I got behind on my Dave watching last week, and only saw one of them (with Tina Fey, who I still have a thing for, and got rewarded for it by seeing her talk about her boobs) last night. I think this was the Thursday show. Right before the Top Ten list, Dave told a little story (I paste below the description from the Wahoo Gazette):
**************** http://www.cbs.com/late_night/late_show/the_wahoo_gazette/ "And while last second changes to the Top Ten are being made, Dave decides to tell another story. There is a female Late Show staffer who happens to be a lesbian. She was hailing a cab the other day. A cab stops for her and before she gets in, she turns and kisses her partner goodbye. She hops in the backseat and the cabbie quickly turns and asks, "Are you French?" " **************** In his actual telling of the story he mentioned Barbara Gaines by name, though they did not cut to a shot of her standing what I guess is only 20 feet away at that little producer's podium. He also elaborated more than the above reflects, on her lesbianess. He has done things like this on occasion, and it may have just been a space filler to let them get the Top Ten list ready (Dave often seems to share anecdotes from his day that just strike his fancy for some reason, often with no discernible reason. I did wonder if it was more intentional than that - perhaps to again publicly identify himself with the several lesbian, gay (and, I think he has a transgendered) employees, or if it was a response, in Dave-logic, to criticism he got from Rosie O'Donnell before Christmas. I don't think that was discussed here, but she apparently got pissed at a joke he told in early December after she announced she was getting engaged. I did not think it was that funny a joke, but the main thing I recall thinking when he told it was "is Rosie O'Donell still a pop culture reference? What's next, a Ricki Lake joke. But apparently thought it was just short of hate speech. I read a lot of stories about Rosie's overreaction, but nothing about a response from Dave or his camp. Below are some links and excerpts illustrating Rosie's reaction: **************** http://www.shewired.com/box-office/2011/12/12/rosie-odonnell-fires-back-letterman-tasteless-lesbian-tow-trucker-joke "Rosie O'Donnell has fired back at fellow comedian-talk show host David Letterman's jokes about her engagement, commenting on his recent sex scandal and suggesting he might be antigay. Last Tuesday night, following the announcement of O'Donnell's engagement to Michelle Rounds, Letterman joked, "The woman she is marrying, her fiancee, was driving ... and her car broke down. And guess what happened? Rosie pulls up right behind her in her tow truck." Friday night on OWN's *The Rosie Show*, O'Donnell wondered what prompted Letterman to resort to making such a stereotypical crack. "Why is that, Dave?" she asks. "Why? I don't remember making fun of you when you had sex with all your interns, Dave. I didn't do that. I didn't make fun of your rampant, throbbing heterosexuality, did I Dave?". O'Donnell then riffed on a familiar Letterman trademark—his top ten list—when she gave her top five reasons why she refuses to appear on his show. Included among them are: "Dave, when you had that heart surgery, you shouldn't have told the doctors to take out the whole thing" and "Not only do you appear to be antigay, you're anti-tow trucker."" ***************** ****************** http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/16/rosie-odonnell-letterman-trump-bachmann-perry_n_1153677.html "So here I was getting nothing but support and love from the general public and then I go into work and the writers said, "Did you see the Letterman thing?" They played the clip for me and I was kind of shocked. Now, do I think David Letterman is a homophobic guy? No. Do I think those jokes had homophobic undertones? Yes, I do. Because that is just a way to mask the word 'dyke.' "Rosie pulled up with a tow truck" and "She's also now the defensive coach of the Brooklyn Sabers," a hockey team I guess. What are those jokes about? *Rosie's a dyke. Rosie's a dyke.* Now, did I think Dave would ever say, "Rosie's a dyke?" No. But that is that what that joke is about, yes, it is. When I got the crazy haircut [back in 2002] and was in the news with all the "Rosie's insanity," "She's having a breakdown," "She's crazy," -- he did a lot of stuff about me. He had Bruce Willis come out with a short wig like my hair. He did a lot of jokes about me. But I was always like, "OK, whatever." But in the wake of feeling so unbelievably supported and loved and freed by my own personal change, it felt like a slap. Every week the Letterman people call and say, "We want you on the show." So [on my show] we rolled the clip [of Letterman joking about me] and I came back and said, "Why? I'll tell you why [I won't come on the show], Dave." And then I listed the top five reasons.<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/13/rosie-odonnell-david-letterman_n_1145758.html>They were funny jokes that I did, but what I was really saying was, "It's not OK for you to do that. It's not OK for you to say unfunny jokes where the bottom line is, 'Isn't Rosie a dyke?'" When Dave had all of his issues of his heterosexual acting out, of his heterosexual union with his wife, when he had sex with interns on his show, I did not do jokes about that. I know where the line is. I'd never say to Dave, "You know you're not really a manly man. You're a skinny, gap-toothed, unappealing man. There are men much more manly than you." I don't do that. I wouldn't do that. But he feels it's okay to basically say, "Isn't she so dykey?" I just feel at 50 -- there's a wonderful speech on the TED women conference<http://conferences.ted.com/TEDWomen/>by this woman Susan Levine where she talks about the benefit of being in the fabulous "f**k you 50s," where you get to a point where you're in your 50s and you're through menopause and you've just had enough, and you're like, "You know what, f**k you, right?" and that’s where I've sort of arrived at. Do I think Dave innately hates gay people? No, I do not. Do I think it was a thoughtless and offensive, not just to me, but to every gay person in the country and to every kid struggling with their sexuality, who hears presidential candidates saying we are not worthy, not equal to, that we are less than? Do I think that it's damaging to them? I do. And I'm going to stand up for myself and for them when I feel that it's necessary." -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
