The Legacy of a Late-night Anarchist

I’ve never had an interest in celebrities and don’t understand the attraction.  The fact that our culture is so obsessed with celebrities makes me feel out of step with society but I’m willing to accept that.  Having said all this, there are those whose work I enjoy and those who I feel are very talented and contributed.  One of them announced their retirement this week – David Letterman.  For those who only know the more recent version of Mr. Letterman, you are missing out on some of the brilliance he displayed during his career. 

It has been often said by people more in the know than I that the careers of Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O’Brien would not have happen were it not for David Letterman.  He introduced strange and wonderful components to his show, sometimes with little to no explanation.  “You figure it out” was the message.  It was not surprising because as television goes, Mr. Letterman was a strange man himself. 

Consider deadpan Larry “Bud” Melman who would read poetry and other ramblings for no apparent reason.  Mr. Letterman once had a rerun of his show dubbed into Spanish with Mexican actors.  Again, no explanation and if your Spanish was not up to it, you were lost.  He would host these rather strange confrontations, as when comedian Andy Kaufmann and wrestler Jerry Lawler were on the show together.  Allowing Andy to be Andy, Mr. Kaufmann yelled and screamed at the wrestler until Mr. Lawler got up and smacked the comedian to the floor.  Then there was the program where he used over ten cameras to make the show appear it was rotating 360 degrees.  The madcap king of late night was an anarchist and it was fun to watch.   

Then, there were the interviews.  He hates pomposity and loves to poke holes in the sanctity of celebrity.  He can be acerbic, biting and even cruel.  It is also Mr. Letterman at his best.  Sometimes, he simply allows people to make fools of themselves, such as Crispin Glover who gave such a bizarre performance back in the 1980s in the aftermath of his Back to the Future fame and Farrah Fawcett who he lampooned and mocked while she was in an apparent drunken state.  For those who he clearly has little interest in or respect for, he can dismiss the “celebrity” status as with Paris Hilton (“So, how was prison?”) and Lindsey Lohan (“Shouldn’t you be in rehab?”).   

Others came in with an under appreciation for the man, not understanding the intellectual wordsmith and comic mind on the other side of the desk.  Bill O’Reilly, who is no slouch in the debate department himself, nevertheless met a worthy opponent.  An angry Madonna, upset at Mr. Letterman’s suggestion that she had slept her way through the music and film industries, tried to shock him with crude behavior and a string of profanity.  The unflappable host, who had seen much more imaginative attacks, simply dug deeper and mocked the “queen of pop.”  In the process, he made her look ridiculous.   

For the former Indianapolis weatherman and stand-up comic, he could also handle the serious moments as well.  He was brilliant in this first monologue after the September 11^th attacks.  Additionally, the fiercely private man was surprisingly open after his heart attack and his infidelity.  Mostly, he kept things to himself.  After being passed over for the Tonight Show, he was on Johnny Carson’s show and the legendary host (whom David Letterman idolized) asked him, “So, just how pissed off are you right now?”  The private man did not take the bait and simply let it go.  A trait that some have said cost him his coveted ideal job – that and not sticking up for himself.  Yet, to do so would put himself out there more and that, he could not do.   

I once met Jay Leno while serving in the first Gulf War and I’m sure on some level, he is a nice guy.  Yet, he won’t take risks in his observations and comedy and for me, I was drawn to the near reckless willingness to explore options that has characterized David Letterman’s show.  He was the guy who was cool to watch and there was some status in a select club for those who watched.  What drew people in were Mr. Letterman’s sense of disorder and chaos.  He is not what he was but he will always be the man who set the standard for late night television.