John Oliver was on David Letterman's show the other night and Chris Wade makes an interesting point in comparing the two men. Letterman's act has really devolved into doing jokes about how lame his show is. I don't think it's that lame and I doubt he does, either…but that has become his main topic.
Boy, I liked this guy, once upon a time. I really do hope he resurfaces in some new show but it would be nice if it was a show that challenged him and fired up his enthusiasm. What that show might be and where it might air, I have no idea.
Speaking of ineptness: Did you see the two episodes of The Late, Late Show hosted by Regis Philbin? It felt like some amateur was out there, not running a talk show but instead doing his bad impression of Dana Carvey's good impression of Regis Philbin. Mr. Philbin's rep as a broadcaster has long seemed to me to be based on endurance…and he gets some solid hurrahs for that. But like Larry King and sometimes Letterman, he long ago seemed to have reached the point where it was all about Showing Up and nothing else except sometimes a certain amount of self-parody.
Last week, one website reported — unsourced — that Jay Leno had been invited to appear with Dave before Mr. Letterman leaves the 11:35 berth. Other sites picked this up and treated it like it was a huge story, which it isn't. It's been reported before and it's kind of obvious both sides want it to happen. It's in Jay's interest to go on because it'll show the world Letterman doesn't loathe him and because Dave will be gracious and it will end that aspect of The Late Night Wars.
It's in Dave's interest to have Leno on because…well, I'd like to think it's because Letterman is a bit embarrassed by how much he trashed his one-time friend and contemporary and wants to undo some of that. Even if that isn't the case, it would be a big ratings bonanza and it would probably be a real good show. So I can't see why it wouldn't happen and I assume they're just trying to figure out when.