If that’s not officially the new slogan of “The Late Show with David Letterman,” it might as well be, since it’s Dave’s facial hair that’s gotten more mention in the press than the actual content of his first few shows.
I’m always gonna pick Letterman over Leno, given that the former was directly responsible for a young high school student in Chesapeake, VA, to finally learn that you can be perceived as a lot funnier if you choose your moments, so I’m not going to be able to speak to how well Leno’s doing in his post-strike return. (I do, however, think he’s stirred up a hornet’s nest with this whole issue of whether or not he’s able to just whip himself up a monologue, given that he’s a WGA member.) I can, however, say that it’s good to have Letterman back…even if he is just doing the same old show he was doing before the strike started.
You gotta give the guy credit, though: he walked onto the stage amidst a crowd of leggy dancing girls holding “Writers Guide of America On Strike” signs, thereby announcing that, yes, he’s still fighting the fight for the WGA. Later in the show, however, he scored a far more specific hit by bringing on “Late Show” strike captain Bill Scheft on to interrupt a punchline about a pair of electric underpants.
“Unfortunately, we’re not going to be able to show you the conclusion of this joke. Why? Well, it’s to remind you that, even though the ‘Late Show’ writers are back at work, the WGA strike still goes on. Thousands of writers still walk the picket line every day until their legs cramp and their backs ache, only to return to a home they can now barely afford because of the producers’ greed. So to the arrogant media moguls who’ve gotten so fat over our sweat-soaked toil that they can no longer fit behind their oversized mahogany desk, I say to you, ‘Stop spending all your money on cufflinks, cocktails, and whores! Stick a crowbar in your wallet and start bargaining in good faith with the writers! Maybe then America won’t be denied the joy of seeing David Letterman hold up a pair of flaming underpants!”
God love Letterman, that’s what I say.
Another timely highlight was the top-10 list from the return episode, where Dave brought out writers from various other shows – “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” and “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” to name but three – and had them offer up their top 10 demands. What was #1…? “Producers must immediately remove their heads from their asses.” Sounds fair to me.
As far as his guests go, Robin Williams is always a safe bet when a host wants to ease his way back into actually performing hosting duties – that’s what happens when you book a force of nature – but despite being as hyperactive as usual, Williams got off a lot of great jokes about Letterman’s beard, including greeting him as “General Lee.” Last night, however, Letterman had the best self-deprecating joke about his facial hair, referencing his former gig as Uncle Jesse on “The Dukes of Hazzard,” with an announcer intoning the immortal question, “Cooter, got yer ears on?” Last night also found the more entertaining first guest of Bill Maher, along with a later appearance from “Juno” star Ellen Page; musically speaking, though, I think I actually preferred the first night’s performance by Lupe Fiasco and Matt Santos rather than the song from “Young Frankenstein” we were favored with last night.
Oh, but who cares? All that really matters is that Letterman’s back. It might not solve the prime-time drought we’re suffering through, but at least we can count on new laughs at 11:30 PM, anyway.
