The Late Great Letterman

I don't know when, but some years ago, David Letterman lost it.  Oh, his show was still okay, but it wasn't the late night show you had to catch.  (There are no late night shows you have to catch.) I think it may have been when he stopped doing remotes.  Or maybe after he went in for heart surgery. Or had a kid.  Or just got old.  Whatever it was, the comedy he'd been delivering for years seemed to lose its edge.

Due to Hurricane Sandy, the first two David Letterman shows this week were done without an audience, and without all his scheduled guests.  It was a fascinating experiment, and it reminded me just a bit of the old Letterman.  Instead of relying on tired tropes and easy audience appeal, he was in unknown territory--at least a little--and the show had a sense of excitement. I'm not saying he should do this every week, but maybe every now and then he should be required to get out of his comfort zone, so the show could have at least a bit of the sense of danger it once had--the idea that anything could happen.