THE FINAL DAYS OF DAVE

      I "inherited" Johnny Carson and his Tonight Show from my folks. That was my first exposure to TV after dark and

I am forever grateful to my parents for that . Johnny was the best talk show host ever and I firmly believe he will reign

in perpetuity.

      But David Letterman........he was all mine. I discovered Dave with no help from mom and dad. 

      Dave was a smart ass, a guy with a different angle and a new perspective.He was a cynic with an edge to him and

he was unquestionably cool.

        There he was, doing things on TV that I'd not seen done before...a comedic horse of a different color and

appointment television besides. From morning to late night, there has been no one quite like Letterman.

         Sure, Dave lost out on his dream job...hosting The Tonight Show. He lost to a glad handing, generic, formerly

funny comedian whose humor was mild and populist  and Dave  finished second to Jay Leno regularly. But that only

added to his appeal and his legend. Because Dave was a non conformist, rebellious into his golden years with a shot

of adrenaline provided by late in life fatherhood.

         Thus two camps were set up-those that favored warm milk and Leno at bedtime and those who liked the rim shot

and a beer comedy of Dave.

            Dave has been phoning it in for a few years now. He stumbles and stammers  through a monologue

unapologeticly, good jokes laid to waste by a confused and sometimes uninterested delivery.  The stuff he once did

so well- dealing with the common man utilizing razor sharp wit and a bad attitude is handled now by minions named

Biff and Andy and Todd....serviceable acolytes all but none of them were Dave and it was never the same.

             Letterman seemed almost content to rest on his laurels and his massive contributions to pop culture and

television history and he earned that so no criticism  of him is offered here.

              Yet Dave still had life in him and that would be evident when he got to show his skill as an interviewer,  a man

who unlike his network competition, refused to shy away from asking the tough questions .He held his own with the

players from the world stage, leaders and pundits who undoubtedly were taken by surprise by Letterman's intellect

and insight. Dave took stands, defended his beliefs and made no bones about where he stood.

                His final nights in our television lives are disquieting to him. He is uncomfortable with public love and

he blanches at celebrity tribute and affection.

                Dave, like Johnny,  his TV hero before him ,bids America a heartfelt goodnight Wednesday and in doing so,

takes his place in the firmament of true television stars. And David Letterman got there by throwing spitballs and

brickbats and poking at the medium that made him great.

                 And we've loved every minute of it.