David Letterman, the man who, in the words of the always spunky Julia Roberts, brought intelligence to the world of television talk shows, the man who turned humour into an off-beat art, did his last show on May 20.

In the span of his career he became the ‘longest serving late night show host’ (33 years) overtaking none other than Johnny Carson. But that’s not important. What’s important is the influence of this tall, bespectacled man, who infused a distinct life into talk show hosting, creating a template for his successors as to what defines the difference between risqué and intelligent humour.

First, take a look at the final couple of weeks of his Late Show where the who’s who from America’s showbiz and political fields made an appearance just to acknowledge the remarkable impact that Dave, as he is fondly known, has had not just on American society but on entertainment industries all around the world. From Barack Obama to Bill Clinton and from Jim Carrey and Peyton Manning (American football player) all were there to make the TV celebrity’s swansong special. But even then, Dave being Dave, he never lost sight of his primary duty which was to entertain through his trademark, dry, one-liners.

For example, when George Clooney came as a guest on May 14, he brought along a pair of handcuffs. He handcuffed Dave, saying he was not going anywhere, that is to say that Clooney would not allow the superstar to retire. Looking at the handcuffs, Dave quipped, “Is this something left over from your bachelor days?”

It was a send-off that every showman dreams of; a retirement more rewarding than one’s working days

Dave was not the type whose sole aim was to make people double over with laughter or who just wanted to interview international bigwigs to boost his viewership. The fact that he seldom won the rating race against Jay Leno is testimony to his ‘my way or the highway’ attitude. And that’s where his body of work comes across far richer than Leno’s. He could afford to do that because he was, and is, an extremely learned man. He sounded eloquent without being verbose even when he tried to come down to the level of guests whose IQ left much to be desired — social butterfly Paris Hilton being a case in point.

One thing (among many) that television anchors all over the world can learn from Dave was his unsparing approach to interviewees. He would treat Bill Clinton and Bill O’Reilly with equal respect and, if need be, equal disdain. Everybody used to poke fun at George Bush and his dodgy educational credentials. But Dave would do it in a manner that could easily fall into the ‘infotainment’ category.

“President Bush is going to establish elections in Iraq. He is going to build the infrastructure there and create jobs. He said if it works there he’ll try it here (US).” And Bill O’Reilly might never forget what Dave once told him, “Sixty per cent of what you say is crap.”

On the other end of the spectrum, there were showbiz luminaries who loved to be on his show despite knowing that he would shoot from the hip. Some of them tried their best to put him off his guard, albeit unsuccessfully. Once, Madonna came on his show sporting gelled-back hair. She made an attempt to fluster Dave by suggesting his hair looked like a rug, to which, pointing at her hair, he retorted, “is that a swim cap”.

If a guest was standoffish, Dave had a solution for that too. On one occasion Hollywood A-Lister Joaquin Phoenix gave off a dopey vibe sitting across the talk show host’s table. The actor just wouldn’t speak properly (it was all an act). After a minute of no verbal exchanges, Dave remarked, “Joaquin, I’m sorry you couldn’t be here tonight.”

This was the kind of the presence of mind that, among a host of other things (such as the extremely funny top 10 lists and ordering pizzas on live TV) distinguished Dave from his peers. Today, a new generation of chat show anchors have cropped up — Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers etc — and all of them are very good, particularly Fallon; and all of them have admitted to Dave’s influence on them. But with Dave’s retirement, it will be a tad difficult to look for intelligence in talk shows.

PS: It was a rare pleasure listening to Eddie Vedder, Bob Dylan and Foo Fighters performing in the final week of Late Night with David Letterman. A dream lineup for a worthy show!

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, May 31st, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play