I am a big Letterman fan. I think his show is much better than any other late night comedy and talk program. But in the last few years, I've noticed several sad facts...
1) Letterman does NO produced material anymore. He never goes out on the street in a pre-recorded bit. In the past, he and Paul might go to Central Park or get in a convertible with several models or just talk to people on the street. He doesn't even do flashbacks that might be recorded in his office or chat with a guest in the green room before the show begins.
2) Paul doesn't do these things anymore either. A few weeks ago, when we saw Paul eating a hamberger in his office, Letterman even said that was actually from a bit a few years ago which they recycled.
3) All bits are now done by his stage crew or Rupert Jee from the Hello Deli. Dave just shows up for his show and that's it. Even when the crew has to work on Labor Day or Thanksgiving and they show tape of the buffet they had earlier in the day, they make a joke about Dave not being there. (Often they'll have an arm waving through a window, saying that was Dave.)
4) No more Viewer Mail, where Dave had to answer the questions. Dave would rather introduce a fake commercial or a stage hand's produced bit for several mintues and not be on screen while it plays.
5) We see less bits that Dave has to conduct like "Dave's Record Collection" or "Charts and Graphs" or "Small Town News." It seems like any bit that requires Dave to be on camera and do the jokes has been cut way back.
6) Over reliance on weekly bits like "Stump The Band" or "Week in Review." It seems like every Thursday is Stump The Band or Know Your Cuts of Meat. Yes, that does require Dave to interact with the audience. But the bit he usually does with the intern Vicky where she calls him Mr. Kearny or some other incorrect name seems odd. They're both reading from cue cards like they can't even memorize the material, talking to each other while staring straight ahead, reading from the cards. At least when Dean Martin did it, he'd have two cue card holders so Dean and his guest could face each other.
7) From what I've heard, Dave only works three days a week. On Tuesday he tapes both Tuesday and Wednesday's shows. Wednesdays he tapes the Thursday and Friday shows. And he's off many more weeks than Leno.
Gregg
[email protected]
1) Letterman does NO produced material anymore. He never goes out on the street in a pre-recorded bit. In the past, he and Paul might go to Central Park or get in a convertible with several models or just talk to people on the street. He doesn't even do flashbacks that might be recorded in his office or chat with a guest in the green room before the show begins.
2) Paul doesn't do these things anymore either. A few weeks ago, when we saw Paul eating a hamberger in his office, Letterman even said that was actually from a bit a few years ago which they recycled.
3) All bits are now done by his stage crew or Rupert Jee from the Hello Deli. Dave just shows up for his show and that's it. Even when the crew has to work on Labor Day or Thanksgiving and they show tape of the buffet they had earlier in the day, they make a joke about Dave not being there. (Often they'll have an arm waving through a window, saying that was Dave.)
4) No more Viewer Mail, where Dave had to answer the questions. Dave would rather introduce a fake commercial or a stage hand's produced bit for several mintues and not be on screen while it plays.
5) We see less bits that Dave has to conduct like "Dave's Record Collection" or "Charts and Graphs" or "Small Town News." It seems like any bit that requires Dave to be on camera and do the jokes has been cut way back.
6) Over reliance on weekly bits like "Stump The Band" or "Week in Review." It seems like every Thursday is Stump The Band or Know Your Cuts of Meat. Yes, that does require Dave to interact with the audience. But the bit he usually does with the intern Vicky where she calls him Mr. Kearny or some other incorrect name seems odd. They're both reading from cue cards like they can't even memorize the material, talking to each other while staring straight ahead, reading from the cards. At least when Dean Martin did it, he'd have two cue card holders so Dean and his guest could face each other.
7) From what I've heard, Dave only works three days a week. On Tuesday he tapes both Tuesday and Wednesday's shows. Wednesdays he tapes the Thursday and Friday shows. And he's off many more weeks than Leno.
Gregg
[email protected]