Late Show with David Letterman

I'm "only" 34 but I've been watching Letterman since I was about 13. He in fact has one of the few shows I can tolerate to watch on TV. I can always count on him to be entertaining. He clearly has it down to a science now and doesn't deviate much from his standard ritual whereas years ago it was always something new and different. That said, his ritual is actually reliably entertaining. Clearly one of the attractions to watching him for so long is the comfortable feeling one has with having the same show play around the same time of night for so many years. Of course, now I use TiVo. The bottom line is that Letterman is truly the best thing going for TV and is a reliably good and entertaining show.

As far as American talk show hosts go, I find David Letterman the least pretentious and the least fake out of all of them. He seems to mostly say what he thinks and not JUST for the sake of being shocking or funny.

Letterman is mostly a likable guy and can at times be very witty, and of course satirical, which is something about him (as indeed his writers) that I enjoy. Yes I know, he is at times cocky and a bit of a show pony, but he's a talk show host and he's meant to have a personality and in my opinion he's the best there is.

I enjoy the little sketches like "Great Presidential Speeches" and "Will it Float?," I always enjoy watching Biff Henderson's little adventures and of course hearing from the always wonderful, Alan Kalter.

It's a nice little piece of late night entertainment and while some episodes are obviously going to be better than others depending on the guests - you know you're always going to have a bit chuckle.

I have been a big Letterman fan for years. I would tape shows when I was only 13, never missed a show. I agree that Letterman had his years where you could tell he felt like a failure and didn't put much into it. But I will add that he is much more real than Jay Leno. Jay Leno is your typical phony talk show host. You really saw how real Dave is if you saw his show on January 31, 2005 remembering Johnny Carson. I saw both his and Leno's shows on Johnny. Jay seemed much more scripted and fake. This was probably due to how the death of Johnny Carson hit the two, being that Dave was close with Johnny. (Johnny even wrote jokes in retirement and sent them to Dave to use). I have noticed lately that Dave's comedy is turning back around to the old Dave. Hopefully he realizes that he is appreciated and keeps up the turn around!

Upfront, I will say that I enjoyed him more in the past, especially when he was on at 12:30 ... he mellowed some, but after twenty years, he still is quite good. Dave may not have been able to fulfill his dream and take over from Johnny on CBS, but in a sense, he has ... he is the comfortable veteran, someone you feel good ending your night watching (unless you are into news ... then, you check out Ted Koppel). And, he still shows his edge at times, especially sometimes when he has those little monologues such as when he decided to try to get a parkway named after him (lol).

The CBS Mailbag feature is still funny, he interacts with the audience pretty good (I don't care for those segments, but I got to admit he connects with them), and the announcer is hiliarious. Other amusing, though getting a bit old things ... the "will it float" and "is this anything" segments -- that grinder girl is amusing. Stephany ... "did you see or touch any monkeys" ... is great too, her sarcastic voice at times reminds one of a young female Dave. The crew also has some good bits. The deli bits are getting tired though and go too long. Paul? People seem to love to dis him, but one gets the idea that he is a perfect fit for Dave, and finding a new guy would be damn hard.

It might be a generational thing (it's also regional ... Jay has higher rating, and is more popular in the heartland), but I don't understand why people are saying Conan is better than Dave. Now, Conan has some better comic bits and is decent overall, but he's really no match to Dave. Dave might seem bored during some interviews (but when he isn't, he really connects ... e.g. Drew Barrymore, Lisa Presley, Regis Philbin, Kelly Ripa, and others), but he surely is a better interviewer than Conan -- even after Conan has had years of on the job training. Also, Conan does not have good monologues ... many are actually pretty lame, and he even jokes about the lack of reaction (doesn't make it any less lame). Finally, his bits often go too long. So, really, Dave might be older and at times seems a bit tired, but he still beats Conan imho. Jay? Smarmy in my opinion ... and I used to like the guy.

It is amusing to note that David Letterman has many credits, especially before his talk show stint. I wonder if someone did a collection to highlight that fact. Oh well ... I check when the guests are good, but even when they are not, he has a good 1/2 hr more often than not.

-j

I recently watched the Late Show when Janet Jackson was the guest. She had a very toppish top on that kind of embarrassed Dave. I laughed like never before. Despite him being embarrassed, he deliverd some lines that were simply perfect. "Need help with the zipper?" "I'm 54, I'm not used to these kind of things." Paul: "You have always loved fast women, Dave."

Well, Dave cracks Leno everytime. He is just more personal than mr standup.