Quote of the Day: Tom Shales on David Letterman

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I don't watch Letterman as much as I used to -- in fact, I rarely watch him at all these days, what with Colbert on at 11:30 -- but he's always been, by far, my favourite of the mainstream (network TV) late-night hosts. There just isn't much to say about the blackmail revelation and the admission of affairs with staffers -- he did what he did, he seems genuinely sorry for it, and I'm not going to judge him or his private conduct -- but I think WaPo television critic Tom Shales gets it right in his assessment of Letterman's place in the culture, and of the context of this story:

One of many sad things about recent stanzas in the ballad of David Letterman is that now, in all media, Dave will be lumped in with other sexually misbehaving celebrities, even though he stands head and heart above most of them.

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Letterman's misadventures contain potential harm, pain and injustice only for the individuals specifically involved -- and since there have been no allegations about the sex having been nonconsensual or any partners having been underage, it's all unpleasant but hardly some sort of threat to the public welfare.

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What Letterman has done, or allowed to happen, is foul up our perception of him by allowing his private self to share air time with Public Dave, the one we know and love -- the wisecracking, self-deprecating, overgrown adolescent who has one of the keenest, cleverest and funniest comic minds of all time.

Agreed. Now let's put this behind us and move on.