David Letterman's final show

prberk

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Well, it was last night. I saw some of it, DVR'd the rest. (Yes, I understand it went 18 minutes over, though; so I will have to go to www.cbs.com to catch the rest of it.) I also heard some of it on the radio this morning. I liked that he had his family there.

But what I saw I enjoyed. He seemed genuinely gracious. Another changing of the guard. Just like Johnny Carson, he did not have official "guests" on his final show, but Bill Murray (his first guest ever on both his NBC show and his CBS show) was his final guest on the penultimate show, and was the last one to read a "Top Ten" item on last night's show. Nice of Bill Murray.

Speaking of Carson, I laughed last night when Dave started the show by saying, "Well, I guess it's becoming apparent that I didn't get 'The Tonight Show'." That was funny, and good jab at NBC who passed him over for Leno so many years ago.

Speaking also of the late-night wars, I can say that Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O'Brien gained respect from me this week. Jimmy announce on Tuesday that he would not be on with a new show on Wednesday, that he would run a re-run; and he actually got choked up as he suggested that you watch David Letterman on Wednesday. He said, especially if you are a young person who has never seen him, go watch his show. I thought that was a class act. I had flipped over to see his monologue on Tuesday, and I was really impressed when I saw that. Similarly, Conan told people last night to press "record" on their DVR and "go watch David Letterman." Very classy. Event The Today Show mentioned these today.

And I have to say, as much as I like Jimmy Fallon, I was a little surprised that he didn't do something similar. He is usually a nice guy. Especially since Dave started his show at NBC in the Rockefeller Center, where Jimmy Fallon broadcasts today, I was surprised that he went ahead with a live show last night and didn't mention anything.

One very good memory that I have of David Letterman is when he came back as the first live show back after 9/11. Jay Leno waited an extra day, to give David (broadcasting from New York, unlike Leno in L.A.) the chance to bring the country back. David started without any music or show opener. He said, "I just need to hear myself talk for a minute," and went on to thank the police and firemen and mayor -- and to say how it just made no sense. He was clearly still in shock; and he talked about doing his little show while other people who also were "just going to work" were murdered in such an heinous manner. He was humble, and it showed. He talked about the courage of those who ran in to the buildings to fight the fire. And ultimately he talked about being convinced by the mayor and the president to get the show back on, to "get back to business." (Remember that George Bush had even said at the time to, "Go to Disney World," to get us all back to business and keep our lives going.) Dan Rather was his guest that night. Dan read the third verse to "America the Beautiful," which talks about about a "city undimmed by human tears." An amazing and memorable night of television, led by David Letterman, who had the good sense and character to help lead us back.

So, last night I think was a fitting tribute. I never always like David Letterman's comedy, but he was worth watching. "Stupid human tricks," "Top Ten," and on and on...
 

MKCP 1985

Well-Known Member
It makes me happy to remember David Letterman's early days with his late show. They were up in the Rockefeller Center and deeply in the shadow of Johnny Carson so it seemed he had the freedom to do whatever he wanted. The show took a lot of risks that paid off with young viewers. As a "for example," he had Terri Garr on the show and asked her to let him interview her while she took a shower. After some back and forth, she agreed and he did.

David Letterman became a hot commodity and at one time was under a contract to develop something with Disney but I don't recall that it ever turned into anything.

He had a long and successful career and I would bet most all of today's talk show hosts have been positively influenced by something he has done on his show.
 

MinnieM123

Premium Member
Well, it was last night. I saw some of it, DVR'd the rest. (Yes, I understand it went 18 minutes over, though; so I will have to go to www.cbs.com to catch the rest of it.) I also heard some of it on the radio this morning. I liked that he had his family there.

But what I saw I enjoyed. He seemed genuinely gracious. Another changing of the guard. Just like Johnny Carson, he did not have official "guests" on his final show, but Bill Murray (his first guest ever on both his NBC show and his CBS show) was his final guest on the penultimate show, and was the last one to read a "Top Ten" item on last night's show. Nice of Bill Murray.

Speaking of Carson, I laughed last night when Dave started the show by saying, "Well, I guess it's becoming apparent that I didn't get 'The Tonight Show'." That was funny, and good jab at NBC who passed him over for Leno so many years ago.

Speaking also of the late-night wars, I can say that Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O'Brien gained respect from me this week. Jimmy announce on Tuesday that he would not be on with a new show on Wednesday, that he would run a re-run; and he actually got choked up as he suggested that you watch David Letterman on Wednesday. He said, especially if you are a young person who has never seen him, go watch his show. I thought that was a class act. I had flipped over to see his monologue on Tuesday, and I was really impressed when I saw that. Similarly, Conan told people last night to press "record" on their DVR and "go watch David Letterman." Very classy. Event The Today Show mentioned these today.

And I have to say, as much as I like Jimmy Fallon, I was a little surprised that he didn't do something similar. He is usually a nice guy. Especially since Dave started his show at NBC in the Rockefeller Center, where Jimmy Fallon broadcasts today, I was surprised that he went ahead with a live show last night and didn't mention anything.

One very good memory that I have of David Letterman is when he came back as the first live show back after 9/11. Jay Leno waited an extra day, to give David (broadcasting from New York, unlike Leno in L.A.) the chance to bring the country back. David started without any music or show opener. He said, "I just need to hear myself talk for a minute," and went on to thank the police and firemen and mayor -- and to say how it just made no sense. He was clearly still in shock; and he talked about doing his little show while other people who also were "just going to work" were murdered in such an heinous manner. He was humble, and it showed. He talked about the courage of those who ran in to the buildings to fight the fire. And ultimately he talked about being convinced by the mayor and the president to get the show back on, to "get back to business." (Remember that George Bush had even said at the time to, "Go to Disney World," to get us all back to business and keep our lives going.) Dan Rather was his guest that night. Dan read the third verse to "America the Beautiful," which talks about about a "city undimmed by human tears." An amazing and memorable night of television, led by David Letterman, who had the good sense and character to help lead us back.

So, last night I think was a fitting tribute. I never always like David Letterman's comedy, but he was worth watching. "Stupid human tricks," "Top Ten," and on and on...

Thanks for sharing your comments. I was on vacation at WDW this past week. So, I missed his last show, because I was exhausted and fell asleep before 10 p.m. each night (after long days in the parks). I'm sure his final show will eventually end up on YouTube or something similar. Actually, I rarely ever watch late-night tv (I'm usually asleep by that time), but I always did enjoy seeing the clips of his Top Ten and Stupid Human Tricks. (Those were sometimes repeated on the morning news shows.) :)
 

prberk

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
No re-runs. :( I skipped between Fallon and Kimmel last night. They're so.... bland. Ugh. This is sad.

I actually like the bits that Fallon does. He does skits sometimes that are really well-done.

I loved a "Saved By the Bell" thing he did recently. Really funny. Still wish he had acknowledged Dave and run a rerun on his last night, like Kimmel did.

Paul
 

Disneyhead'71

Well-Known Member
Fallon was told by his overlords to not acknowledge Letterman's retirement. There is not a lot of love loss between NBC and Letterman. As a matter of fact, his first joke was a swipe at NBC.
 

prberk

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Fallon was told by his overlords to not acknowledge Letterman's retirement. There is not a lot of love loss between NBC and Letterman. As a matter of fact, his first joke was a swipe at NBC.

Do you know for a fact that Jimmy was told this?

Because even though there was history of friction among Dave and NBC after Carson left and Leno was picked in 1992, there are several factors that I believe would be different this time around:

First, and foremost, I believe Jimmy is in a position these days to have told his "overlords" that he planned to take the high road and honor a retiring forebearer anyway. I think he would get his way in something like this, period. They are not going to risk losing their golden goose because he plans to attend a retirement party (in essence), when his diplomacy in the matter does nothing other than make him look gracious.

Second, NBC clips were included throughout Dave's shows in the last week, including the last show, and in his "30 years on television" special that ran earlier. They would have had to give permission for them to air anything they owned. If there had been that serious of an animosity going there to such an extent that Jimmy Fallon would have been forbidden from mentioning him, I doubt they would have given CBS rights to their property. Also, the "Today" show on NBC thoroughly covered Dave's final show the next morning, and the anchors praised both Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O'Brien for tipping the hat to Dave by showing reruns or telling their viewers to set the DVR and watch Dave on his last show. They all said it was classy. Of course they did not mention Jimmy Fallon, but there was a big white elephant missing from the discussion.

Third, it was a record night anyway for Dave. It made absolutely no business sense for them to "make" Jimmy Fallen spend money on a new show that no one would watch and make no reference to it, any more than it would for other networks not to mention the Super Bowl when it is on another network. Not mentioning it does not make it not happen.

Anyway, all of this really is trumped by my first thought, anyay. Jimmy could have mentioned Dave or ran a rerun if he wanted to. I can guarantee you that.
 

JPPT1974

Active Member
I think that Letterman is retired for good. He will go out in the sunset like Johnny Carson did and never made an appearance except for one TV appearance on a show I forget now. Still, but other than that, he stayed under the radar like Carson did in his life.
 

Sage of Time

Well-Known Member
I think that Letterman is retired for good. He will go out in the sunset like Johnny Carson did and never made an appearance except for one TV appearance on a show I forget now. Still, but other than that, he stayed under the radar like Carson did in his life.
He already appeared at the Indy 500 and gave an interview so I think and hope not. Hahaha.
 

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