Why I Still Love Letterman.

Yes.
The ending of the last episode of "The Colbert Report", where he found every celebrity in town, and probably some who made a special trip in, got them on stage, and led them in a sing-along to the tune of "We'll Meet Again", was most-likely the greatest thing on TV in at least the last few months.
It was spectacularly done.
And there was an overlay of true sadness.
But something that was on the next night, very similar in nature, was a very close second in terms of greatness.
I have found a lot of reasons lately to not particularly care whether or not I would watch Letterman.
He repeats the same jokes over and over.
He does the first five minutes purely for the studio audience, at the expense of the home audience.
You can always tell when he is bored with a guest, which is way too often.
A lot of times, he seems to be phoning it in, and is off his game.
But Letterman revives several "traditions" around Christmastime that are usually spread over several shows.
For the first time that I can recall, he did all four on the same show, which only enhanced the impact of each.
He began by having Paul Shaffer do his hilarious impression of Cher singing "Oh Holy Night" as she had done it on the old "Sonny and Cher Variety Hour", preceded by his introduction to it, which is at least as funny as the impression itself.
It would not be Christmas for me without it.
Then, Dave brought out actor-deejay Jay Thomas, as he has annually for 22 years, to tell what Dave always announces as the greatest talk-show story ever.
It involves Jay's personal encounter with Clayton Moore, who was working a car dealership opening as his signature character, The Lone Ranger.
Jay was also working the gig as the local deejay on radio.
It is, indeed, the greatest talk-show story ever.
Then they segued into the annual "Quarterback Challenge", where Jay and Dave took turns attempting to knock a meatball off of the top of the very tall Christmas tree on the set.
As usual, Jay was the winner.
As Dave led him offstage with a sincere goodbye, Jay said to him "This is it. I'm never going to see you ever again, am I."
And Dave said "Nope. You never will."
And once again, there was this overlay of sadness.
He won't ever see him again.
We have all witnessed this for the last time.
Oh, it's all on YouTube.
Many years of it.
But it will never be new again.
This is sad.
Then, Dave brought out Josh Brolin, who seemed hopelessly out of place in the proceedings.
He dispensed of him shortly, and then brought out the last tradition, Darlene Love, to sing her classic "Christmas", recreating the Phil Spector "Wall of Sound" with a slew of musicians and backup singers.
And it, too, was glorious.
And it, too can be found on earlier incarnations on YouTube.
It was a great, great show, and, unfortunately, the last of it's kind, as Letterman won't be around next Christmas.
Let's all be glad we had him around as long as we did.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel, "Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne and Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.

And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne and Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.

*****