Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Greenfield: Good Riddance to Letterman
Sultan Knish blog ^ | Tuesday, May 26, 2015 | Daniel Greenfield

Posted on 05/27/2015 5:18:53 AM PDT by Louis Foxwell

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Good Riddance to Letterman

Posted by Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blog

David Letterman’s departure isn’t the end of an era. The era of late night talk shows ended a while back.

In Johnny Carson’s final week in the nineties, he played to an audience of twenty million. Lately, Letterman has been lucky to get 2 million. His final shows have played to around 5 million viewers.

 Late night talk shows still exist, but their intended audience mainly watches viral clips from them the next day. The average age of Letterman’s audience is 54. CBS hopes that the equally smarmy Stephen Colbert will be able to bring his younger audience demo with him, but even Jimmy Fallon couldn’t bring down the average age demo all that much. Colbert will shave a few years off and then spend his time getting old and stale. Even before then, the networks will collapse and take his new job with it.

The Late Show isn’t a beloved American institution. It was created by Letterman’s inflated sense of entitlement. It failed in its purpose, as Letterman lost to Leno, and it won’t outlive Letterman by long.

The tributes to Letterman carry heavy doses of media self-importance and self-pity. And these days the two are one and the same. The media isn’t really nostalgic for Letterman’s smarmy laugh; it’s mourning the loss of a time when limited options maintained captive audiences for every fellow media dork awarded a big three network microphone and its incredible power of nationwide prime time airtime.

It’s a power that doesn’t seem all that impressive now when worldwide audiences are a click away.

That’s why the controversies over Brian Williams or George Stephanopoulos are tempests in a broken teapot. The days when a Walter Cronkite could embody the news are gone. The days when a David Letterman sneer could drive public opinion have gone with it. In his last years, Letterman was trying and failing to compete, not with Jay Leno, but with a world of YouTube base jumping and cat video clips.

Younger hosts are slobbering over Letterman to be able to pretend that they too are a direct link to Dick Cavett or Johnny Carson, instead of glorified Buzzfeed employees whose real job is producing 2-minute clips viral enough that next morning mobile users will wait through a 30-second ad to watch them.

Like the leftovers of the media, Letterman’s job had become a comfortable sinecure. He said all the right things about how awful Republicans were, even if no one was paying attention, and in return his colleagues in the media avoided asking too many uncomfortable questions about his sexual harassment, the resulting manufactured blackmail incident and the toxic environment behind the curtain.

It’s this same culture of complicity that allowed Brian Williams to get away with telling so many crazy lies for so long or allowed George Stephanopoulos to play journalist. The mafia has nothing on the media when it comes to keeping quiet about the sins of progressive colleagues. He may have been a sleazeball who had issues with women, but like the BBC’s Jimmy Savile, he was their sleazeball.

When Letterman compared Sarah Palin to a "slutty flight attendant" or joked about her 14-year-old daughter being “knocked up”, that was the host that female employees had complained about being applauded for his behavior by a progressive audience and its media gatekeepers. It was okay because the target was a right-wing foe. But to Letterman, it was just okay. Period.

Dave’s media pals forgave his many sins. The biggest of these may have been that he wasn’t funny. No matter how much the media tried to prop him up as the thinking man’s late show host, audiences knew better. A decade in, Letterman had fallen into the bad habit of many successful comedians of beating a routine into the ground. But his awkward fumbling comedy had never been funny to begin with.

Beating it into the ground only made it worse.

Letterman survived his lean years by fawning over Democrats. He could be counted on to pitch softball questions to Hillary Clinton or ridicule every objection to Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Now he is being replaced by Stephen Colbert who embodies Letterman’s sole virtue of mocking Republicans. Colbert exists entirely in the negative space occupied by Letterman’s humorless sneering.

Comedy has become politically tribal. The only safe subjects for humor are jokes at the comedian’s own expense and the ridicule of outgroups in order to reinforce the prejudices of the ingroup community. The showy insecurity or awkwardness of progressive comedians like Jon Stewart and Letterman serves as cover for the degraded state of their comedy which consists of pointing and laughing at the other tribe.

Letterman had anticipated the progressive direction of comedy. He had been ahead of his time in realizing that the only truly safe jokes in a politically correct media environment are aimed at Republicans. He had understood that arch knowingness counted for more than sharp comedic timing or a quick wit because it would seem like intelligence and even sincerity to duller audience members.

He knew that the media would not care if he was funny, only that he carried forward its agenda. If he didn’t, it would call him a sellout and a hack. If he did, it would pretend to laugh at all his jokes.

Most of all he realized that politically correct comedy needs an edgy façade to mask its cowardice.

Progressive comedy is above all else lazy and Letterman was the laziest man in comedy. He had more staffers than Eisenhower all to deploy the thousandth itineration of the same joke. He used his power to fill the time slots after him with hosts who couldn’t possibly compete with him to avoid being Conaned.

He was not a liberal by conviction, but out of laziness. When challenged by guests like Bill O’Reilly, he quickly folded. His politics were not thought out, they were unthinking. For all his pretense of eccentricity, he was a conformist who understood that if he played the game, he would get paid. His comic personality, the folksy skepticism and detached disdain served up in measured doses to viewers, was calculated to cover up this essential attribute that defined his enormously lucrative career.

Letterman is a professional sycophant who limos off into the sunset to the strains of the sycophantic braying of a dying industry. As audiences dwindle, the media has become its own audience, mourning the passing of its glorious past by taking hits of nostalgia from its heady days of power and privilege.

The mournful tributes piling up in his wake aren’t about him. Network television is dying. Letterman was one of its last national figures. If you think mainstream media outlets are carrying on over his exit, wait until network television dies its inevitable demographic death.

Then the media will really have something to cry about.


TOPICS: Government; History; Politics; Religion
KEYWORDS: greenfield; sultanknish
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-44 next last
Sultan Knish/Daniel Greenfield Ping List notification of new articles.

FReepmail or drop me a comment to get on or off the Sultan Knish ping list. I highly recommend an occasional look at the Sultan Knish blog. It is a rich source of materials, links and more from one of the preeminent writers of our age.

We are uniquely privileged to be able to enjoy DG from our perch at FR.
Lou

1 posted on 05/27/2015 5:18:53 AM PDT by Louis Foxwell
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: daisy mae for the usa; AdvisorB; wizardoz; free-in-nyc; Vendome; Georgia Girl 2; blaveda; ...

One more smarmy sicko down the tubes.

2 posted on 05/27/2015 5:21:07 AM PDT by Louis Foxwell (This is a wake up call. Join the Sultan Knish ping list.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Louis Foxwell

I’m glad somebody finally said it.


3 posted on 05/27/2015 5:30:22 AM PDT by circlecity
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Louis Foxwell

Posting duplicates again, I see.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3292930/posts


4 posted on 05/27/2015 5:35:12 AM PDT by humblegunner (NOW with even more AWESOMENESS)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Louis Foxwell
“Letterman survived his lean years by fawning over Democrats. He could be counted on to pitch softball questions to Hillary Clinton or ridicule every objection to Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Now he is being replaced by Stephen Colbert who embodies Letterman’s sole virtue of mocking Republicans. Colbert exists entirely in the negative space occupied by Letterman’s humorless sneering.”

Scary isn't it... that there are a couple generations of Americans whose SOLE ‘understanding’ of politics in this country is drawn from what creeps like Letterman spew in their role as comedians and entertainers.

Where is it written that any of them has a degree (or anything LIKE it) in political philosophy, economics, history, political science, etc. ?

Biased idiots have shaped the future of American politics for too long.

Think of it this way... how good would a ‘dish’ BE if the chef used ONLY salt to season it?

At some point you'd be looking for a different ‘dish’, right?

5 posted on 05/27/2015 5:38:22 AM PDT by SMARTY ("When you blame others, you give up your power to change." Robert Anthony)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Louis Foxwell

Yes indeed. What is his background?

Nice to see a grounded analysis of DL. He lost to Leno, was not funny, and resonated mainly with old liberals via a dying medium. Nice.


6 posted on 05/27/2015 5:38:28 AM PDT by cicero2k
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cicero2k

Who is/was this Lettercarrier fellow? I seem to have missed him.


7 posted on 05/27/2015 5:41:40 AM PDT by certrtwngnut
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: cicero2k

Letterman’s show was one hour long continuous lip curling sneer.


8 posted on 05/27/2015 5:41:43 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks ("If he were working for the other side, what would he be doing differently ?")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Louis Foxwell

He was funny once, in an absurdist way, then he just became a surly crank, trying to pretend he was still funny. At least he was better at that game than Chevy Chase.


9 posted on 05/27/2015 5:42:49 AM PDT by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Louis Foxwell
The era of late night talk shows ended a while back.
Never watched Letterman - not once.
I started watching Steve Allen and Jack Paar and after decades of Johny Carson I knew no one would ever be as good or better.
10 posted on 05/27/2015 5:47:05 AM PDT by oh8eleven (RVN '67-'68)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cicero2k

That photo of him and the first rapist says it all.


11 posted on 05/27/2015 5:49:14 AM PDT by longfellow (Bill Maher, the 21st hijacker.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Louis Foxwell

Nice article, insightful and devastating.


12 posted on 05/27/2015 5:50:36 AM PDT by JusPasenThru (but if not...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dead

Agreed, he was funny at first. His morning show was very funny. He did things like stupid pet tricks and stupid human tricks. He would put on the Velcro suit and jump against the wall and stick. He made fun of himself by playing the fool. He dropped things off of buildings to see what happened when they hit the ground. He came up with the top ten lists. These were all new on his show.

Then he started to change. I think it started some time after he lost the Tonight Show to Leno. He became a mean vindictive old liberal hack.


13 posted on 05/27/2015 5:55:10 AM PDT by woodbutcher1963
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Louis Foxwell

I am thoroughly impressed with Greenfield. He illuminates truth in a way that is increasingly rare. I would like to be on that ping list please.


14 posted on 05/27/2015 6:05:32 AM PDT by Thistooshallpass9
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: certrtwngnut
Who is/was this Lettercarrier fellow? I seem to have missed him.

You lead a blessed life - most of us had to notice him to decide he wasn't worth our notice.

15 posted on 05/27/2015 6:06:35 AM PDT by trebb (Where in the the hell has my country gone?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: dead
He was funny once, in an absurdist way, then he just became a surly crank, trying to pretend he was still funny. At least he was better at that game than Chevy Chase.

Yeah, I watched him occasionally for the first couple of years, but it didn't take long for his schtick to become old.

One telling point to me is how he reacted to Joe Piscopo's mocking of him. Joe would show up on his show with a fake gap between his teeth and mimic him (it was pretty funny). Letterman tried to hide it, but it was obvious he didn't take a dose of his own medicine very well. Joe quickly disappeared after being a regular, and the episode said much about Letterman's character, or lack thereof....

16 posted on 05/27/2015 6:17:00 AM PDT by awelliott (What one generation tolerates, the next embraces....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: humblegunner

Half witted again I see. Do you not notice these articles are from different publications? They contain differences based on the author’s rewriting before posting at his blog. You are tiresome.


17 posted on 05/27/2015 6:17:36 AM PDT by Louis Foxwell (This is a wake up call. Join the Sultan Knish ping list.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Louis Foxwell

Mind adding me to your ping list?
Thanks


18 posted on 05/27/2015 6:19:07 AM PDT by mowowie (`)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Thistooshallpass9

Happy to include you.


19 posted on 05/27/2015 6:19:11 AM PDT by Louis Foxwell (This is a wake up call. Join the Sultan Knish ping list.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Louis Foxwell

Nope. Same article.

A duplicate.

You’re senile.


20 posted on 05/27/2015 6:20:14 AM PDT by humblegunner (NOW with even more AWESOMENESS)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-44 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson