can someone tell me why David Letterman was great?

Plissken said:
The change really came after his heart surgery in 2000 or so, he was toned down, but still the old Dave in the 90's for the most part..

Here's one of my favorite recurring bits that ended around his surgery time.

Click to expand...

So basically impractical jokers stole this bit and made it into a show.
 
GOAT latenight talkshow interviewer, and since that's over half the show = great
 
I always felt like Letterman's prime was gone by the time I can remember anything when I started watching TV.

I do know Conan, Ferguson, the Letterman I can remember from around 95, and Leno from the late 90s all are better than Kimmel and fucking Fallon. Too much soapboxing and pontificating nowadays for me.
 
Gregolian said:
I always felt like Letterman's prime was gone by the time I can remember anything when I started watching TV.

I do know Conan, Ferguson, the Letterman I can remember from around 95, and Leno from the late 90s all are better than Kimmel and fucking Fallon. Too much soapboxing and pontificating nowadays for me.
Click to expand...
90's-mid 2000's conan and leno were definitely better than fallon ,kimmel only has a few good skits like the mean tweets,unnecessary censorship and stuff involving Guillermo.
 
Jesus X said:
I actually like craig Ferguson his compilations of him flirting with his guests and them flirting back are fun to watch on youtube.
Click to expand...

Craig was the best. When he had a slow witted guest that couldn't keep up with him, it made for awkward tv. But when he had somebody quick who could keep up, it was classic comedy. Lauren graham and kristen bell were his best repeat guests.
 
Jesus X said:
90's-mid 2000's conan and leno were definitely better than fallon ,kimmel only has a few good skits like the mean tweets,unnecessary censorship and stuff involving Guillermo.
Click to expand...
Kimmel feels like he's trying to run away from his days with Carolla on The Man Show.

I used to watch BBC a fair bit for Top Gear before Clarkson got shitcanned and they always advertise the Graham Norton show so I finally tried to watch it... how is that guy still on TV?

Maybe I just don't get it but fuck me I wasn't a big fan.
 
Agent Mulder's Hair said:
Craig was the best. When he had a slow witted guest that couldn't keep up with him, it made for awkward tv. But when he had somebody quick who could keep up, it was classic comedy. Lauren graham and kristen bell were his best repeat guests.
Click to expand...
his traveling ahows with bell were good and that alaskan girl from some reality tv show.
 


Lol this still makes me lol for real ^. It's a sketch that doesn't start off very funny, but goes so terribly off the rails that it becomes hilarious :D lol ewan mcgregor was literally wiping away tears from laughing at one point
 
Daniel Fox said:
I'm with you, I never understood letterman's popularity. I never found him funny, or that good of an interviewer.
Click to expand...

Oh shit, I hope I didn't sound like I was shitting on Letterman. I don't like talk shows and never watched them, so i don't have context when people praise him. I have no idea what he did that was innovative.

Today I had youtube playing in the background and heard a bunch of celebrities and comedians singing his praises as a revolutionary. This made me very curious.
 
JosephDredd said:
Oh shit, I hope I didn't sound like I was shitting on Letterman. I don't like talk shows and never watched them, so i don't have context when people praise him. I have no idea what he did that was innovative.

Today I had youtube playing in the background and heard a bunch of celebrities and comedians singing his praises as a revolutionary. This made me very curious.
Click to expand...

I didn't take it that way. When I was growing up there was a cult of Letterman, in college I remember people wearing David Letterman T-shirts, I watched his show and I never got his humor. I suppose for a talk show host he was Ok, but I failed to see him as a creative, comedic, genius like so many people do.
 
JosephDredd said:
I never watch talk shows and don't know anything about them. It's very, very rare that I watch a talk show and am interested in anything being said.

BUT, everyone raves about Letterman. I've heard that he idolized Johnny Carson and wanted to take what Carson did and push it further. They call Letterman a genius. They say he had an edgy, dangerous tone. They say he was an original, a true innovator.

WTF does this all mean?
Click to expand...

Back in the early 80's, when Letterman hosted "Late Night with David Letterman," his stuff was definitely cutting edge and his shows were hilariously funny. I remember watching it with my brothers. Comedy is sometimes relative to era, but I bet digging up some of those old shows would still be pretty entertaining.

As Letterman got older, he was still somewhat funny but not as much so and certainly not cutting edge.
 
Letterman is like what good radio morning shows used to be, or podcasts you enjoy today. It was like hanging out with a buddy, sarcastically snarking up the joint and having a stupid good time, but the difference being this guy was sincerely funny. Not just inside-joke you-had-to-be-there funny. Not just cuttingly clever or meanie black humor. But genuinely funny, and in an ordinary setting. He reduced celebrities to normal folk and brought normal people to the screen. All other shows were about the elite or the unique, Dave gave you the everyday and turned it up. He set a tone that was irreverent but not disrespectful. His onscreen persona had depth, and while Leno was playing it safe trying to be the moral middle, Dave had fun being wacky and just trying to make people giggle at the same things he giggled at. Plus he is a phenomenal storyteller, a fantastic guest in his own right, and wonderfully opinionated.
 
Letterman pretty much knew Leno was the man, would even try to banter with him, he just watched the master work his craft.





 
Holy shit. I can't believe he just does bit after bit. Comedians call that "desk," usually happening after their stand-up set but it's still just doing their routine, while sitting down. That's like thirty solid minutes of Leno monologue.

Was there no actual conversation?
 
If you're asking people to explain humor to you, you wont understand it. What works for some people doesnt always work for others.
 
Bob Gray said:
If you're asking people to explain humor to you, you wont understand it. What works for some people doesnt always work for others.
Click to expand...

That's not what I'm asking for. I'm not a late night talk show watcher so I have no context for what Letterman did when I hear people singing his praises as an innovator and "a true original". What did he do that was different? What kind of impact did he have? etc etc.
 
JosephDredd said:
That's not what I'm asking for. I'm not a late night talk show watcher so I have no context for what Letterman did when I hear people singing his praises as an innovator and "a true original". What did he do that was different? What kind of impact did he have? etc etc.
Click to expand...

At the time he was considered edgy. The sort of real world pranking he did became popular and imitated by stuff like Punked and Impractical Jokers. His interview style was goofy and got stars to be more open and casual. At the same time he wouldnt bother to conceal his boredom and lack of interest in their stories, either. He was sort of an original take on the talk show host in the sense that he cared less about making the star look good as he did making the segment entertaining. This could lead to embarrassing moments, brash conflicts and all manner of things that can only happen when you arent sticking to a script, so to speak. Talk show hosts tended to have lead in questions that just let the star talk about whatever funny story or anecdote that was already pre screened. Letterman did the same, but he'd abandon it in a heartbeat if it wasnt working.
 
90’s letterman was pretty funny. I never watched prior to that though because I was too young.

I agree with what people have already said about him in the 2000’s. He just got lazier and lazier.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,236,690
Messages
55,434,894
Members
174,775
Latest member
kilgorevontrouty

Share this page

Back
Top