Thu, January 3, 2008

Last night, David Letterman broadcast his first Late Show since the start of the WGA strike in November. I was looking forward to the episode more than I have since probably his first on CBS over 14 years ago. Then they went and booked Robin Williams as the first guest back, guaranteeing it would be a very tough pill to swallow.

Still, congratulations are due to Dave and his company, Worldwide Pants, for negotiating a contract with the WGA which allows his writers to return to work. I'm proud he was able to return with his show intact, since all the TV networks have forced their late night hosts back on the air this week anyway. (With the exception of Carson Daly, who stepped forward back when the strike was brand new – is there any difference in ratings between fresh Carson Daly and repeats? Who exactly was clamoring for new Carson episodes?)

Dave had a new strike beard (scary!) and a charming Top Ten list delivered by striking writers from The Colbert Report (yay!) and other New York shows. Paul played them off with Spinal Tap's "Gimme Some Money." Lots of fun, but what I was looking forward to the most was Dave at his desk, post-monologue, speaking extemporaneously about the strike as only he can. Along with Paul Shaffer's arcane, hilarious non sequiturs, the updates from Dave's desk have been the best part of the show for years. (In a way, his show is the one that would be most watchable without writers, since his and Paul's off-the-cuff moments are the main reasons I tune in.) Whether he's talking about his family, or Paris Hilton, or anything, he's witty, wise, and profound. I was surprised that this segment was very short, and pretty much consisted of one joke about writers demanding free pencils. Thankfully, Bill Scheft interrupted a subsequent lame comedy bit with a sincere plea for the AMPTP to return to the negotiating table, but I was really surprised there was no update from Dave.

I watched the beginning of Leno, just to see how he would handle it, and I was surprised that he had an extended monologue which he admitted having written. It's my understanding that WGA members who work on shows in another capacity (host, producer, etc.) are prohibited from doing any work that a writer might have done. Leno has been a vocal and admirable supporter of the strike (though he didn't go as far as Dave or Conan in professing his support on air), so I know he's not intentionally bending the rules. Confusing.

Conan, on the other hand, had clearly not written anything, and it made for a pretty great show. His top guest was Bob Saget (who hosts NBC's game show 1 vs. 100) – not sure if this is the result of actors boycotting struck shows, or if NBC is simply putting its very best foot forward, and that foot is sadly lame game shows. Conan's show was really delightful. His grief at returning without his writers was sincere – after all, his writers appear in almost all of his comedy bits, almost always one in each show; he's out there with no one to keep him company. Most of his schtick has always been about how unprepared he is to host a show, so the self-deprecating wisecracks about his lame attempts to fill the hour felt perfectly comfortable. It was more like an hour of hanging out with Conan, and it was nearly as fun as you'd expect that to be.

For the first time, I also tuned into The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. (All told, three and a half hours of TV last night – more than I've watched in the last two weeks.) I've seen a few minutes of Craig's monologue on the end of my Late Show recordings now and then, but I've never tried the show. It turns out Craig Ferguson is ridiculously hysterical. I have no idea if he's punchy from the two months off, or if it's always like this (although a recent EW profile suggests it is). He played the entire hour without guests and it was great. (I wish Dave and Conan would try that now and then). Worldwide Pants produces The Late Late Show as well, so Craig's writers were back, and amidst all the jokes about "you mean this stuff is written?" were some very funny sketches and even more spontaneous funny moments from Craig, who was flying with no net, and clearly giddy to be back on the air. I'll definitely tune in again tonight.

As I will with Conan and Dave also, of course. Dave's got Ellen Page – this year's Amy Adams on the Jameson Scale of Obsessive Movie Crushes (not that Amy's slipped off the top spot; Amy, call me). And also Bill Maher, who should provide some hard-edged topicality and hopefully some interesting conversation about the strike. (And maybe some mean jokes about Mike Huckabee? Please, Bill?) This should be a vast improvement over Robin Williams who is still just unwatchably bad, and really serves as a poster boy for Hollywood's desperate need for writers. Hand him a great script (Good Will Hunting, Insomnia) and he's amazing; otherwise, he's a train wreck. As the New York Times put it in their pale run-down of the new episodes, "Robin Williams, Mr. Letterman's first guest, addressed him initially as 'General Lee' and then 'Rabbi.'" Though these references were only moments apart, Williams went through at least half a dozen other characters in between – each with its own booming and inscrutable fake accent.

I'll probably peek at Leno, too, just to see if his monologue remains, and if he continues his lame Q&A bit with the audience. Three out of four questions last night came from retirees hailing from Branson or Daytona Beach – further proof that this is absolutely the sole demographic for Leno. He can't even rope anyone into his studio audience unless it's glassy-eyed tourists from the midwest. (Or Daytona, which I've heard described as "the midwest of the South." Haven't you? What about two sentences ago?) What boggles me is, if this lame pablum is the interface these people want with the entertainment industry, what the hell compels them to visit Los Angeles? Is it just to hunt down Leno and demand he visit their towns?

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