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Letterman to Retire in 2015


Dolfan in NYC

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Maybe it'll be Leno. Think of the irony.

He won't wait that long rumor I read said E! is talking to him to take over when what's her face's contract runs out later this year.

 

Chelsea Handler. God, going from NBC to E! would be a huge step down for Leno.

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So I've always had insomnia/been a late owl/etc. I first started watching Dave when I was in like 4th or 5th grade, once I got a TV in my bedroom. I'm sure so much of it went over my head but I was so absolutely in love with his show and all the crazy stuff on it -- dumping marbles from roofs, watermelon slingshots, etc. I still have his Top 10 lists books -- they essentially defined my sense of humor.

I haven't watched Letterman in years save for a few segments here and there. But even to this day he still has such a great weirdo personality. I think he's actually become somewhat underrated in recent years. He's responsible for a lot of American comedy.

 

Sad day when he steps down.

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So do we post favorite memories in here too?

 

I think my favorite moments were when Dave had to try and draw blood from stones. His 'interviews' with Kristen Stewart and Joaquin Phoenix were great.

WHOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

 

 

This is unreal

 

 

See, I was expecting her to be all mumbly and disengaged, but she actually came across fine, just nervous. Letterman, on the other hand, was being an asshole. Look how he leans into her around the 3 minute mark like it's an interrogation. I think I would've upped and left at that stage.

 

Granted, I don't watch his show, but every time I've seen him, he's come across as a condescending prick.

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I came to Letterman as he was kind of transitioning from edgy and weird to being part of the establishment. The point where everyone was in on the joke of Larry Bud and knew he was a pro playing an amateur for example, but they were all still pretending to be more counterculture than they were. The cranky old man a Letterman of the past decade alternates between boing me and making me cringe. I'm glad he got to do a job he loved until he got tired of it, but I am also happy to see him go.

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I really believe Letterman is the single most influencial figure in comedy for my generation (40-somethings, guys who grew up watching his NBC show). Pryor and Carlin and Lenny Bruce were the influencial people for the generation before Letterman, and Eddie Murphy was pretty influencial afterward. But Letterman is THE guy for my age group and a huge influence on the young folks doing talk shows now.

 

Dropping things off a building would be all over YouTube now if YouTube had existed back when he was doing it. So would the steamroller, the velcro suit jumps, the "suit of suet," etc. and that doesn't even begin to cover the guests.

 

Sure, he probably takes the cranky act too far, but it's been a joy to watch him remain true to himself throughout - remember a couple of years ago when he was trying to Tweet from a laptop at his desk during the show and it would take him what seemed like 20 minutes to compose a Tweet? Finally CBS must've figured "bad idea" 'cause that went away quick. But watching him struggle over that keyboard was SO Letterman.

 

I'd say the job's Jon Stewart's to have. They'd either try to put John Oliver as host of the Daily Show or move Colbert up to the 11 p.m. slot. Kind of a shame, 'cause I'd love for the 11:30 audience to get their eyes on Craig Ferguson, Geoff Peterson and Secretariat.

 

I always thought Leno would end up with Piers Morgan's job on CNN, but just trying to be funny and staying away from news discussion. E! would be some serious slumming for Leno.

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Used to love Letterman, but I agree the last decade or so he has been mostly irrelevant. Really all the late night talk shows are in that category, not just because of the quality of the shows but because the market is so diluted with similar shows around the clock. I don't have to stay up until 11:45 to see the interview with random star anymore because he was already on GMA, Ellen, and 15 other shows this week.

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I really believe Letterman is the single most influencial figure in comedy for my generation (40-somethings, guys who grew up watching his NBC show). Pryor and Carlin and Lenny Bruce were the influencial people for the generation before Letterman, and Eddie Murphy was pretty influencial afterward. But Letterman is THE guy for my age group and a huge influence on the young folks doing talk shows now.

 

Dropping things off a building would be all over YouTube now if YouTube had existed back when he was doing it. So would the steamroller, the velcro suit jumps, the "suit of suet," etc. and that doesn't even begin to cover the guests.

 

Possibly my all-time favorite Letterman moment:  Dave goes to deliver a basket of fruit to GE (who had just bought NBC) and gets thrown out by security when everybody freaks out over the cameras being there.  Dave just does not miss a beat.

 

 

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^That was fanastic.

 

"Are they every mean to you?"

"They're good people."

"Christmas bonuses?"

"They're good people."

 

He could pull off absurd stuff in his later years on CBS, like flooding the coffeeshop with people in Spider-Man costumes and making TV stars out of people like Rupert Jee and Sirajul and Mujibur.

 

I really do think one's perspective on this is basically shaped by your age. If you're in, say, your 20s or 30s, it's "cranky old man of TV finally goes away." If you were a kid watching this madness unfold on his NBC show and following him to CBS, this is a real end of an era. All I know is since I doubt he's sticking around until Christmas 2015, the KING of must-watch TV for me this year is listening to Jay Thomas tell that Lone Ranger story one more time this Christmas. 

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If Stewart jumps to Late Night (which I doubt will happen), I don't think Oliver gets the spot anymore. Of the currents correspondents, I think it'll be Aasif Mandvi or Jessica Williams.

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Not a huge Letterman fan but he's been on TV nearly my whole life so it's sad in that way.

Now when Howard Stern calls it quits... That's gonna be a tough pill to swallow.

IMO I don't think Howard will ever hang it up. He obviously still loves his job, and clearly is Sirius' most valuable asset, so they'll forkover whatever they need to keep him around.

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I really do think one's perspective on this is basically shaped by your age. If you're in, say, your 20s or 30s, it's "cranky old man of TV finally goes away." If you were a kid watching this madness unfold on his NBC show and following him to CBS, this is a real end of an era.

 

 I was a kid watching on NBC -- and absolutely loved it -- but I'm still saying "cranky old man" etc.  He intentionally toned things down for 11:30, and while I still liked him okay for a few years on CBS, I lost interest.  And I happened to watch some a few months ago and was astounded by how absolutely unfunny it was.  Just terrible.

 

All I know is since I doubt he's sticking around until Christmas 2015, the KING of must-watch TV for me this year is listening to Jay Thomas tell that Lone Ranger story one more time this Christmas. 

 

Back on NBC, I remember looking forward every year to Paul's impression of Cher singing "O Holy Night".  Do they still do that?

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