The gentleman that is Letterman
When Chelsea gave Piers that now-famous smackdown, "You need to pay attention to your guests!" I thought immediately of Letterman. Ms. Handler is very adept at putting her guests as the center of attention, and like Dave, will quickly say "enough about me" if guests get too inquisitive about the host.
Dave is the best interviewer on late night because he's a fantastic listener. He doesn't just nod as if trying to make the time pass, or resort to funny voices or childish dances with Justin Timberlake, but he actually puts the guest front and center. Now, if your late night cuppa tea is showbiz razzle dazzle, then perhaps yes, you want a late night host who can put on 47 different voices, play 17 musical instruments and inspire Stephen Colbert to throw pennies down his shirt.
But that is not what I want, and ever since Thursday's sad announcement, I've felt very cheated host-wise. Coming so soon after Chelsea's announcement that she won't renew her E contract -- news only mildly buffered by her agent's supposedly having talked to a dozen potential suitors, and Handler's relatively young age -- I wanted to indulge in self-pity Big Time.
But this isn't about me. Let me see if I can act like Dave and make it about the guest, in this case him.
He has listened to everyone from Regis to supermodels, Johnny Depp to the senior Mrs. Letterman, with equal amounts of curiosity and respect. I always got the feeling it was his mother, and perhaps his father, who instilled in him long ago that one should pay attention to his guest. This probably started in the family livingroom in Indiana, many years ago, when that gap-toothed kid sought the big time out west, and then east.
It's ironic that I would tell my mom how great his interviewing skills are -- to which Mom would remark, "I used to not know how smart he was, and then I realized, 'wow, he really is." -- just a few days prior to this announcement. I'd therefore like to see Dave do occasional specials, perhaps leaning more on the interview and less (but not too much less) on the comedy, maybe in the manner of a Bill Maher interview when he brings out an author before starting with the roundtable for the night. Dave would be very effective at that.
Perhaps he could start with Jennifer Lawrence, whom he's wrapped up in a blanket and nearly interviewed under the covers already. After all, it's a testament to his charm that he can still get the darling Lawrence to flirt with him years after Drew Barrymore did her little dance. And she's not the only one--heck, I think I saw Johnny Depp flirting with him Thursday night.
But clearly, Dave's heart is tied up elsewhere.
For, after delivering his sad news to us, he made my sides split once again: "What this means now is Paul and I can be married!"
Photo: A young David Letterman after accepting his Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program,
1987, photo by Alan Light, via Flickr/Wikimedia Commons: (http://www.flickr.com/photos/alan-light/210403909/in/set-72157594230529525)
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