I would guess that the difference in tone between Letterman's statements on Rivers and Williams might be due at least partly to the fact that Rivers' situation was almost a given after she went into a coma in the hospital and Williams happened out of the blue and was a total shock even to many who knew him. ----- Original Message ----- From: PGage To: tvornottv@googlegroups.com Sent: Friday, September 05, 2014 11:22 AM Subject: [TV orNotTV] Rivers Late Night Requiem
Rolling Stone provides clips of Dave,, Jimmy Kimmel, Jon Stewart, Craig Ferguson and Seth Meyers remembering Joan Rivers last night, and describes what Jimmy Fallon had to say: http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/videos/watch-david-letterman-conan-obrien-honor-joan-rivers-20140905 As usual, I like Dave's the best, though this is not really the same kind of national or at least pop-cultural tragedy we had been talking about in reference to the death of Robin Williams. Still, what I liked about Dave last night was how he found just about the right note in which to talk about her - not at all the tone he used for Williams, which was much more bittersweet, but just his appreciation and respect for a long-time trooper and pioneer. Paul's contribution was also nice, and not atypical of the kinds of things others are saying about her this week. I am not sure if Dave actually uses the word "trooper" much, but I think most fans watching him over the years would agree that this quality is among those that he has the most respect for in a performer. I think this is part of the misunderstanding of David Letterman by those who over-emphasize his Late Night years; yes he was "deconstructing" the late night talk show format, and taking the air of of celebrities and a culture that takes celebrity much too seriously, but it was always from a place of affection, and respect bordering on reverence, for the essence of the late night talk show pop-art form. And it is that respect which always seemed to me to be at the heart of his warm regard for Rivers over the years - even despite the ugly feud between her and Dave's real idol and friend. There are plenty of valid criticisms to make about Rivers (I made some just a few weeks ago here, paired with some admiration), but the interval between someone's death and funeral is not the best time to go into those in depth. I saw her stand up live in Vegas years ago, and while there was something hack about her show, there was also something that was just relentless and liberating about it. As I noted a while back, the documentary on Rivers ("A Piece of Work") is well worth watching (it is a little older than I remembered - coming out in 2014) - the trailer is here:"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fnojZw54ls -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to tvornottv@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to tvornottv-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2014.0.4765 / Virus Database: 4015/8159 - Release Date: 09/05/14 -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to tvornottv@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to tvornottv-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
