost his good looks. The older and nastier Letterman got, the uglier he got.

[Gandalf_The_Gray]

In short, his high brow humor was for an elite group...not me.

I always saw his as an arrogant New York prick. His "humor" was based on cruelty and I suspect he was the sort of kid who pulled the wings off a fly and thought it funny.

Glad he's gone and soon to be forgotten.

Regards,
GtG

[Gandalf_The_Gray]

Oops, his = him

G

[zaxtres]

He may be gone from the public eye but he is still in the realm of the public. He has his hands into a wide variety of things you would never thought he had. I grew up watching Letterman because that is what my dad watched - well okay slept through while the tv was on but you could never change the channel without waking him up. After Carson died and Letterman didn’t get the job it all went downhill from there. I can’t say I am a Leno fan mostly because I couldn’t stand his voice but he was definately better than Dave and refreshing. The fact Dave was unwilling to change his show showed unadaptable he was and the major factor in why they did not hire him to take over for Carson.

[Skooz]

That is a superb and insightful article. I can relate to, and agree with, every word.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Got the same from the article. It puts into perspective the nutshell view that at some point Letterman decided to give the middle finger to those who got him where he is now.

[11th Commandment]

Agreed this was a good read. However, until all the hoopla of his retirement, I thought Letterman was dead.

[nikos1121]

I couldn’t put it more succinctly than you have. I don’t think I ever laughed at the guy once. He struck me as a sexually frustrated nerdy kid who had that radio voice and humor that caught on for some, and next thing you know he thinks he’s bigger and better than he is. Kind a like a poor man’s Howard Stern.

When he mocked the Palins...that basically proved the point.

Would have been a disaster had they picked him over Leno.

[zzwhale]

a weird cynical snide libtard hipster midwest ahole...adios mfer the personification of the dumbing of amerika.. hey get your teeth fixed too while youre at it ....

[miss marmelstein]

Actually, behind the scenes Leno was the conniver during the Carson debacle. Letterman was fairly normal then. Leno’s agent was a monster who according to some, pushed Carson out earlier than he wanted to go. All of Carson’s writers went with Letterman. None of them stayed with Leno. To this day, I hear bad reports about Leno.

[Nea Wood]

Comedians are infamous for not being either funny or particularly pleasant off-stage. They’re kind of angry.

That has absolutely been my experience. They say comedy comes from pain, and many comedians had tough childhoods and learned to be funny to protect themselves. They tend to have issues.

[SaraJohnson]

Poor guy has no class. I did not see him when he was young, but in these days, he’s a crank.

[martin_fierro]

Apart from Letterman's cheap shots at Sarah Palin's family, there are only two shows that I will remember, neither of which directly involved Letterman:

• James Woods once appeared on the show and told the story of his being a struggling actor in the early 70s.

  Woods related how he showed up for an audition and was unexpectedly told to sing.

  The only song he could come up with was Judy Collins' fey classic, "Both Sides Now."

  

  James Woods. Singing "Both Sides Now." Think about that.

  He illustrated in a reedy and warbling voice: ♪♬ "Boooooowwwwwwws annnnnnnd flooooooowwwwws of angel haaaaiiiiiiirrrr...." ♪♬

  Woods said that as he left the audition, some guy in the back of the theater told him, "You are one brave woman."

• Letterman once ambushed Jerry Orbach and boorishly made him do a dramatic reading of his lines from "Dirty Dancing."

  

  The graciousness with which Orbach agreed to do the reading was impressive.

[Captain Peter Blood]

That was the same time that Carson was waiting for the strike to be over and then decided to go back on and write his own stuff. Well Carson really was pretty talented and a good writer. I tell you the stuff Carson was writing was better than what his writers were doing and it was really funny stuff.

So interesting that Letterman was trying to imitate his hero and could not do it. Should have had Carson writing for him.

[Moonman62]

One thing that people don’t mention is how self-deprecating Letterman is. Even during his finale, there was more criticism and jokes about himself than anyone else.

And he’s always been that way.

[Cecily]

I seem to recall that Carson also saw David Letterman as his successor - a kindred Midwesterner and spirit.