Dave’s Monologue: He Jokes About It (CLIP)

Rachel Sklar — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:00:19 +0000

Well, it is what he does. For tonight’s monologue, taped earlier at the Ed Sullivan theater, Dave Letterman returned to his show with a monologue — a very topical one.

Walking out to enormous, sustained applause (someone shouted out, “We love you Dave”), Dave seem to shuffle a little awkwardly, said “Thank you,” a few times, while the audience applauded even more. Then he stopped, and suddenly grinned — which made the audience laugh along with him, all before a single joke was told.

A pause, and then: “Did your weekend just fly by?” So much contained in that sentence — the definition of subtext, the punchline present only in the unsaid. “I’ll be honest with you, folks, right now I’d give anything to be hiking on the Appalachian trail.” To all the people who spoke of the hypocrisy of Letterman joking about the indiscretions of others, well, here you go — he turned it right back on himself: “I got into the car this morning and even the navigation lady wasn’t speaking to me.” Ouch.

Letterman also apologized to his staff and wife tonight, which you can see here. Video below:

Actually, not a terrible ouch — one wonders what was left behind in the writer’s room — and the jokes they came up with that they’d never tell their boss to their face. We definitely need another panel.

David Letterman’s On-Air Apology: “Terribly Sorry” To Staff, Wife

Rachel Sklar — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:01:25 +0000

David Letterman returned to tape a live show today — his first after his on-air mea culpa on Thursday night wherein he revealed that he had been the victim of a $2 million extortion attempt over multiple affairs he’d had with female staff members. Letterman, who initially said he did not “plan to say much much more on this,” came out tonight with an on-air apology to his staff members — many of whom were blindsided by his shocking announcement — and his wife, Regina Lasko. The full statement, from Gossip Cop:

“I’m terribly sorry that I put the staff in that position. Inadvertently, I just wasn’t thinking ahead. And, moreover, the staff here has been wonderfully supportive to me, not just through this furor, but through all the years that we’ve been on television and especially all the years here at CBS, so, again, my thanks to the staff for, once again, putting up with something stupid I’ve gotten myself involved in.

“Now the other thing is my wife, Regina. She has been horribly hurt by my behavior, and when something happens like that, if you hurt a person and it’s your responsibility, you try to fix it. And at that point, there’s only two things that can happen: either you’re going to make some progress and get it fixed, or you’re going to fall short and perhaps not get it fixed, so let me tell you folks, I got my work cut out for me.”

When you consider that “I have had sex with women who work for me on this show” was just the beginning, that makes sense.

Letterman’s Late Show is on tonight at 11:35 pm; on the upside, expect huge ratings.

David Letterman’s Apology today to his staff and wife [Gossip Cop]
Letterman Apologizes to His Wife and Staff [NYT]

Mediaite » David Letterman apology

Dave’s Monologue: He Jokes About It (CLIP)

David Letterman’s On-Air Apology: “Terribly Sorry” To Staff, Wife