The Chris Moeller Archives

Letterman Tribute #8

Dave will leave one particular void in late night that hasn't been discussed when he goes next month on the 20th. He's the last guy on the network shows that doesn't just sell what his network wants him to sell. His segments don't have corporate sponsorships. He doesn't give away free gifts to audience members courtesy of this corporation or that one. The show's sponsors are frequently the butt of the joke.

There's nothing on TV anymore resembling the guy that slapped General Electric around for seven years back on NBC. At CBS, he didn't parade out the stars of the network's nightly news or This Morning. You were more likely to see his buddies Tom Brokaw and Brian Williams from NBC then you were Scott Pelley or one of the 60 Minutes correspondents. He had his own theater, and the separation of several blocks from CBS in midtown Manhattan had meaning. When the "castoffs" from CBS's Survivor were first forced on him as guests a decade and a half ago, and reality shows were becoming ubiquitous on TV, he refused to let them sit in the guest chairs. He would interview the Survivor losers with him seated at his desk and them standing by the studio door next to his producers 40 feet away. After a couple seasons, that segment died out completely. Compare that treatment to what we see on late night TV now with the nightly parade of contestants and participants from The Bachelor or The Voice.

He was the last host that had enough power not to have to do it. Since Letterman accounts for about 95% of the network late night TV that I watch, I'm unsettled when I see his competitors hock their products and buddy up with celebrities that only their bosses consider to be interesting. And I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing this either.

For a couple weeks, and now until the end, Dave has been dedicating the second segment of his show each night to some video memories of the show's glorious past, and next week I'll be watching the show remotely from New Orleans, so this is the last one of these tributes there will be on the blog. Johnny Carson was on TV throughout my father's lifetime, from Dad's age 12 to 42. Letterman was on late night for me and Aaron from our ages 6 to 40. I went as Dave for Halloween in 1991. There was one 10-year period, the beginning at CBS, where I only missed 12 episodes, total. That was before On Demand and DVR, but fortunately not before VCRs. I think I've written enough now going back ten years to have fully made my point on the subject. The last month will just be me watching. I love you, David. I'm going to miss you. I'll probably be alright, but I have no memory of the time before you so I can't be sure.

Here's Warren Zevon singing a song called "Mutineer" during his last Late Show appearance. He was dying of cancer, and was the only guest on the show October 30th, 2002. His untimely death less than a year later certainly prevented him from performing this song on the show May 20th, 2015. There ain't no room on board for the insincere.

posted by CM @ 10:51 PM