The late shift

It's been more than a little weird for late night talk shows and their behind-the-scenes politics to be a hot topic these past couple weeks. I haven't watched any of them with regularity for at least ten years. It's probably been more than that.

I'm not sure why I drifted away from watching them. It's not like I'm sleeping then or don't have the means to record them. Somewhere along the line they lost their immediacy, and I didn't make a habit of tuning in.

In my high school and college years I was a frequent viewer. I was into Late Night with David Letterman pretty seriously and would record the show each night. I might watch some of it in the morning before going to school. I certainly recorded the prime time Letterman anniversary specials and had a friend who showed me most of the special episodes he had on videotape, such as the upside down show. I followed that friend's lead and also started writing Top Ten lists.

I kept up with the industry news when Johnny Carson's replacement was being selected and when the ensuing publicity war popped up in the wake of the decision. I watched Carson's last week as The Tonight Show host. It was a big deal when a band I liked played on any of these shows, especially if the group or artist wasn't somewhat popular. You just didn't see them on TV otherwise. Plus, in the '90s late night talk shows were being mounted by anybody and everybody, although many of them--*cough* Chevy Chase, Magic Johnson *cough*--didn't last long.

With the ubiquitous movie star and other celebrity appearances on talk shows of all stripes, not to mention the internet, there's something less special about them being on the late night shows. Maybe it's because their converations often feel canned, as though they've worked out everything in the pre-interview. Maybe it always was that way, but I didn't see it then. Whatever the case, I do think these programs have lost the luster that they had in a smaller media world.

So it's been strange to revisit The Tonight Show for the last few evenings to see what's what. Conan's O'Brien's farewell lap this week has displayed more devil-may-care attitude than I suspect the rest of his seven months' run as host did. (I wouldn't know. Unless I'm mistaken I, along with much of America, had not watched a full episode until this week.) Honestly, that looseness was what was most appealing about it.

Next week will I go back to ignoring late night TV for the most part? Probably, at least until Letterman is close to signing off. But like those people who got up in arms about O'Brien's ouster but also didn't watch, I like the idea of it being there, just as long as it isn't Leno.