April 5, 2014

"Letterman’s replacement: Can he (or she!) please be a grown-up?"

WaPo's Hank Stuever asks, and I'm more interested in why one would ask for a "grown-up" than in who the grown-ups are who could actually do the old-fashioned gig that is a late-night talk show. Me, I'm beyond grown-up. I'm old. Not as old as Letterman, but old. I watched a good bit of Johnny Carson back in the 60s and early 70s, in the days before you could record a TV show, when the fact that a show came on late actually meant something. And my kids and I eagerly consumed TiVo'd Letterman back in the 90s.

This blog began in '04, and when I look through this blog's Letterman tag, I don't find material that is based on my watching the show as a show, just news stories and clips I consumed because things were being talked about on-line. In 2009, I had "Is it really so terrible that David Letterman has a bachelor pad in the building where he tapes his show?" and "Oops, Letterman really is the lecher he seems to goofily pretend to be." How did he survive that? I guess the Women Warriors of America were not so fierce 5 years ago. And that was not long after he got in so much trouble mocking Sarah Palin that NOW took Palin's side of the argument.

But finally, Letterman is leaving the show that was created to give Letterman a place to be when Leno got to replace Johnny Carson on the "Tonight" show. Why should that place persist at all? Who cares what's on CBS at a specific time on the week-night schedule? The question of who will replace him seems like a formalistic mental exercise, a test of our values, and nothing that real people will make a habit of living with 5 nights a week. So, by all means, the columnists will blather about the pick as if it symbolizes something, and maybe at long last it will be a woman or — Stuever's idea — a grown-up.

Stuever is not calling the network to a new level of maturity. He sees Letterman as the grown-up. Grown-up compared to the Jimmys (Fallon and Kimmel). Stuever's just hoping for someone who can carry on the traditional art of "light conversation."
I hope that the person who gets his job will, in turn, present a show that looks and feels as if it belongs on CBS. 
Now, that's really old-fashioned, the idea that the networks have a brand, a personality, and, within that mindset, CBS is classy.
That doesn’t mean old, but it does mean something ineffable and increasingly impossible to describe in an era in which all media formats are in a state of reinvention.
Come on, Stuever. If you're going to use The Washington Post to express your longing for worthy conversation, don't stumble into blabber like "something ineffable and increasingly impossible to describe." Increasingly impossible? What does that even mean? It's increasingly impossible — i.e., it was impossible years ago — to give a damn about what network TV shows were on and which celebrities were promoting themselves with the assistance of which reasonably witty, nice enough,  suitably bland guys.

15 comments:

Rusty said...


""Letterman’s replacement: Can he (or she!) please be a grown-up?""

Failing that could they at least be funny.

MisterBuddwing said...

He may be too "blue" for 11:35 p.m., but Craig Ferguson comes across as a genuinely witty, learned, intelligent fellow who's led a hardscrabble life not limited to comedy clubs and TV shows. In other words, a true "grown-up."

Bob Ellison said...

Yes, it does seem silly. I don't watch much TV, but I see YouTube clips of Fallon, Kimmel, and Conan, and those guys are really funny (especially Conan). The gig needs someone young at heart, someone willing to do anything for a laugh, the way Letterman used to do. Remember the velcro suit?

William said...

Letterman crusted over, but the views that ossified were all liberal. Thus his crabbiness was viewed by other liberals as being grown up. If he had mocked Pelosi or Hillary with the same frequency or brio that he went after Palin, NOW would have spit roasted him. His opening monologue should have been accompanied with a disclaimer that it was a paid political announcement for the DNC.

George M. Spencer said...

This is almost as interesting as asking if NPR's Susan Stanberg is going to modify her cranberry sauce recipe.

(Is NPR still broadcasting that tired schtick?)

Anonymous said...

Adult TV Talk Show Host says:

I'm really excited by tonight's opening monologue, it's going to be a treat, America: my staff writers really did a fine job with this one, a fine job, and I can't wait to read their lines off the cue cards to you, some funny stuff.

Then my first guest -- you've seen the ads for her new movie, and I can't wait to play you the clip that shows the scene that was in the ad, good stuff. It's a very moving ad, very moving, and I'll have a conversation with her where we'll discuss her feelings about the ad -- maybe even ask a few 'behind-the-scenes' questions about how it was on the set, real stuff. You know, by the time a movie gets to its fourth sequel they can get a bit stale, but hers' -- it looks like all the magic is there, and more, I can't wait to bring her out.

First though, I'd like to share some banter with the cue card guy: that's a thing we do here, I banter with the cue card guy, real banter, and the polls show that you, America, think that this is one of the best things of the show, so we here thank you for that, we start every show with the simple hope of bringing a smile to America's face...

Eddie the Cue Card guy, how is it going so far tonight?

Well, I've got the cue cards in the proper order --

--that's a good start right there, isn't it, America?

-- and I have made sure they are legible.

Good stuff there, Eddie.

Yes, tonight, there is a joke with the word 'flick' in it, and I took special care to make sure the 'L' and the "I" didn't run too close together..."

I'm not sure I get what you're saying there Eddie...

Well, if the "L" and the "I" run together they look like a "U", and then instead of 'F_L_I_C_K' it looks like "F-U-C --"

---Ahh, Say no more: I see your point, Eddie, good thing you did there, good thing, right America?

I thought so. I take great care with my work even though I'm in a Union.

"Even though you're in a Union" -- that's some funny stuff, right there, and -- if I may speak on behalf of America -- that is one of the things we love about you, Eddie. Thanks for the banter this evening, I think you got us off on the right foot tonight, and we'll be back with a fantastic show right after this commercial break...

damikesc said...

They're apparently talking to Chelsea Handler.

So...no. No risk of grownups.

FullMoon said...

betamax3000 said: Adult TV Talk Show Host says:.................

I don't often laugh out loud, but when I do,..........

"

Sam L. said...

Never cared for Dave. We operate on different frequencies.

Sorun said...

I liked Letterman in the 90s, back before he was a creepy old man.

rcocean said...

I wonder how Letterman avoided the label of "Misogynist" because like Bill "The dogface boy" Maher he really is.

rcocean said...

Very Funny Bettamax

Fred Drinkwater said...

I'd nominate Betamax for the spot, but I'm sure he's contributing more to the world doing what he's doing now.
Of course, if he decides to SELL OUT to THE MAN, I'll have to turn away from his art.

Anonymous said...

My first memory of Letterman was way back when he was just a stand-up comedian, down from LA to San Diego to MC a comedy show. Between acts he would do his own 'stuff'. Then six months later we revisited the club, and there he was, MC-ing again. His jokes were exactly the same as before. I started finishing his jokes for him which of course made him angry. No wonder he needs writers.

Jeff with one 'f' said...

As far as network brands go, CBS definitely has one. Not quite the Tifanny Network anymore, but it has a definite brand, that as the home of huge hit shows that hipsters don't watch. Hawaii 5-0 gets something like 9 million viewers to Girls 900 thousand, but which show gets it's stars on SNL and the cover of Vogue? Just Google 'CBS Old People'.

To be fair, I can't think of any similar brand for NBC or ABC. Although PBS does remain the upper-middle class liberal white Boomer network, so there's that.