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Sat 25 Mar, 2006 04:59 pm
OK, so coupla years ago, we started getting David Letterman on TV too. I dunno why, cos Ive never met anyone Dutch - or anyone from Europe, for that matter, who thought he was funny.
Being bored, I just came across one of those videos on the web of one of his "Top 10" thingies. I really dont get it - I mean, each of the "items" is like, the most humdrum, dumb blandness of a 'joke', and then there's the whole lets take ten seconds to look self-congratulatory on how funny that was thing. I mean, what's that all about?
Jon Stewart is funny, Ive seen him on TV now too. But Letterman?
BUT - here's the thing. I've met at least two Americans, smart, cool, witty and charming American girls - who loved him, thought he was the best.
So, whats up with this? Is this an American thing, a cultural thing?
A poll!
I can't vote in your poll...... I am somewhere between thinking he's totally cool and totally whack, though I do lean towards whack.
How can you not like Dave?
me? I've sort of become indifferent.
Totally unfunny, his humour is SOOOOOO obvious, and so corny he needs a drummer to do his little bit to let the audience know that he has reached the punchline and it is their cue to laugh.
Sorry guys, but his humour just sinks about mid atlantic, IMO.
It took a few years, but I finally figured that the stoopidity was part of the humor. Somehow.
nimh wrote:Yeah! Thats what I say
Are we actually AGREEING on something, Nimh? (apart from our penchant for east euro women, that is).
It will be interesting to hear from the other euro people on a2k re. Letterman.
I think kicky is a big fan though, and I'm scared that I may have hurt his feelings. I want to keep on his good side, as he was going to arrange a hot foursome with Lk and Dag.
letterman is totally easter coast wacko. He's one of the reasons western guys carry guns. I carry a gun. Steven Wright, on the other hand, is really funny.
Do you know when the show you saw originally aired?
Old school Letterman is cool. I'd say that goes from, I dunno, mid-80's to early-mid-90's. He had some amazing writers and in context -- what else was going on on TV at the time -- was doing incredible, ground-breaking stuff.
Then he got a bit too complacent and it just started regurgitating. It's like, he wasn't challenged and he wasn't into it but he couldn't quite bring himself to give up the lifestyle, so he stuck with it.
Anyway, for people who started watching when he was still way cool, the loyalty is there, plus there are tons of in-jokes/ references. Like, even if that new bit isn't funny in a vaccuum, it refers to something old that was funny...
(As you can probably tell, I stopped watching in the mid-90's or so. Can't stand Jay Leno though. Conan has his moments. Jon Stewart is by far my favorite of the bunch.)
I wholeheartedly agree with soz... Letterman was terrifically funny ten or twenty years ago, but is painful to watch now. They have really dumbed down the show.
It died for me around the time that Paul Schaefer (sp?) stopped being a sidekick proper and started on his quest to be a star in his own right. He's just annoying.
I know a guy from Sweden that thinks Dave is the best.
My opinion of Dave...he is a total smart a$$, I'm sure he got smacked around quite often in school.
letterman is the man. He doesn't give a ****.
Don't like him. Leno is a little better, but Conan and Craig Ferguson are both the best.
How do you Europeans like Craig Ferguson? He's scottish...
It's true, what sozobe and Liontamer said. David Letterman used to be really edgy and funny years ago. I can't remember the network, what it NBC? was his employer, but he had problems with them and GE and he never hesitated to make jokes about it on the air.
Once he made the big move to the Ed Sullivan theater and switched networks and got a HUGE salary increase it was all down hill from there.
He was in his prime when Johnny Carson was still on the air.
A few years ago I knew a college aged kid who got an internship working on Letterman's show. She quit the internship after a week-- Her only job was to get coffee and buy him socks.
It's true, what sozobe and Liontamer said. David Letterman used to be really edgy and funny years ago. I can't remember the network, NBC? was his employer, but he had problems with them and GE and he never hesitated to make jokes about it on the air.
Once he made the big move to the Ed Sullivan theater and switched networks and got a HUGE salary increase it was all down hill from there.
He was in his prime when Johnny Carson was still on the air.
A few years ago I knew a college aged kid who got an internship working on Letterman's show. She quit the internship after a week-- Her only job was to get coffee and buy him socks.
I can vaguely remember a time when D.Letterman was somewhat funny. For me, the only thing I liked really was his appearance/references to that movie Cabin Boy.
Still cracks me up. The guy is a geek and he knows it.
I think it's a qualification for American talk show hosts to be obnoxious aholes. Seriously, Jay Leno?! The same tired crap over and over and over.
John Stewart is the only one that doesn't make me want to go on a killing spree after 20 mins.
I quit watching Letterman when the Daily Show began . Jon Stewart is the second host , and IMHO. the best.
Letterman nd Leno both suck becasue their humor is predictable. No comedian can make it past 10 years and be fresh.
Dys-Steve Wright is dead.
bvt, What are we gonna do with these people?