I mentioned the other day that I thought David Letterman's first show back from his illness was terrific, and that it did well in the ratings. I saved it on the TiVo, watched it again, and decided I was wrong about the first part: It wasn't terrific. It was just significantly better than most of the shows Letterman was doing before he fell victim to shingles. Why? Perhaps because he had something to talk about. The following night, he didn't — and the show was the same tedious, repetitive offering Dave's been serving us for way too long. The ratings suggest a lot of viewers feel as I do. First night back, Letterman had a 5.3 rating. The next night, he had a 3.4.
Elsewhere on this site, you'll see a number of old pieces wherein I wrote about how much I enjoyed watching both Dave and Jay every night — and I did. Then. I don't now, and I don't think the problem is that I've changed. I think the problem is that they haven't: They're both doing the same show, over and over, with no surprises, no twists, no innovations…and rarely with anything new to talk about. As a longtime lover/student of late night TV, I have some thoughts on why I'm not enjoying either show lately. Over the next few days, I'm going to be sharing them in this spot.