He's Gone, Chief
I've criticized Dave Letterman for phoning it in lately. Looking back, I think the turning point came a while ago, when, for whatever reason, he stopped doing remotes. Anyone who starting tuning in a few years ago might wonder what the big deal is, but there was a time when he and his show really delivered. Here are a couple examples from his early days at CBS:
posted by LAGuy @ 12:12 AM
6 Comments:
For me, Letterman's been unwatchable -- just bitter and not schtick-bitter but truly, profoundly bitter -- for some time. I think it all started soon after he returned from heart surgery.
I'll add a comment that parallels both LAGuy's observation and Irene's above: Letterman appears to have stopped even trying with his monologues, which are too often just plain unfunny - not schtick-unfunny - but truly, profoundly unfunny.
"Hey, cut me off a slice of that" is not a punchline. There's another word for it in the comedy world.
It's called "hack".
Oh, yeah, and repeating the exact same joke four nights in a row, word for word, isn't exactly putting your best foot forward either.
Letterman occasionally does not seem so great when compared to his earlier shows but that shows the truism that as people age, they tend to suck more.
However he seems like an absolute genius when compared to his competition- A cranky offtopic Letterman generates interest where a Leno's parroting of his writers' shtick is just dull and uninspired- why not watch Sonny & Cher reruns?
I still try to watch each night as he seems bitter in the same way I am. I also like the like that among those he sticks to are people that take entertainment a bit too seriously.
What's wrong with Sonny and Cher?
It's been so many years since I saw the Strong Guy, the Fat Guy, the Genius. You're right -- Letterman really was funny once!
"You walk where weak, thin, dumb guys fear to trod...."
Post a Comment
<< Home