Farewell David Letterman: End of an Era

David Letterman.   I grew up watching some of his wackiness over on CBS.  Eventually I caught up to the innovative comedy he used to do on NBC.  Tonight it ends with his final episode.  Good to see Dave go on his own terms.   I think he's inspired almost all of us.  Those who say "he changed the way we do comedy on TV" are right.  Those who say "he's inspired many of us" are also right.  I'll admit, I haven't touched his show in quite some time, but when he was dialed in during the 80's and 90's, it was really the gold standard for unusual creative humor.  One thing about Letterman I used to not like turns out to be a mis-understanding.

You know, for the longest time I always thought it was pretty lame of him to be so cold to the little people, interns, guys in the audience and so on.  but NOW, hearing some guys on the "Mark in the Morning" show on 100.3 The Sound who came on the air who used to be Letterman interns back at NBC, I now realize what was going on.   He was fully misunderstood here.  Even back in the 80s apparently guys would harass him in the street bugging him with all these comedy ideas.  The guys were saying the dude was just so busy he literally didn't have time to stop and meet random people in the crowd.   I totally get it now.   It makes even more sense when you get a sense for how much a famous person gets pelted with mentions on twitter both good and bad.   you have to draw lines.  Now I get it…  and besides, Letterman wasn't really an outgoing guy to start with… however, when you think about it… ever notice that a whole lot of his staff and the band were there with him from the very beginning?  Some of them go back as far as the original morning show he did in 1980.    Dave is incredibly loyal and good to the people who are good to him.  I get it now.  his show in the NBC days was ridiculously funny.. SO good.  The CBS stuff was good the first five years (up to 2000 you'd still get a hilarious bit here and there). His interviews have been pretty solid the entire 35 years.   Tonight it ends… and as you guys said, he's done with broadcasting.   This is the last time we'll see Letterman on TV as far as I know.   

Goodbye Dave, and thank you!