Which show had the best supporting cast? CHEERS? SEINFELD? THE SIMPSONS? Now, there's a show literally with a cast of thousands. Well, what about the LATE SHOW?
A good rule of thumb:
the quality of the LATE SHOW isn't based on the relative success
of Dave's monologue or on that evening's lineup of guests. It's
the desk piece or, more importantly, the host chat that makes or
breaks the show.
Dave may well be the last honest man in broadcasting. He is
completely incapable of faking it either to himself or to his
audience. When he's in a good mood, you know the show is going to
be loose, lively, and rambunctious. When he's in a particularly
foul mood, he has no problem sharing that with the rest of
America as well. To be perfectly honest, that makes for pretty
damn compelling television in and of itself.
I mean who doesn't get a vicarious thrill when Dave makes some
oblique remark regarding his prickly relationship with CBS,
specifically with Les ("You Talking to ME") Moonves? My
favorite LATE SHOW moments of 2002: Letterman's five minute riffs
on outsmarting a pair of papparazzoes trying to take his picture
or the time he scared off a carload of drunken, elderly joyriders
when they got lost at Casa Dave.
I've always wondered how much of this is actually scripted and
how much is just the old guy's flights o' fancy. I have a
suspicion such long running comedy bits like the Oprah Log
("Ya know, Oprah hates me," he would say just a little
too happiliy) and the Words of Wisdom from Dr. Phil ("What a
hump!") came about by some offhanded comment Dave had made.
The winning relationship Dave has with 21 habitue and noted
monkey aficionado, Stephanie "Monty" Birkett evolved so
casually, I just assumed it was an inspiration born as an
afterthought. The detailed minded Letterman, wanting to make his
show more accessible to the younger generation ("The kids,
they love me"), naturally, would turn to the young people
upstairs in his office. ("Hey, you're just a kid. How old
are you, anyway? 18? 19?""I'm 25, Dave").
Dave has long mastered the art of the riff. He has the ability to
hit upon a seemingly mundane (YooHoo, Richard Simmons, a Stupid
Pet Trick gone horribly awry) and spin it into comedic gold
("Last week, I was attacked by wild dingoes").
But Dave can't do it alone. If you are to riff, you need someone
to riff to. He clearly understands the importance of support.
Johnny Carson had his Mighty Carson Art Players, the company of
actors who would assist whenever he did commercial or television
parodies. Letterman, ever the realist, prefers to use staff
members as foils or accomplices all in the name of comedy. Call
them what you want, Dave's Peeps, his posse, whatever. They
constitute the LATE SHOW's MVPs. And in this column, I will be
doing a shout out to four members.
STEPHANIE BIRKETT (pronounced Briquette): I always get a kick out
of the chemistry between Dave and his assistant. It doesn't seem
like the typical boss/employee dynamic. It's more like he's the
meaner, older brother Stephanie never wanted. Whether teasing her
about her various (Dave-imposed) nicknames or merely asking about
her weekend, he seems revitalized by her participation. The
recent segment when Stephanie demonstrated her ex-boyfriend's
alleged hip dance moves (with able assistance from Rupert Jee and
Dave's own personal physician, Dr. Lou Aroni) seem all the more
hilarious because Letterman thought it was such a hoot.
RUPERT JEE: The owner of the Hello Deli has proven his worth to
the show in many ways. And he seems to be truly a very nice man.
I used to love all of the location shoots Rupert participated in.
The segments all followed the same format: Have Rupert act crazy
and irritate the hell out of strangers on the street.
I've always felt Letterman was greatly influenced by Andy Kaufman
in that he likes to play with the weird science of fame and thus,
the accepted notices of performance, testing how much he can get
away with before an audience (or innocent bystander) will snap.
When he would venture into the streets himself, he was clearly
going as TV's David Letterman and people would respond to him as
such. While it might boggle the mind to imagine Calvert DeForrest
was 'acting' when playing the part of Larry "Bud"
Melman, it was clearly established that this was a fictional
persona. Likable, nonthreatening Rupert wasn't hiding behind such
a facade. And that is what made the comedy more real, more
dangerous, and much more funny.
PAT AND KENNY: No regular segment makes me laugh harder than
"Pat and Kenny Reads Oprah Transcripts." Last week, it
was both soothing and completely unsettling to watch Pat Farmer
play the part of Oprah and the ciggy lovin' Kenny go through the
paces as Nicole Kidman. I loved it.
It's hard to put into words the wonderful teamwork on display
here. I could liken them to Mutt and Jeff but that's too
anachronistic. Bert and Ernie? Too Muppet-ty. Penn and Teller?
Too fringey and let's face it, magicians, eh. The best that I can
come up with MIDNIGHT COWBOY's Joe Buck and Ratso Rizzo. If Joe
Buck and Ratso Rizzo turned up as stagehands at the Ed Sullivan
Theater, they would be something like Pat and Kenny.
Who are your favorite LATE SHOW MVPs? Let me know who you like.
