A number of folks on the 'net are distressed or upset or even outraged that CBS has started the renovation of the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York and has already dismantled and discarded David Letterman's set.
What can I say? The remodeling job was going to start sooner or later…and the sooner they get it done, the better for Stephen Colbert and his staff. I don't see what anyone gains if they let an empty theater sit there for a few weeks before clearing it out.
Some portions of the set are reportedly being preserved. If some university or museum wanted the whole thing, they had more than a year to ask for it. Or if Letterman or his people wanted it kept intact somewhere, they had more than a year to find that "somewhere." I expect a similar sense of loss when the marquee comes down, probably any day now.
Steve Allen titled his autobiography, Mark It and Strike It, which was a term that is sometimes used in television. It basically means, "Mark where that set was and then get it the hell outta here." He chose that as his title because the phrase reminded him of the impermanence of his industry. Every great TV show that ever existed had its set torn down and replaced with the set for some other show. When I was doing sitcoms and variety shows, I used to marvel at how fast the crews could load in a set and how even faster they could make it disappear.
Frankly, I'm more interested in whether Letterman's shows are going to disappear. Back when Dave was at NBC, the network made a deal with one of the then-new cable networks — I think it was A&E — to rerun old Late Night episodes. Letterman was furious, claiming he had not been consulted. The folks at NBC said he and/or his reps had been consulted. They just hadn't been paying attention to what they'd signed-off on. In any case, the rerun deal was scaled back, cut down from many years to one or two, and Letterman demanded the right to select the episodes and, if he felt necessary, re-edit them.
He did not want his old shows seen so NBC dropped that idea and I don't believe it was ever raised at CBS. We're wondering if now that he's not doing new shows, he will object to the old ones being seen again. Apparently, there is some buzz that this will happen but I haven't heard where or when or how. (I also don't know why NBC, which I think owns all the shows he did for them, hasn't already slapped them on MSNBC or somewhere. I assume there's a reason.)
I think I've said here before that I wish someone would start The Talk Show Channel and run old talk shows 24/7. There are enough libraries around — Johnny's, Dick Cavett's, Merv Griffin's, Mike Douglas's, David Frost's, Leno's, Arsenio's, etc. There might be clearance problems with music and occasionally with clips from movies but I'd even watch them with the unclearable moments snipped out if that was all we could get. If they really wanted to do it right, each show would be preceded by a minute or two with someone coming on to give the original airdate and to mention now-obscure cultural references or news items mentioned during the show. ("There was this woman in the news then named Heidi Fleiss…")
Wherever they wind up, I hope Dave's old shows wind up somewhere…and not where most of his set is tonight: In dumpsters.