The Last Late Show: First Take

The last Late Show with David Letterman just aired and I thought it was fantastic. It's hard to imagine a more perfect hour of television. It was amazing how it could be so funny and yet how it could be such an emotional an experience.

From the time I was made aware that David Letterman existed I wanted to watch every piece of television of his that I could get my hands on. I have so many great memories wrapped up in the show - not just watching (alone, mostly in my bedroom), but sharing it with friends and talking about the jokes. It's impossible to see the old clips of the show without remembering where I was in my life when it first aired and what I was doing. For these reasons, I couldn't help but be swept up in a wave of nostalgia and the bittersweet look at an era that is officially gone. As of tonight, it's gone.

Dave is nothing if not unpredictable and so one of the things I've loved to do through the years is "play the Dave" and try to predict things. One of the things I would have predicted about the end of the last show - that I would have predicted wrongly - is that he would end the show sitting on a stool. Jack Paar signed off for the last time while sitting on a stool, Johnny Carson signed off his last show while sitting on a stool, I thought Dave would make that nod to tradition but it didn't happen.

But there was one thing like that, I think. If you read the reviews of the show tomorrow (and, really, why would you?) it's altogether possible that they will cite the "A Day in the Life of Dave" segment as the only weakness and an "uncharacteristic" one at that. But in his final days Johnny Carson did a segment like that and so Dave's doing it too.

The Last Episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Friday was the last episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Watch it here.

Total Number of Episodes: 969.
Last Guest: Andy Samberg.
Last Musical Guest: Arguably Buckwheat Zydeco.
Last Guest Performance: The Muppets.

The last episode has a strange feel to it - the timing is off and Jimmy doesn't have any "punch" in the jokes because he's constantly verging on becoming "emotional". But the weight of the moment justifies it.

Speaking of "the weight"... the last segments of the "last shows" are part of TV history and lore. Jack Paar's "Come on, Lika... we're going home", Johnny Carson on the stool, etc.

In terms of "Late Night", when Letterman left Late Night, the last segment, he sat behind the desk and spoke to the audience. Conan's last segment on Late Night was the similar. Jimmy's bucked the trend (perhaps partly because he wouldn't be able to get through it without becoming a weeping mess). Instead of a speech, he performs The Band's "The Weight" with the Muppets and does it in a loving recreation of the version that appears in the movie "The Last Waltz".



"The Last Waltz" is a concert movie that covers The Band's last concert. The parallels with the situation of Jimmy's last show are obvious. Jimmy plays drums and plays on an identical set to Levon Helm's drum set in that movie. Jimmy grew up in upstate New York, not far from Levon's adopted home. I love that they got all the little touches right. The lighting is the same, the colors are the same, the recreation is so complete they even mimic Scorceses style of rotating around the musicians in tracking shots. Compare. I obviously love it. It's a great way to say goodbye.

The first episode of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon airs February 17th 2014.
Late Night with Seth Meyers starts February 24th 2014.

LOST

The last episode of "Lost" aired tonight and it was pretty amazing. I don't have the time or energy to go into specifics but I thought it was beautiful. I thought after all the speculation and expectation the last episode was a "homerun". In fact, it was a "grand slam homerun". It was one of the greatest things I've ever seen on television... until the surprise ending. And, as so often happens, I still don't know how I feel about that last twist. And so it's hard to summarize - the first 99% was 110% awesomeness and then the end just left me confused.

I predicted the final "Lost" image but I only did that a few minutes before it happened and probably by then it was "obvious". I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner though. For years, Matthew Fox had said that he knew the last image of the series and it seems so obvious in retrospect, I can't believe I didn't think of it.

In regards to the final twist ending, I do have at least two clues. The first can be seen in Jimmy Kimmel's interview with the cast. The other comes from way back in Season 2. During WMMR's Lost discussion after Season 2 Episode 13 someone called in to talk about a specific book reference in that episode. Although at the time it was just another reference in a sea of references, I think it's now more relevant. Though certainly not a full explanation, it's at least significant I would say. More here.

I have to say, not all the drama was on-screen. I remember where I was and what was going on in my life when I started watching the show. And I remember what my life was like when I started watching the first season regularly. And everything that's happened to me since then up to this point (although it gets fuzzy in some of the middle parts). Looking back at the show and how the characters have changed made me look back at my own life and everything that's happened to me in that time and how my life has changed. I know that's a cliche but so be it. The only cliches I mind are ones that don't ring true.

Best television drama ever.