If you have a minute (or a lot of minutes, I'll be honest) I thought I'd talk up Letterman which also forced me to come to terms with how this crazy world is working lately.

THE LAST “NITE”

 

I luckily made it to at least one taping of the Late Show with David Letterman. I can’t remember exactly when that was. I’m thinking like… 95-96ish maybe. A good friend’s sister worked at Mirmax in NYC and had great contacts. We went down to visit her and stay with her for a couple days in the city and of course snag some unreleased Mirmax movies to watch. While we were there, her friend who worked on the Letterman show got us in to see a taping. We had great seats. We were about 3 rows from Paul the band. I do remember it was damn cold in there like Dave always jokes.

Dave comes out before the show and talks to the crowd for a couple minutes to loosen us up and explain how it all works. Then they start the show it is taped in real time. While commercials would be running we would watch funny Dave clips on the monitors to keep us laughing. It was a trip. That thing was run like a friggin machine I'm telling you. It was crazy to watch it all form that perspective. Dave’s guests? Uma Thurman, Tom Green (before he became kind of popular) and some people from Cirque Du Soleil twirling around for a little while. I mean, not the best roster but the overall thrill of being there and being that close to Dave and that show was sensational.

The next nights show, Dave had on friggin Al Pacino and REM. Good timing!

 

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As David Letterman hosts his final “Late Show” show tonight, I can’t help, but veer off somewhat and recognize the big picture. I see how everything is changing. Not just the landscape of late night television, but everything in our everyday. Change is of course non-stop. People come and go in our lives, nothing is forever and all those other cute phrases. The world around us certainly is not the same when Dave started back in 1982. Heck it’s not the same as it was a year ago when he announced he was ending his show after 33 years.

Can we all agree, and I’m talking adults here (young folks don’t count sorry), things are moving a wee bit too fast? I know, I know… tough crap Mark! Get on board or be left behind and made fun of by people with hashtags. I gotta tell you though folks, most times I feel like, “screw it, I’ll stay behind til I’m good and ready”.

Hey, I have no problem with modernisms or inventions and cool things. I like progress. I like creative minds at work. For crying out loud I grew up in the 80’s! I grew up during the first real serious boom of modernisms; HBO, video games, CD players, walkmans, after hours adult movies on cable, MacIntosh, IBM, Answering machines, synthesizers, MTV, Back to the Future, Tron and tv shows featuring talking cars!

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Hey, I have pads and pods and phones and gadgets like most people do and sure I kinda like having them. I use them a lot like most people, but isn’t it all kinda silly at the end of the day? It’s like we’re still passing notes in class, but it’s acceptable and cooler cause we spend tons of money on the slick gadgets to pass those notes. You may be in your 30’s or 40’s now, but at the end of the day with these gadgets, you’re still talking with your buddy about the girl you like or who’s being a jerk or how those pants so & so’s wearing makes her butt look weird. It’s just now you’re using an $800 smart phone rather than some ripped up loose leaf. Remember how much more we got out of face to face conversation?

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Sitting across from a person and cracking a joke to see them smile or to make other people laugh. Saying something to spur good talk about something important. Bringing up something that might help someone get something off their chest to feel better and release what they’ve been holding inside. You can’t do properly that with gadgets my friends. Sorry  : (

This is kind of how I see the late nite tv thing. We’re “updating” and "upgrading", but that does not always mean it’s gonna be better.

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In 2015 we have a new wave of night time people. Jimmy Fallon; a super talented and clever dude by all means. Did his time with SNL cutting his teeth on acting and writing. He took a shot at a few movies, which we’ll overlook cause that’s not the point here and I’m trying to be nice. Sure, he’s a hot ticket and his embarrassing emo/bashful ways, although gut wrenching to me, seem to charm most viewers. Fallon is the octopus at this late nite stuff. He's got his hands on it all; guests, social media, music, silly games and skits, props, imitations. Maybe too much. It’s all over the place, no? Your head spins watching that show most of the time. It's Hollywood meets TRL meets Coachella meets I Love the 90's meets the new smartphone by whoever.

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It’s nite time tv baby! We’re not supposed to be wired up, geeking out on social media. The idea with late nite tv was we’re crashed out after a long day and we want to be in our underware splattered on a couch fondling the remote or lying in bed allowing a great conversation to shower us and put a smirk on our faces as we fade away to sleepyland.

 

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Jimmy Kimmel has a bit of the classic touch. I mean, I know until we lose him, I can still see Don Rickles on Kimmel’s show cause Kimmel has a bit of old school comedy in him. The producers and network would never allow his style to stay old school nor should they right? It’s 2015! So we have many kooky segments, sponsors, live performances for thousands and thousands of people taking up streets in downtown Hollywood. Kimmel, could keep up a traditional late nite show, but time won’t let him and neither will the tv heads he answers to. Kimmel is close though AND Dave was a major influence on him.

These new guys coming in? Seth Myers, not bad. He’s funny, witty, comfortable and he interviews well. I don’t expect to watch him for 30 years though do you? Does he have that, something?

The guy on after Dave now, James Corden? The English guy. Clever dude trying hard. He's got Reggie Watts as his band leader? James Corden… English dude? CBS, after Dave? Exactly.

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Stephen Colbert. Colbert is the one who is taking Dave’s spot time wise and location wise in the Ed Sullivan Theatre starting in September. He was a home run on Comedy Central as we know. People love Colbert and he’s funny for sure, but there’s no way in God’s great earth that I’m gonna be able to make it through 30 years of his sarcastic style. It tires really fast I think. For me, if Colbert could tone the non-stop sarcasm down a little bit, he could do a decent job. He’s funny, in the loop, likes good music, he’s not 25 trying to be a social media nerd. I just know his shtick is the sarcasm thing and it’s funny for a minute, but for the long, long run?

And then there’s Conan. I love Conan. Loved his show when he was on late years back. Loved his style, his writing, his interviewing, his band, his guests… I could live with Conan. That could help me with the Dave loss somewhat. Conan, yeah!

Wait, where the hell is he though? If you can go to channel 6 BANG! Channel 8, BANG! Just punch up an easy to remember network channel, but nope he’s in never never land! I try to find Conan, but scrolling through so many useless channels I just wind up watching "Old School" on Comedy Central with 947 commercial interruptions. Oh and what time is he on? Sure he had Triumph the Insult Comic Dog who was hilarious, he’s got the closest thing to an Ed McMahon (Andy), he’s done bits we can tolerate… but he’s on TNTBSPN!

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Letterman like him or not, carried on a bit of what we loved about Johnny Carson and maybe that’s why I always liked Dave. He obviously was a student, a young jedi to Carson and that helped him over the years you can tell. Carson liked him best too or so the story goes. (watch and/or read "The Late Shift")

Sure Dave did bits and was wacky like the new kids on tv now; The Top 10 List, Stupid Human Tricks, Stupid Pet Tricks, cooking with people, Rupert at the Hello Deli and of course the late great Larry Bud Melman. Dave had fun bits and wacky college ideas.

But…it always came back to the couch and that was the anchor for the show. To me that’s what I like best about late nite “talk shows”. Talking to whoever was on the couch. THAT’S where the real magic happens. That’s where instinct and top notch comedy comes from really. Being quick, feeding off each other. Talking to people that intrigue us. Or people who could possibly intrigue us and entertain us. People we love, but never see in this way. The couch makes them sit down and be a real human or close to it. To get the “sit down and chat” side of those people is the charm of late nite.

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Whether it was Cher calling Dave an “ass----“ or Madonna taking shots at and receiving shots from Dave or the time Crispin Glover (Marty McFly’s dad) freaked Dave out so much that he cut to a commercial or when Jaoquin Phoenix pulled some Andy Kaufman scam when he said he was quitting acting to become a rapper or Marv Albert with basketball bloopers and hey, Father Guido Sarducci? Anyone?

The time spent with people one on one make the show. You don’t really need much else if you can talk to people right and get the best from them or get them to become something during their time with you. No gimmicks, no creative bits. The real magic happens on the couch. That’s why its YOUR show and your name is on the marquee. Take Fallon, Kimmel even Conan; have they had those moments? Moments you’ll still talk about next week? In 10 years? 20 years? Sure couple of them are young and have some time to do that, but is that type of interview still out there? I’m not so sure anymore. It takes the right people to withdraw that from you on that couch.

What about the music guests? The Letterman show had balls. THEY were the ones who changed the late nite possibility for music. Cool bands could be on tv at night, not just the biggest names in the music world. Then, what about Dave’s music every night? Paul Shaffer will be missed bigtime by me. Anton on the drums, Will on bass. Those dudes go way way back to Dave’s early days too. Paul’s bounce back comments to Dave’s jokes, those great songs they go into breaks playing and of course Paul jamming with everyone. Even if Bobby McFerrin was on their doing, “Don’t Worry Be Happy”, Paul would find a way to get in on that jam. Doc Severson was Johnny Carson’s guy and he was the great late nite tv band leader… until Paul joined Dave in the early 80's. They were a new version of Johnny and Doc, but Paul is a music man’s music man. Always will be. They were a better team if you asked me. Paul was Dave's Doc AND Ed McMahon.

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I don’t know...some may say dude, you’re just getting older. I mean, they DO say that now. But we are aren’t we all? Why do people make it to be a problem that you son't surrender and accept the times or you’re not right on the ball keeping up with the pace. Maybe there isn’t a problem. Maybe the problem is I pay too much attention to those folks calling me out. Don’t get me wrong, no ones changing my mind (or channel) for me, but I do need to stop worrying about what’s going on today and if I need to be updated/upgraded on things. I like, what I like. Oh and you can too of course.

So, will I be left behind? I run that risk, sure. But to me late nite tv changes forever after tonight and now we know what our options. Doesn’t mean I have to pick one right now. I can wait for someone to come around that I like. Someone like Carson or maybe like David Letterman.

I don’t expect it to happen though.

 

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