Talking with Tim

So a week or so ago, one of my sisters emailed me to ask–even as she conceded I was clearly on a summer “man that wedding date is coming up fast (August 9)” schedule–if I was going to comment on the passing of George Carlin. And I agreed that I should.

As a kid, I listed to Carlin’s comedy albums. He helped shape my sense of humor, no doubt. But there’s not much I can say that has not been said about the man.

Two things. Visit his website, as he gets the last word, in a sense, there–including the following great words:

“Upon my death, I wish to be cremated. The disposition of my ashes (dispersal at sea, on land, or in the air) shall be determined by my surviving family (wife and daughter) in accordance with their knowledge of my prejudices and philosophies regarding geography and spirituality. Under no circumstances are my ashes to be retained by anyone or buried in a particular location. The eventual dispersal can be delayed for any reasonable length of time required to reach a decision, but not to exceed one month following my death.”

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So I swung by Hulu.com the other evening and on a lark, I did a search for Letterman to see if they had anything. Much to my surprise they had a documentary (my term, not theirs, and I use this term quite loosely) called Early Dave: The Letterman Tapes (1978-1993). It’s a mixture of Tom Brokaw, Jane Pauley, Tom Snyder and other NBC interviews with Dave, not really a documentary.

They are tightly edited, sometimes annoying so. For example, one Snyder interview they do has Dave along with Merrill Markoe and other folks–whom you never see. Letterman refers to Markoe at one point in the interview, that’s the only way I know, because they edit her bits completely out. Markoe, I dare say, is as funny as Letterman at times and I’m annoyed she was edited out of the piece.

It’s vintage Dave, shown driving his old pick-up truck to his gigs to substitute for Carson. Dave doing a stand-up routine. A tour of his new home, where you can see his beloved dog, Bob, is another interesting bit. A 1970s era Johnny Carson associate Fred de Cordova (with baseball cap no less)  talking to Letterman before a taping of the Tonight Show. Later we see a clip of Letterman talking to Mariette Hartley about his morning show for NBC (I forgot he got a whole 90 minutes with that show…) and an upcoming feature on the show called Stupid Pet Tricks (still in its infancy, I believe). It’s a fun romp leading up to Brokaw’s interview with Letterman on the night of his last NBC show.

I was surprised to find this on Hulu, given that as a Universal property in some ways it is very much an NBC product. And more importantly, while I know Carson had the rights to his Tonight Show (meaning unless the estate/company makes a deal, it will not be showing up on Hulu), was this an effort by NBC to test the waters and ultimately start offering Letterman’s old NBC shows on Hulu?

Part of me would love to see that, but I’m sure it would irk Dave to no end. Maybe I’m wrong on both counts. We’ll have to wait and see. Either way, be sure to check out the documentary for vintage and I do mean vintage Letterman. I would love to know what producer thought it a good idea to have Today show host Jane Pauley interview Letterman while the both sat on an inactive merry go-round…

Last month, after reading Whitney (Pop Candy) Matheson’s review of Robert Schnakenberg’s new book, Secret Lives of Great Authors, I tracked down the author to interview him. In addition to discussing the new book, Schnakenberg took questions about the upcoming release of his revised Encyclopedia Shatnerica (about all things William Shatner, set for an August 2008 release) as well as a new Christopher Walken A-to-Z book (set for October 2008 release). But the bulk of this interview covered the book that answers such questions as “Is it true that J. D. Salinger drank his own urine? Why was Ayn Rand such a big fan of Charlie’s Angels?” My thanks to Schnakenberg for his time.

Tim O’Shea: How often in trying to research facts for Secret Lives did you find out the anecdote was not true?

Robert Schnakenberg: That happened occasionally. Sometimes I’d find a really good anecdote about someone, and then another source would say that it happened to someone else entirely. You know, one book says it happened to Ernest Hemingway, another says it happened to F. Scott Fitzgerald. That happens with quotes a lot. They are always attributed to two or three different people. So you throw those out, or you find the one source that you trust and you go with that. I can’t promise that every anecdote in my book is 100% true—I mean, I wasn’t in the men’s room with Hemingway and Fitzgerald when they compared schlongs—but I can say everything is reliably sourced. Double and triple sourced, in fact, as much as possible.

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The Internet is a big place, you may have read this obvious statement before. Why I write it this time is to somewhat reassure myself that I cannot be aware of everything. I’ve always been a fan of Dick Cavett. I was too young in the late 1960s/early 1970s to watch his late night show, but thanks to Netflix I have caught up on some of what I missed. So, imagine my surprise (given that I have been a regular NYTimes.com reader since its launch in the mid 1990s) that I was unaware that Cavett had been blogging for the website since early 2007.

It was Cavett’s show where Norman Mailer and Gore Vidal got into a vehement dispute back in 1971. Cavett describes it here as “without doubt the damnedest show I ever did. Or ever heard of.” There was also the time a guest died on the set (not on the air, as the show was never aired), as Cavett explained in an effort to dispute an obscure bit of folklore. It’s so strange to watch these shows now on DVD and see guests smoking–sure it was common then, but now, well it seems like people on another planet.

While I am not annoyed that the writer’s strike has ended, I am annoyed that Jay Leno’s writing staff will be returning. Why? Well, for starters, they are not funny. And yet, for reasons that escape me, Leno always beats Letterman in the ratings (he even beat Letterman when Leno had no writers). I understand that Letterman’s humor rubs some folks the wrong way, but Leno’s comedy is just uninspired vanilla. It has never clicked with me and I just get annoyed that Letterman comes in second to Leno. I understand that Letterman’s never in any risk of being canceled by CBS, but my comedic sense of justice feels wronged that Letterman never wins the late night ratings contest.

Like any worthwhile pop culture junkie, a good book title can get my attention with relative ease. And thus was the case with TV critic Bill Brioux’s new effort from Greenwood Publishing, Truth & Rumors: The Reality Behind TV’s Most Famous Myths. I recently got a chance to interview Brioux about the book and another project he’s got in the pipeline. Once you’ve read the interview, be sure to visit Brioux’s blog, TV Feeds My Family.

Tim O’Shea: As a veteran critic of several years, I would imagine you view most entertainment rumors with skepticism–in researching this books, were there many items that you always assumed to be true that you found out to be false?

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I’m not a huge Ringo Starr fan, but I really have to tip my hat to Craig Ferguson for devoting his entire January 24 episode to the Beatles former drummer (who is currently making the rounds with Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart as part of his band). The last time I can remember an entire show devoting its focus to one act would have been David Letterman’s final Warren Zevon show in 2002. Ferguson won me over a few years ago when he devoted an entire monologue to eulogizing his father . CBS and Worldwide Pants kindly archive Ferguson’s monologues here. Ferguson has this unfettered enthusiasm about his job that is as engaging and genuine as Letterman was in his 12:30 am slot back at NBC. This past Thursday night’s show was a prime example of why I hope Ferguson never gets sick of his late night gig.

In college, one of those writers that engaged my interest and reinforced my decision to get a degree in English Literature was Walker Percy. Since his death in 1990, I’ve often worried that the level of respect for his work would dwindle (as it invariable does with some authors after their demise). That worry seems a tad needless when I run across items like this one at the New York Times‘ Reading Room blog.

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