Did Dave Read My Essay? More on Letterman’s Softer Side

Last week, FlowTV published my essay on the changing star image of David Letterman, “Privacy, Openness, and a New Persona: Why David Letterman’s Interoffice Escapades Took This Longtime Fan by Surprise.” Essentially, I argue that one reason Letterman’s recent sex scandal shocked me (as well as the media and social networking world) is that the on-air persona Letterman has created for himself over the past nine years — a more compassionate and more exposed host/philanthropist/heart patient/husband/father — grossly conflicts with his apparent actions behind the set. Specifically, the host’s vindictive, sarcastic, and irreverent tone and style of interviewing (from the 1980s and 1990s) has shifted into something softer. Even Oprah Winfrey points out that there is “a light in [his] eyes…a sweetness” that wasn’t evident in previous decades. This week, Letterman continues to hone his changed  persona.

Don’t get me wrong. Dave has been extra feisty this week, commenting nightly on the Conan/Leno NBC debacle. For example, he has poked fun at “Jay ‘Big Jaw’ Leno” and referred to the current NBC executives as “pinheads,” “nitwits,” “twits” and “idiots.” As well, Wednesday’s Top Ten List featured “Messages Left on Jeff Zucker’s Voicemail” (e.g., “What the hell are you doing?” “What the zuck?”). No worries; Dave’s pointed humor and outspokenness are still intact.

But as I discuss in my FlowTV essay, softer moments have been creeping into Letterman’s shows as well. I’ve noticed two instances this week, one self-proclaimed even. For instance, while telling a story about his past run-ins with the so-called “NBC idiots,” Letterman informs us that he’s “a changed man” and that the way he handled certain people in the past is not the way he would do so now. (Ahh, if only he’d have said this a month ago; it’s perfect for my piece.) As well, on Thursday’s show, the tenth anniversary of his quintuple bypass surgery, Letterman interviewed his cardiologist, Dr. O. Wayne Isom. There were several jokes about bone saws and brain damage,but it was this bit of gratitude from Letterman that received the most applause: “If it wasn’t for you and all those great people at the hospital and all the people who have become my friends, I wouldn’t have my son Harry, and thank God for that.” A softy indeed.

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