Saw Blago on Letterman, and wow. He ripped him up, telling him flat-out he thought he was guilty, and taking him to task for appearing on TV all the time. It was the sort of real, tough, direct television you don't see much these days - except on Letterman. Honestly, with this and the airing of Bill Hicks' censored performance, Dave is threatening to make his program essential viewing. Steve Johnson of the Chicago Tribune wrote a great piece on how "Goofy Dave" has become "Citizen Dave." Here are some excerpts:
(Letterman has) completed in this, his third decade on national television, a remarkable transformation from Goofy
Dave, the young guy deconstructing the late-night talk-show format, to
Citizen Dave, the older guy using that format as a forum to express his
concerns about the world.
Since his 2000 heart surgery, he has taken on President Bush and candidate John McCain,
global warming and Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh and the lack of
national leadership. His first broadcast after the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks was an almost oracular expression of what a nation was feeling
and the best thing any broadcaster found to say in that dark period.
He even turned a post-jail visit by Paris Hilton
political, in a sense, using her appearance as cultural critique, a
riotous dismantling of the notion of unearned celebrity and blind
adherence to promotional agendas...
The most recent example came Tuesday night, when the "Late Show" hosted Rod Blagojevich
in the midst of the deposed Illinois governor's pursuit of every last
ounce of available attention. Or perhaps Letterman, to phrase it
better, deposed the deposed governor; there were hints of the
prosecutorial in his approach.
"I saw you on—I think every other show that is in production
currently," Letterman said to Blagojevich, "and the more you talked and
the more you repeated your innocence, the more I said to myself, 'Oh,
this guy's guilty.' "
Here's a clip of Dave ripping Rod a new one...
PREVIOUSLY:
Bill Hicks On Letterman: Better 15 Years late Than Never
Blago On Letterman Tonight
