Bill Carter, the journalist who most often covered late night the last few decades, writes about David Letterman. Carter makes the guy seem like a very brilliant but very unhappy human being. I'm not in a position to fully believe that last part and I wonder if he isn't conflating the early Letterman with the current guy, just as some of Leno's detractors seem to dismiss the possibility that 20+ years in a very hot seat can change a man. True, Letterman's on-air manner sometimes has made you believe that quote of his about only being happy that one hour of the day he's doing his show…but I'm still not sure it's as simple as all that. And didn't he say that before he had a son?
I think I disagree with Carter that Letterman "bombed" hosting the Oscars because "Letterman had been Letterman, not doing a show that sucked up to Hollywood." I think the problem was that Dave didn't really try to host the Oscars. He tried to do a prime-time version of his late night show and treated the awards as intrusions. I also don't think he did as badly as legend would have it. I further don't believe that the fact Leno had the Tonight Show label on his late night show meant that much to the ratings. It sure didn't help Conan O'Brien.
On the other mitt, I do agree with all the stuff about legacy and influence, and I like that Carter mentions how much of Dave's success was because of some terrific writers. Years ago on a newsgroup, I was attacked by one hysterical lady for suggesting that every single word that came out of Dave's mouth didn't come wholly from Dave's brain.
Frankly — and this may just be my profession showing — I think the show went into decline when Dave decided, as he seems to have done some time ago, that he didn't want to do the prepared material that some very fine, well-paid writers were creating for him each week, and just wanted to rely on what came out of the aforementioned brain. I've complained here that talk shows these days are too well-scripted and lack spontaneity. Yeah…but Letterman could have used a little help out there some nights.