Letterman Lunacy

I am amazed at the power and influence this blog wields. No sooner had I written about Talk Show Memories in my previous blog entry than this controversy about David Letterman makes headlines. :)

The thing that sticks out in my mind is, why have so many people turned it into a political issue? I read through several blogs and comments about it, and was amazed at how many people - both liberal and conservative - have referred to one or the other as "typical" of their "side" of the political road. Dave Letterman has been called perverted, and a vile, narcissistic fool "like most leftists." Sarah Palin has been called opportunistic and hypocritical, "like most rightists." But wait, didn't she already lose the election?

For anybody that hasn't followed the brouhaha (Brouhaha? Ha ha ha!) let me recap. It all started with three admittedly (by Letterman) tasteless jokes. Here is TV Guide's summary:

On Monday's Palin-themed Top Ten list, Letterman joked that the governor went to Bloomingdales' to buy makeup to "update her 'slutty flight attendant' look." Then, on Tuesday, he joked about the Palins keeping their daughter away from Eliot Spitzer. And then there was this, about the family's visit to a Yankees game: "There was one awkward moment during the seventh-inning stretch when her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez," he said.

The biggest reason for the uproar was that it was actually Sarah Palin's 14-year-old daughter, Willow, who had attended the game, not 18-year-old Bristol. However, many people who heard the jokes understood them to be references to Bristol, who was in the news during the campaign precisely because she was an unwed pregnant teenager. But if you look at it, the jokes were more about Spitzer's and Rodriguez's reputations than they were about Bristol (or Willow) Palin.

Sarah and Todd Palin both issued statements:

From Todd Palin: "Any 'jokes' about raping my 14-year-old are despicable. Alaskans know it and I believe the rest of the world knows it, too."

From Gov. Sarah Palin: "Concerning Letterman's comments about my young daughter (and I doubt he'd ever dare make such comments about anyone else's daughter): 'Laughter incited by sexually perverted comments made by a 62-year-old male celebrity aimed at a 14-year-old girl is not only disgusting, but it reminds us some Hollywood/NY entertainers have a long way to go in understanding what the rest of America understands — that acceptance of inappropriate sexual comments about an underage girl, who could be anyone's daughter, contributes to the atrociously high rate of sexual exploitation of minors by older men who use and abuse others.'"

Letterman read these statements on the air, and responded that the jokes were not intended to refer to 14-year-old daughter Willow, as the above statements seemed to indicate, but rather to 18-year-old Bristol, who, as Letterman pointed out, "was knocked up." Apparently his source had not made it clear which Palin daughter had attended the game with her mother. Still, Letterman admitted that the jokes themselves could not be defended.

"Were the jokes in question in questionable taste? Of course they were," Letterman said. "Would I do anything to advocate or contribute to underage sexual abuse or misconduct? Absolutely not, not in a thousand years."

Of course there are those who claim that the age difference doesn't matter, the jokes were still in poor taste. Letterman admitted they were. There are also those who have said, "He never would have made such remarks about the Obamas' daughters." That's quite true. Because the Obamas' daughters were not presented onstage with the announcement of their unwed pregnancy.

I'm not passing judgment on Bristol for that, but at the time the Palins defended her by saying that everybody makes mistakes. Has Sarah similarly allowed Dave to "make mistakes" in judgment about his material? Not at first. After his on-air clarification, Dave invited her to come on his show and talk it out. She issued the following statement through her spokeswoman, Meg Stapleton:

"The Palins have no intention of providing a ratings boost for David Letterman by appearing on his show. Plus, it would be wise to keep Willow away from David Letterman."

Afterward, Sarah herself was interviewed by Matt Lauer on The Today Show, who gave her the chance to clarify the statement.

Lauer: I'd like you to explain what that meant. Are you suggesting that David Letterman can't be trusted around a 14-year old girl?

Palin: Hey, take it however you want to take it.

Of course, Letterman has since offered a complete and unmitigated apology, which Palin has accepted. But has she offered an apology for her not-so-veiled implication that he was a pedophile?

But the stupidest part of the matter is the sheep on both sides of the political fence who have turned the issue into a political arena. Rightists act like Letterman is a political figure who speaks for The Left and represents All That is Wrong With Our Country Today, while leftists use it as another excuse to portray anyone who says they have values as a hypocrite. Granted the timing of this mess does seem like a rather convenient opportunity for Sarah Palin to get back in the spotlight, especially since many more similar jokes (and worse) were made about Bristol during the campaign, without comment or response. Why make such a fuss now? Then again, it may turn out to be good for Letterman's ratings too, so it's kind of a win-win situation.

Nevertheless, there are leftists questioning whether Sarah Palin is qualified for public office, and rightists clamoring for David Letterman to be fired, if not burned in effigy. (This is another reason why I am staunchly apolitical.) If it were a matter of national policy or anything relating to political issues, I could perhaps understand the outrage. After all, politics and talk shows make strange bedfellows. But for goodness sake, it was a few lousy jokes out of thousands of lousy jokes (in his own estimation) that he has told over the years. Let it go, people. Have you nothing better to argue about? I'm sure you could come up with something if you tried!

Talk Show Memories

With the recent passing of the Tonight Show torch from Jay Leno to Conan O'Brien, I have been thinking about talk shows in general, especially those I grew up with. For years Leno and Letterman have been running pretty much neck and neck, and I liked both. But there will never be another Johnny Carson. Nor will there be another Steve Allen.

Johnny Carson did it for thirty years and was the undisputed king of late night. Several contenders tried to compete but ended up falling by the wayside (I did enjoy Dick Cavett at times though). Not only was he the best at what he did, but the caliber of celebrities from those days is a thing of the past. I was recently watching old episodes and clips from those days on YouTube, and enjoyed nostalgic reminders of the old greats like Jack Benny, George Burns, Bob Hope, Dean Martin, George Gobel, Don Rickles, Rodney Dangerfield, and so many others. They just don't make them like that any more.

In addition to the guests, I liked his style of humor, as seen in sketches like the Tea Time Movie with Art Fern, and Carnac the Magnificent. He had a playful style and a mischievous streak that allowed him to get away with comments like when he told Dolly Parton, "I have certain guidelines, but I would give about a year's pay to peek under there." But he also was a great host, and knew how to put his guests at ease and allowed them to shine without needing to top them. Many current big names got their start on his show.

Before Carson inherited it, the Tonight Show was created by Steve Allen. Most of the usual trappings that are associated with talk shows were invented by him, such as the opening monologue, interviews at the desk, banter with the band leader, audience participation segments, and so forth. Even bits where they take the camera outside and interact with people on the street, that David Letterman does so well now, were first done by Steve Allen way back then.

I was only a year old when Steve Allen quit the Tonight Show so I never saw it, but I do remember him well from a daytime talk show he did in the late '60s. It was that show that first introduced me to him, and I credit it with having a permanent influence on my own style of humor. His quips and ad lib responses to ordinary questions still reside in my memory and I find his unique style of word play leaping out unexpectedly on numerous occasions. To this day I still use his classic responses: "Good to see you!" - "Thank you, it's good to be seen." Or, "Great having you here" - "Thanks, it's great being had here."

A psychologist on his show once said that the only two fears a child is naturally born with are fear of loud noises and fear of falling. Steve quipped, "I've always been afraid of making a loud noise while falling."

It wasn't until years later that I learned how much influence he had on the whole genre of TV talk shows. Nearly everything that they do today was done by him originally. He even had a character called The Question Man, who gave the answer to a question first and then the question, which Carson adapted in his Carnac routine. And he was innovative and original, never satisfied with doing the same thing over and over.

Many people have commented that David Letterman's show was the closest in style to Steve Allen's old show (at least back when he was on NBC), and Letterman himself has credited Allen with being a big influence. His older "stunt" oriented bits (like the Velcro suit and the Alka-Seltzer suit) and things like Stupid Pet Tricks and its spin-off, Stupid Human Tricks, hearkened back to the old Steve Allen shows. In addition, Johnny Carson made it known that Letterman would have been his choice to replace him, despite NBC's choice of Leno. He drove that point home by making a couple of brief appearances on Letterman after his retirement, but none on Leno.

Jay Leno is a good stand up comic, and I've enjoyed both him and Letterman off and on over the years. But both of them have seemed more "conventional" in recent years. Conan O'Brien took some getting used to at first, but he is more apt to break with convention, and I find him quite funny now. Nevertheless, I don't know how well he'll do against Letterman.

Craig Ferguson, who comes on after Letterman, is probably the most innovative of the current bunch. He's dispensed with many of the formulaic aspects - no "banter" with announcer or bandleader (in fact, no band), and his monologue is more improvised, going beyond the "what's in the news" formula that all the others use. And it's not limited to just the first segment of the show, either. He seems to enjoy tweaking the usual format, such as having a cold opening segment followed by a commercial break and then the opening titles. His humor is totally off the wall too, and I love his Scottish accent.

I almost feel sorry for Jimmy Fallon, who's opposite Craig Ferguson, in Conan's old slot. Although he's a likeable enough guy, he seems nervous and not well suited to monologues or interviewing. But he's had some good guests and may grow into it. Conan was very awkward at first, too.

But fortunately these days I can catch all the shows on line, so I don't really have to choose. And that's good because it's silly to say, "unless we're number one there's no point in doing it at all." Where does it say there can only be one late night talk show?

In the grand scheme of things it makes no difference at all, of course. They're just TV shows. But I do have many fond memories of Allen and Carson, and I hope their memories are preserved and their standards upheld in whatever shows continue to be broadcast.