Letterman's tribute to Carson
J.D. Baldwin
I'm a little surprised no one has commented on Letterman's show last
night (Monday). It was his first new show (they were dark last week)
since Carson's death. Anyway ...
You knew he was doing a Carson-related show because his announced
guests were Doc Severinsen and former "Tonight" executive producer
Peter Lasally. But then he came out and started doing a conventional
"joke ... joke ... joke" monologue. My reaction of "What the *hell*?"
was probably common.
Then when they came back from commercial, Dave started speaking from
his desk about how great Carson was, etc., and he mentioned that all
of his monologue jokes were written by Carson in the last few months
of his life, and faxed to Letterman's writers.
Now, none of the jokes were especially funny or clever (I saw the one
about Bush and the Pope coming about ten miles off), but that really
isn't the point. I think that was just a stunningly brilliant and
original and classy move on Letterman's part.
He also had a clip of his own appearance on "Tonight" when Johnny took
some video of his piece o'crap pickup truck (which really did belong
to Dave) and had it towed to the studio and unveiled right there on
the show. Other than the ones I'd seen two dozen times already, that
was the funniest Carson clip I've seen yet.
--
_+_ From the catapult of |If anyone disagrees with any statement I make, I
_|70|___:)=}- J.D. Baldwin |am quite prepared not only to retract it, but also
\ / bal...@panix.com|to deny under oath that I ever made it. -T. Lehrer
***~~~~-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Terry Ellsworth
J.D. Baldwin wrote:
> I'm a little surprised no one has commented on Letterman's show last
> night (Monday). It was his first new show (they were dark last week)
> since Carson's death. Anyway ...
>
> You knew he was doing a Carson-related show because his announced
> guests were Doc Severinsen and former "Tonight" executive producer
> Peter Lasally. But then he came out and started doing a conventional
> "joke ... joke ... joke" monologue. My reaction of "What the
*hell*?"
> was probably common.
>
> Then when they came back from commercial, Dave started speaking from
> his desk about how great Carson was, etc., and he mentioned that all
> of his monologue jokes were written by Carson in the last few months
> of his life, and faxed to Letterman's writers.
>
> Now, none of the jokes were especially funny or clever (I saw the one
> about Bush and the Pope coming about ten miles off), but that really
> isn't the point. I think that was just a stunningly brilliant and
> original and classy move on Letterman's part.
>
> He also had a clip of his own appearance on "Tonight" when Johnny
took
> some video of his piece o'crap pickup truck (which really did belong
> to Dave) and had it towed to the studio and unveiled right there on
> the show. Other than the ones I'd seen two dozen times already, that
> was the funniest Carson clip I've seen yet.
I had a different reaction. I found Dave cold and immature. The way he
sat at his desk with his head down while talking about Carson was
off-putting. He was obviously hiding and struggling with his emotions.
Why? Let it out. Show you are human -- maybe more people will watch
your show.
I've always liked Letterman far better than Leno. But Leno has grown,
gotten more mature in his job -- even if I still cannot watch it -- but
Letterman has stayed the same immature person he was in 1991/1992 when
everything went down.
That's too bad. There was far too much loud music last night. Couldn't
it have been toned down?
Jay did a better job and I found the regret -- about how he and his
bitch manager screwed up the relationship with Carson -- palpable. I
felt nothing personal from Dave last night because he avoided it.
Is the guy just a machine or what is his problem?
Terry Ellsworth
Christine
"J.D. Baldwin" >
>
> I'm a little surprised no one has commented on Letterman's show last
> night (Monday). It was his first new show (they were dark last week)
> since Carson's death. Anyway ...
>
> You knew he was doing a Carson-related show because his announced
> guests were Doc Severinsen and former "Tonight" executive producer
> Peter Lasally. But then he came out and started doing a conventional
> "joke ... joke ... joke" monologue. My reaction of "What the *hell*?"
> was probably common.
>
> Then when they came back from commercial, Dave started speaking from
> his desk about how great Carson was, etc., and he mentioned that all
> of his monologue jokes were written by Carson in the last few months
> of his life, and faxed to Letterman's writers.
>
> Now, none of the jokes were especially funny or clever (I saw the one
> about Bush and the Pope coming about ten miles off), but that really
> isn't the point. I think that was just a stunningly brilliant and
> original and classy move on Letterman's part.
>
> He also had a clip of his own appearance on "Tonight" when Johnny took
> some video of his piece o'crap pickup truck (which really did belong
> to Dave) and had it towed to the studio and unveiled right there on
> the show. Other than the ones I'd seen two dozen times already, that
> was the funniest Carson clip I've seen yet.
> --
In all honesty I had no clue before that Doc Severinsen was that talented.
The comments he made at the end of the show about "is it all right to laugh"
made me think about the guilt I've felt about laughing at something funny
after the death of a loved one.
Chris in Pearland, TX
J.D. Baldwin
In the previous article, Terry Ellsworth <terry...@aol.com> wrote:
> I had a different reaction. I found Dave cold and immature. The way
> he sat at his desk with his head down while talking about Carson was
> off-putting. He was obviously hiding and struggling with his
> emotions. Why? Let it out. Show you are human -- maybe more people
> will watch your show.
That part struck me as awkward, too, but I was mainly commenting on
Dave's move of coming out and doing a "regular" set of jokes, then
dropping the bomb on us later.
Bill Schenley
> because his announced guests were Doc
> Severinsen and former "Tonight" executive
> producer Peter Lasally. But then he came out
> and started doing a conventional "joke ... joke
> ... joke" monologue. My reaction of "What the
> *hell*?" was probably common.
Yeah ... That's exactly what I was thinking ... until midway through
the monologue ... when I started thinking: These jokes are not very
topical ...
> Then when they came back from commercial, Dave
> started speaking from his desk about how great
> Carson was, etc., and he mentioned that all
> of his monologue jokes were written by Carson in
> the last few months of his life, and faxed to
> Letterman's writers.
... so maybe they're the ones Carson wrote for him ...
> Now, none of the jokes were especially funny or
> clever (I saw the one about Bush and the Pope
> coming about ten miles off), but that really isn't
> the point. I think that was just a stunningly
> brilliant and original and classy move on
> Letterman's part.
I watched the Leno show and thought it was ... pretty good. However,
next to the Letterman show, at least in my opinion, it was pretty
bland.
Letterman had the perfect guests. Newhart and Rickles told stories
about the Johnny Carson we all knew ... and really, they didn't tell
us anything we didn't already know ... Then showed clips most of us
had seen countless times. Peter Lasally told stories about the Johnny
Carson we *didn't* know. Maybe some people thought Lasally's
anecdotes were boring ... but I thought they were great.
I love the music of k.d. Lang ... and she did a knockout song on Leno
... Doc Severinsen, Tommy Newsome and Ed Shaugnessy were better ...
just because they were Doc, Tommy and Ed.
> He also had a clip of his own appearance on
> "Tonight" when Johnny took some video of his
> piece o'crap pickup truck (which really did belong
> to Dave) and had it towed to the studio and
> unveiled right there on the show. Other than the
> ones I'd seen two dozen times already, that was the
> funniest Carson clip I've seen yet.
Yeah ... it was hilarious. Although ... I thought the funniest thing
on the show was Doc telling Dave about Johnny's "favorite" song ...
Terry Ellsworth
J.D. Baldwin wrote:
> In the previous article, Terry Ellsworth <terry...@aol.com> wrote:
> > I had a different reaction. I found Dave cold and immature. The way
> > he sat at his desk with his head down while talking about Carson
was
> > off-putting. He was obviously hiding and struggling with his
> > emotions. Why? Let it out. Show you are human -- maybe more people
> > will watch your show.
>
> That part struck me as awkward, too, but I was mainly commenting on
> Dave's move of coming out and doing a "regular" set of jokes, then
> dropping the bomb on us later.
Yes, I found it jarring as I did the rather loud and standard opening
of the show with the loud obnoxious announcer. Couldn't they have shown
more respect and done it more quietly?
I felt the moment you described above was a "gotcha" and I found it
jarring in what was supposed to be a memorial tribute show.
Alan Hope
So this Carson guy, what is he, some sports hero or something?
--
AH
fsponce
All I know is that after his death, I realized that I had
stopped watching late night shows as soon as Johnny stepped
down. I now know why.
Alan Hope
>x-no-archive: yes
>
>"Alan Hope" <not.al...@mail.com> wrote in message
>news:r5qvv0lbj26vocava...@4ax.com...
> How is your Uncle Bob?
Dead, obviously.
Was that your joke contribution? Could you not find anything more
stupid?
--
AH
J.D. Baldwin
In the previous article, Bill Schenley <stra...@ma.rr.com> wrote:
> I watched the Leno show and thought it was ... pretty good.
> However, next to the Letterman show, at least in my opinion, it was
> pretty bland.
I haven't watched the post desk-chat portion of the show yet, it's
waiting for me on tape.
Incidentally, Letterman destroyed Leno in the ratings: a 6.0/15 to a
4.9/12. This is really remarkable given that Leno was on the night
after Carson's death, and also given that Leno has higher "baseline"
ratings than Leno.
fsponce
posts carefully. I stopped watching late night SHOWS
after Johnny stepped down. I was not contributing any
jokes - didn't realize we were all contributing jokes. Yours
certainly isn't. And yes, I could find something more stupid
to say. All I have to do is find your posts. Nice chatting
with ya.
fake...@fakeprovider.com
INVALID...@example.com.invalid (J.D. Baldwin) wrote:
>
>
>I'm a little surprised no one has commented on Letterman's show last
>night (Monday). It was his first new show (they were dark last week)
>since Carson's death. Anyway ...
Personally, I thought it was pretty pathetic. Letterman has and always
will be a stooge. Not that Leno is any better.
I almost puked when NBC announced that they were giving The Tonight
Show to Conan. All these networks need to quit groveling to the
brainless 18-30 crowd of assholes.
Allen, Parr, Carson, Leno, Conan an absolute deterioration of the
quality of the show. Carson really wasn't THAT funny. He just lasted
the longest because the WWII/Korea generation liked him.
~Mary
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> <fake...@fakeprovider.com> wrote in message
> news:420026e4...@news.qwest.net...
>
>>On Tue, 1 Feb 2005 17:33:20 +0000 (UTC),
>>INVALID...@example.com.invalid (J.D. Baldwin) wrote:
>>
>>
>>>
>>>I'm a little surprised no one has commented on Letterman's show last
>>>night (Monday). It was his first new show (they were dark last week)
>>>since Carson's death. Anyway ...
>>
>>Personally, I thought it was pretty pathetic. Letterman has and always
>>will be a stooge. Not that Leno is any better.
>>
>>I almost puked when NBC announced that they were giving The Tonight
>>Show to Conan. All these networks need to quit groveling to the
>>brainless 18-30 crowd of assholes.
>>
>>Allen, Parr, Carson, Leno, Conan an absolute deterioration of the
>>quality of the show.
>
>
> Only *after* Carson, not before with Paar and Allen.
>
>
>>Carson really wasn't THAT funny. He just lasted
>>the longest because the WWII/Korea generation liked him.
>
>
> Oh, puh-leeze!
> Give me a break on that crap!
> BTW, I'm a 'Boomer' and many of us Boom'ers (post-date Korea
> generation) loved him, too!
I'm a 'Boomer' too, and I love Johnny Carson.
Alan Hope
>Who is Carson? Johnny Carson, of course!!! Get with it.
>All I know is that after his death, I realized that I had
>stopped watching late night shows as soon as Johnny stepped
>down. I now know why.
Your doctor told you to go to bed earlier?
Incidentally, top-posting is a sign of imbecility. Not that any more
signs were needed.
--
AH
fsponce
is a sign that I am not an expert in posting, but I am not
a person who spends loads of time expressing rather
hostile and immature opinions because I actually have
a life. Let me guess: you are overweight, are not married,
you look like a sloth, and are about as athletic as a
Koala bear on heavy sleep medication. Right? And you spend night
after night on your computer as a substitute for your love life,
right? Telling me that "top posting" is a sign of imbecility
is so funny! What a nerd-like term. See you in the funny pages,
fatso.
MadCow57
In all honesty I had no clue before that Doc Severinsen was that talented.
The comments he made at the end of the show about "is it all right to laugh"
made me think about the guilt I've felt about laughing at something funny
Don't be guilty. Here's a little tale I've posted here before: One of my many
uncles is considered the family clown so I'll call him Uncle C.
He came up to me at Uncle Ramon's viewing and said, "I don't know, Lou, Ramon
doesn't look good."
I replied, "that's because he's dead, Uncle C."
Later I was sitting with the widow and told her what Uncle C said. She let
loose a sharp and loud laugh that made everyone turn around and stare.
That one went right into the family's collection of Uncle C stories, most of
which will probably be re-told at his funeral. It's going to be a riot.