After a third of a century in late-night TV, David Letterman presented his last show last night (Wednesday, May 20), on the final day of the May ratings sweeps. And he went out with a great one…
It’s a giddy time for series finales all of a sudden. Justified ended perfectly. Mad Men ended perfectly. And last night, Late Show with David Letterman did the same, presenting a little of everything that made David Letterman such a master of his TV domain.
Oh, Jay Leno’s Tonight Show eventually beat Letterman in the ratings, as did Jimmy Fallon’s. But while Leno went for middle-America acceptability and popularity, and Fallon for frat-boy viral-video playfulness, Letterman, from the start, went for anarchy. Guests on his shows were either co-conspirators or prey. Comedy segments didn’t so much embrace the late-night mold as deconstruct or destroy it.
On last night’s show, Letterman opened with a joke about not getting The Tonight Show – which, in my mind, he always deserved. And somewhere in conversation, he made a joke about Keeping Up with the Gabors, a reference so aggressively dated, it made him laugh knowingly as he told it.
Which was one of his secrets: David Letterman rarely seemed as concerned about pleasing his audience, in the studio or watching their TVs at home, as he did about entertaining himself. If you were in on the joke, on his jokes, it was like you were part of the rebellion. And that approach never got old, even though Dave (and I) did.
On the final show, there were classic taped bits repeated for the occasion, and a new Top 10 list, featuring a different celebrity reciting each item on the list. The Top 10 celebrities last night included Bill Murray, Barbara Walters, Alec Baldwin, Jerry Seinfeld, Steve Martin, Chris Rock, Jim Carrey, Tina Fey and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Imagine what a Green Room that must have made…
And, at the end, Letterman effusively, candidly and extemporaneously thanked his two families: his workplace one, and his wife Regina and son Harry, seated in the audience. Harry seemed mortified, as usual, to be pointed out by his dad – but he loved it when his famous dad introduced and, as requested, name-checked Harry’s friend Tommy, who was sitting next to Harry.
Dave kept chuckling, and even slapped his desk with delight, at acknowledging Tommy, this little “everyday” kid, in the midst of the pomp-and-circumstance finale. It made Letterman laugh. And, as always, that was his best barometer for what to do, in a talk show career that goes all the way back to his short-lived NBC daytime show in 1980.
I reviewed that first show positively then. And I’m reviewing his last show positively now.
For my full review on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, listen today, or visit the Fresh Air website beginning Thursday afternoon.