Don Imus, David Letterman and Johnny Carson Moments that all Talk Shows Should Aspire

Photo by Rob Young https://www.flickr.com/photos/rob-young/

Don Imus

After the invasion of Iraq and during the 2004 President Campaign, Don Imus showed us how real journalism works. I can’t remember the Democratic senator being interviewed but he was right up there with Joe Biden, Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy. Of course, the Senator was following suit with John Kerry’s central rationale for supplanted George W. Bush. The Iraq invasion having descending into chaos, a Kerry administration will join forces with our key allies in Europe and get the situation under control,” he droned on.

So much so, that the rote discourse made sense to Democrats like myself. That was until Don Imus got his hands on it. “So you’re telling me that Germany and France are going to sign up for this mess so they can get their heads chopped off too (like Daniel Pearl),” Imus retorted sarcastically.

The startled senator suddenly found himself boxed in by his own mindless rhetoric. He paused, let out a nervous laugh and was forced to relent. “I guess not,” he conceded.

Imagine that, one of the most powerful Democrats admitted that the most important talking point of his candidate’s party was complete nonsense. Wow and ame me another time when a politician actually answered a crucial question put forth on any news show anywhere.

That was Don Imus for you.

David Letterman

Again, I’m not quite sure who the author was, but it was a very influential and renowned biographer. Doris Kearns Goodwin comes to mind first and her book, Team of Rivals. His question was one of the insightfully brilliant historical queries I have ever heard.

"So tell me, can you give us an idea of how these people might have smelled," Dave deadpanned?

I’m kidding, right? Nope.

When reading history or view on film or tv, we often view the recounting through the prism of our own experience. We completely take for granted that what we consider standard amenities might have been centuries away. Did Lincoln ever cut short or cancel a crucial meeting with a US Senator because their foul stench was beyond even those of the day?

Who says history didn’t change on some point trivial point we could never imagine. I mean, maybe George Washington wasn’t always in retreat as a military strategy that won the revolution. Those wooden teeth was so easily dismiss gave the Father of our Country a lifetime of pain, which he tried to abate with laudanum. Any chance that attack was just too much on certain days or he was too light headed on pain killers to take up arms with his troops.

Probably not but thanks Dave for giving us something real to think about when we try to figure out the past.

The Tonight Show - Johnny Carson, Chevy Chase and Siskel and Ebert

Before he retired, David Letterman revealed the code phrase that has allowed him to be truthfully ambiguous about the movies he doesn’t like. This all while sitting face to face with the star promoting said film.

“Yeah, this movie is really something,” he coyly informed Oprah. But apparently it wasn’t always the case in which the narrative had to remain in accordance with the party line – be it cultural, economic or political.

Forgetting such a time existed myself, I was actually able to bear witness in a Johnny Carson clip. Chevy Chase was talking up Three Amigos, and remarkably, it didn’t occur to anyone that sitting Gene Siskel and Robert Ebert next to Chase afterwards might make for an embarrassing moment.

“What films this summer have failed to live up to the potential you expected going in,” asked the long time Tonight Show host. As such, Roger Ebert showed no hesitation in asserting that Three Amigos was squarely among them.

Sort of caught in the middle, Johnny deftly allowed the moment to germinate - leaving Chevy the latitude to do his part. Expressing the deriding look he perfected in looking down Jane Curtain on weekend update, the moment was priceless.

More telling, the honest unabridged slight by Ebert didn’t shake Hollywood or its global marketing strategies to their core. The film grossed over $39 million that year and turned a $14 million profit. The comedy also overcame the mixed reviews of the time and would go on in 2012 to rank number 79 in Bravos top 100 comedies all time.

So much fuss and for what? Our whole prepackaged society is running from the thing that brings out our best – the ability to shine when things don’t go as planned. Is it any wonder we can’t even balance a budget in this country, and our whole future is on loan from China?

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