Letterman deserves credit for being much more honest in dealing with guests than most hosts of his era. If he genuinely liked a guest, you could tell. If he didn’t, you could definitely tell. But mainly, if there was more humor to be found in propping up a guest, that’s what he’d attempt, but if it was funnier to be cantankerous, you could count on Dave to set aside political correctness and pull no punches. Looking back years later, it’s a bit like watching Don Rickles without knowing that it was an honor to be roasted by him. If you were on Letterman’s radar, you hopefully took the jokes in stride, because you were going to be verbally crucified if you didn’t.
That said, there’s some of Letterman that is indefensible, most notably the affair he had with a staffer. It might be worth checking to see if she’s still working in the business. Regardless, it’s horrible office behavior and I lost a lot of respect for Dave when that story broke. Then again, Dick Clark did the same thing almost out of habit, but continued to host and produce shows for five decades. If we are going to judge people’s past by modern standards, most if not all will come up short, especially those whose pasts were literally televised daily. Hopefully we can look at all of it as what educators call “teachable moments,” to appreciate the artistry and creativity of that point in broadcasting while not turning a blind eye to what clearly ought not occur in the present day. On Tue, Feb 16, 2021 at 2:10 AM JW <[email protected]> wrote: > > A Letterman reckoning is coming. He liked to get aggressive with people > who got in > the news for controversy. > > I'm sure there are people who'd like to see such a reckoning. I found it > fascinating that the Atlantic piece you linked to said "Here was an > audience so conditioned to seeing women in crisis as punch lines" instead > of 'celebrities in crisis.' It's not like we never saw Nick Nolte's mug > shot. > > One of the facets of Late Night that made Dave so successful was laughing > at the whole celebrity-industrial complex. That lasted through much of the > Late Show, and is pretty much standard fare now for everybody in late > night. If Nastassia Kinski wasn't happy to be asked about her odd > hairstyle, that was too bad. If Joaquin Phoenix wanted to go full goofball, > Dave was happy to participate. And if Lindsay Lohan came on at a point in > her life where she was poised to go full trainwreck, Dave wasn't going to > avoid it. He might have some regrets now, but he wasn't going to ignore the > elephant. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKSNnOEtyXo9AU5zOCSCXoVUFYjbmq%3DOeTKt9fBVJh33sKM5Dw%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKSNnOEtyXo9AU5zOCSCXoVUFYjbmq%3DOeTKt9fBVJh33sKM5Dw%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKgmY4CNA1vAP%3D36U%3Dfnyn8ZeFxiqL71dc%3D229jPdoGBtMXN9A%40mail.gmail.com.
