The Ingenious Human Trick
The younger folks out there might not remember this, but David Letterman once did the impossible. He made comedy on TV funny. He reinvented the talk show and created a new paradigm where the key measure of your worth was not celebrity status or corporate rank, but rather how funny and entertaining you could be; all while pushing the ridiculously limiting envelope on what was considered appropriate. As each of them would tell you, he paved the way for the best of the current line-up of late night hosts, and cleared the path for the kind of viral comedy now shared across the rising medium which has largely left him behind. And, of course, there are all those lists we like to share (like the one you’re reading right now). His first guest was Bill Murray, who returns tonight. Grantland’s Daniel Kellison shares some entertaining anecdotes from his Letterman years.
+ From Velcro suits to top ten lists, here’s the most important thing that happened each year of Letterman’s career.
+ 23 things that David Letterman invented.
+ WaPo’s Hank Stuever: David Letterman taught us to ward off celebrity stupidity. But stupidity won. (True, but it was a hell of run.)