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Posts Tagged ‘scandal’

Chris Stigall

Confessions of a Letterman Intern

by Chris Stigall

David Letterman inspired my broadcasting career.  Twenty years ago, he was an awkward, self-deprecating guy who wore tennis shoes with his blazer and tie. He was edgy, silly, and unconventional compared to the traditions of variety television at that time.  He resonated with an awkward high school kid watching at home in Missouri.  Carson was still the king of late night, and some guy named Leno filled in for him a lot.  But Dave was cool because he didn’t seem to fit in.  Yet, when Carson announced his retirement, Letterman was said to be the heir apparent to the Tonight Show. 

Letterman

As a fan, I didn’t want Letterman to move into Carson’s chair.   Not because Letterman couldn’t handle it.  It just seemed too refined for someone as eccentric and edgy as Letterman.  Turned out NBC saw it that way too when they awarded “Tonight” to Leno.  It pained Letterman.  But it helped to foster that continued edgy, underdog status that led fans like me to follow him to CBS. (more…)

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Posted Oct 8th 2009 at 6:41 am in Entertainment, News, Uncategorized | 104 Comments

Jude

On Michael Jackson

by Jude

By happenstance, I was in Hugh Hewitt’s studio yesterday when the news about the one-time Prince of Pop (that’s all I’ll give him, sorry) broke.  We spent much of the next three hours talking about his death and what it meant.  You can scan through and hear me jousting – all in good fun – with Hugh, James Lileks and others.

I focused on his creative output and what it meant to musicians and culture as best I could in our impromptu conversation.  In other words, we didn’t dwell on the fact that it SURE seemed like he was a serial molester of male children.  His music will stand alone.  HUGE talent, obsessive artist, stratospheric career from childhood into his thirties.  Iconic images and motion pictures of him, dancing and performing unforgettably at his peak, will probably always be tainted for our generation by what he became, by what many of us now know he was for a long time.  His strange celebrity outran his music, but maybe now it will stop running… all this will be said better over the next few days and probably weeks by others. (more…)

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Posted Jun 26th 2009 at 5:47 pm in Celebrity News | 12 Comments