David Letterman

St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture, Jan 29, 2002 by Geri Speace

Late Night with David Letterman first aired on February 1, 1982, broadcasting from the NBC studios in New York City. In addition to the variety-show antics from the daytime show, Letterman added elements of a more traditional talk show format, including an opening monologue, chit-chat with his bandleader, Paul Schaffer, and interviews with celebrity guests. However, the show maintained a rough-around-the-edges atmosphere, setting it apart from the slick, showbiz image of other programs. None of the spots escaped the host's offbeat approach, which teemed with a sense of wonderment at much of what the rest of society takes for granted, from the ubiquitous canned ham to a duo of recent immigrants selling New York souvenirs out of their Manhattan shop. Indeed, it became a Letterman trademark to draw regular people onto the program, putting them in the spotlight for a few seconds or even presenting them as recurring "characters." One such was Meg Parsont, a good-natured woman whose office at Simon & Schuster was across from his own. One night Letterman phoned the surprised publishing employee from the program, and enjoyed talking to her so much that he made her a recurring feature. But perhaps one of the show's funniest, most well-known, and most enduring segments is the Top Ten list, a popular routine that takes a topic, "the top ten nicknames cabbies give passengers" for example, and provides silly punch lines.

Letterman, who appears never to have lost a youthful enthusiasm and sense of excitement, often creates onscreen situations more or less just to see what will happen. Some of his signature events included donning a suit made of Velcro and flying off a trampoline toward a Velcro wall, wearing a suit covered in Alka-Seltzer tablets and diving into a tank of water, and covering himself with tortilla chips and immersing himself in yogurt dip. Other sight gags included inserting various objects like a can of pork and beans into a powerful hydraulic press. He has often brought the show's behind-the-scenes crew in front of the camera: he had stage manager Biff Henderson drive "The Golf Cart of Death" through pyramids of everyday objects, including a tower of plastic champagne glasses, and his obvious glee shone through during the numerous slow-motion replays he ordered throughout the night's broadcast. Audiences caught his infectious sense of fun and sent the show to the top of its ratings slot within a few years of its debut.

However, not everyone was enamored of Letterman's mischievous ways. To his detractors, some of his more lunatic antics are puerile and unfunny, and he appeared ill at ease hosting the 1995 Oscar ceremony where, in the opinion of many, his particular humor was out of synch with the occasion. More seriously, he quickly developed a reputation as a difficult host. Prone to openly insulting his top-name guests, he has insisted he is not mean-spirited and his wisecracks often slip out spontaneously and without malice aforethought, but many stars have taken great offense and have refused to appear on the program. Others, however, appreciate that he can equally be self-deprecating, and take his barbs in stride.