Fri, December 2, 2005
It happened!—12:18 AM
Oprah's return to Dave was a smashing success!
The two ended their so-called feud, and Oprah even presented Dave with an autographed photo of herself mingling with Uma. It was a love fest. A "Super Bowl of Love," as Dave has often described it. I'm not an Oprah viewer, and hardly a participant in her empire, but wow. What a smart, savvy, classy lady. This is probably the longest I've ever heard her talk, and I can absolutely understand how she's become the most powerful woman in all media.
And good for Dave. This sort of utterly goony "event" is exactly what his show should be doing every night. Hopefully he'll bring back the Oprah Log.
Also, if Stephen Colbert hadn't already won my eternal adoration, he'd have won it tonight when he waxed nostalgic about Olympic ice dancing: "Oh... the outfits!"
Update: Defamer's somewhat different take
Brandon — Fri, 12/2/05 12:41am
I was waiting to see what would happen with the Dave Greeting Walk. You can tell how much Dave likes and/or respects a guest by how far he leaves (or doesn't leave) the desk to greet them after announcing their name. He nearly met Oprah at the stage entrance.
It was nice on that "event" level, but the real boost the show got was the last week or so worth of comedic build-up, particularly Tuesday night's show with Regis, who was absolutely at the hilarious peak of his Letterman-guesting game. I'm hoping they'll be able to now wring some post-event comedy out of it for Friday night.
"Mike" — Fri, 12/2/05 4:51am
I tell you, that was wonderful. I agree with Brandon in that the comedy they got out of it was really boosted in the pre-Oprah buildup. However, I loved the actual event itself. It was like watching an old Dick Cavett, except funnier.
I wish Dave, who is both funny and intelligent, would do more shows like this. He made enough jokes during the interview (and a nice monologue before it) to keep things entertaining. Then, actually talking about interesting things with an interesting person really made the show very enjoyable.
Now, it is unlikely that someone like Orlando Bloom is going to be able to talk about something that isn't his movie and a funny story. That's fine, but there would be no harm in booking guests from a little different perspective than the traditional model. Let's get authors and other public intellectuals of all stripes back on the occasional show.
All in all though, I loved Thursday night's show. It was cute, how awkward/cute Dave was in the initial escorting of Oprah to her show. I wish he hadn't done the "we'll be right back" when they got to the theatre, I think they just should've faded out. Otherwise, picture perfect.
"Mike" — Fri, 12/2/05 7:34am
And another thing. I read a Washington Post review of the appearance that called Letterman "sad" because he'd lost his edge.
This really pisses me off because it completely misses the point of quality entertainment in general. I rarely have time for people who say "I like U2/R.E.M., well...(knowingly) OLD U2/R.E.M." Or that they loved "Frasier" until Niles and Daphne got together.
Life rarely repeats one note over and over for people; why should it do so in entertainment? Should U2 keep rewriting "Sunday Bloody Sunday?" Should Niles just keep loving Daphne from a distance forever? Wouldn't those things get old and ultimately meaningless?
This isn't to say that all artisitc evolution is of a high quality or anything like that. I just got rankled because the Post reviewer assumed that unless Dave acted as he did 15 years ago, it wasn't worthwhile.
I think it is fun to grow with a band, or watch a show change over the years; sometimes, these changes result in stuff I am no longer interested in. For me personally, I am not as much of a fan of Radiohead as I was in the OK Computer days, but I don't begrudge them the direction they have taken. I don't find it "sad" and I don't think they've "lost their edge." Well, I am rambling...mommy doesn't like it when Uncle Dave gets trashed.
Bee Boy — Fri, 12/2/05 9:12am
I agree. Anyone who's trashing Dave is missing the point entirely. I think his "edge" remains firmly intact; if anything, the wisdom of age has taught him that it's more effective to be edgy in small doses rather than being edgy all the time just to do it. (Like Howard Stern, whose recent Dave appearance I fast-forwarded through as always, but who could not have looked more like Cathy Ladman.)
I think Dave has lost some of his momentum, or some of his passion for the show, and I think the fight with NBC and the move to CBS took a lot of that out of him. But the show still has moments of pure originality, and he's better behind the desk than anyone (interviewing, or telling stories about his weekend). I think he does have serious guests on from time to time, and he's always great with them. Brokaw, Clinton, Dan Rather. Plus he has people on like Tom Dreesen, who's not a serious guest but he's there to show an audience what a talk show guest should be, even if they've never heard of him.
My favorite part of the Oprah appearance (and I admit, the rest of this week's episodes still languish on TiVo, so I've missed most of the buildup) was the walk over to the "Color Purple" theatre. I'm so glad they left the mikes open, because you got to see Dave being himself, checking on Oprah all the way like a perfect gentleman. It was a real study in fame and how different people respond to it. Oprah seemed in her element – accustomed to the storm of flashbulbs and throngs of screaming fans – while Dave flinched reflexively in response to the one person who tried to grab him, and said things under his breath like, "Here's where it's gonna get dicey a little bit," right before they stepped out of the Ed Sullivan lobby. Then, when they got to the theatre, in front of a wave of fans who'd lined up all day to see Oprah, he shouted, in mock surprise, "Hey, look everyone! It's Oprah!" Priceless.
"Mike" — Fri, 12/2/05 10:59am
Agreed, especially with the "Hey, look everyone! It's Oprah!" That was fantastic.
I watched the Stern interview live, so I was unable to fast forward through it...sadly. Stern's gone from saying whatever it is that is on his mind to promoting whatever it is that is on his mind - which I think has resulted in a loss of his original edge and a growth of a faux-edge that I don't like as much.
Bee Boy — Fri, 12/2/05 11:47am
Yeah, I don't really keep up with Howard Stern but it seems to me he quickly devolved into a sort of Howard Stern "brand" which compels him to do and say edgy things just because he thinks that's his only identity – without the original anger or passion behind it. Which makes him sort of a parody of himself, the same way South Park was around season 2 or 3 where they were doing wildly outspoken things just to do it.
Thankfully, they quickly realized that they weren't speaking with their own voice, and went back to their roots: being fucking hilarious. Which is sometimes outspoken, but always successful.
Brandon — Fri, 12/2/05 12:16pm
I just read the Washington Post review, and it seems the columnist has an axe to grind with Oprah (and really, I'm no fan of hers either) over a fan-initiated Nobel Peace Prize campaign and was basically mad because Dave was so nice to her.
As for it being "sad" and Dave having "lost his edge," the columnist seems to have little more than a passing familiarity with Dave and his show. If you read The Late Shift, Dave has always considered himself, first and foremost, a broadcaster. His heroes were mostly early TV pioneers and Carson of course, who was a consummate professional. People who think Dave has lost his edge since moving to CBS and 11:30 aren't willing to give him credit for changing his style on purpose, by choice - but that's exactly what he did. Again, read The Late Shift, he talked about it all the time (because it was a concern voiced by NBC execs), that he knew he would need to make changes and he had already given the matter considerable thought.
All week long, he played the build-up for comedy (or as Oprah condescendingly referred to it, he did his "Dave thing"), and it was great. And then last night, he knew he would be drawing a huge audience, and so he chose to go for class, intelligence and spectacle. In my opinion, he played the whole thing perfectly - he gave his core audience their goofy comedy fix all week long, and then last night, he showed all those non-regular viewers who undoubtedly tuned in that he's not just the gap-toothed, monkey-cam guy anymore. I could see this helping to eventually push him past Leno in the ratings again, which I suspect means more to him than he lets on.
The other thing the columnist ignores is the impact that Dave's bypass surgery, 9/11 and the birth of his son Harry have had on him. He's not afraid to be serious now when an interview calls for it, and he's much more willing to be gracious and sincere with a good guest (and equally willing to be hard on a guest who's just shilling or refusing to talk about the elephant in the room, like when Janet Jackson was on). And frankly, it's made him a much better host. The show may not be as consistently funny as it used to be (the Top 10 Lists are pretty interminable these days), but the overall quality is much higher. Dave has raised his game and become the rightful heir to Carson's legacy, and I think a lot of people are going to come to realize that when he leaves.