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Letterman Makes Quite an Impression
This just in from CBS: "The Late Show with David Letterman, which recently entertained audiences with 'Ventriloquist Week,' will next highlight some of the best impressionists when it presents 'Impressionist Week,' [starting] Monday, Nov. 13." The lineup is as follows: Rich Little (Monday), Fred Travalena (Tuesday), Gordie Brown (Wednesday) MadTV's Frank Caliendo (Thursday) and then Kevin Pollak (Friday).
Myself, I do a mean Jimmy Stewart: "You think the whole world revolves around you and your money, Mr. Potter. Well, it doesn't. Why, in the whole vast configuration of things, you are nothing but a scurvy li'l spider!" OK, you kinda have to be here at my desk.
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Nov 8, 2006 9:57 AM
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What no appearance from onetime Letterman impressionist Joe Piscopo. In 1988, when both Piscopo and Letterman were on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Johnny asked Joe to do Dave in front of him. Piscopo obliged by putting on some big teeth and saying, "My, oh, my..." prompting a suprised reaction from Letterman...
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Nov 8, 2006 10:42 AM
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Oh, my god, Matt!
That was an uncanny Jimmy Stewart!
As I read it, in my mind, you sounded just like him!
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Nov 8, 2006 11:28 AM
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Joe Piscopo was a gigantic loser who relied on the SNL makeup department to pull off Dave.
I'm thrilled to see Gordie Brown on the lineup or Wednesday! I never really enjoyed his schtick as much as some of my close friends do, but he's from my hometown, so I'll be rooting for him! I also haven't seen his work in a decade or two, so I'll be watching with interest to see how much he has polished his routine.
Overall, though, I want to give "props" to Dave for bringing back these quaint corners of the entertainment world. While we frantically search for entertainment news that's NEW NEW NEW, I can't dismiss the part of my personality that stops whenever I find a "Very Best Of Ed Sullivan" on one of the cable channels (Cool-TV, in my case). I love Dave for taking his genuine affection for those genres and tweeking into a form that makes more people discover that there was something truly entertaining before YouTube!
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Nov 8, 2006 11:54 AM
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TV Gord:
I couldn't agree with you more -- both about Joe Piscopo and about Dave's nods to old school entertainers. (I love how you phrased it: "quaint corners of the entertainment world.")
Dave has always exhibited much more respect for his predecessors (like Carson, Paar, Allen) and showbiz history than that hack Leno. That's one of the things I like about him.
In general, I am so fed up with the constant quest for hipness (or at least the appearance of hipness) on television. I'm tired of smug narration, shaky cameras, trendy soundtracks (sometimes I think more thought was put into the song selection than the script), snarky pop culture references (I'm tired of the word snarky, too).
Is it because I'm getting older? Maybe, but I think the more networks try to chase the young audience, the more shallow and insincere television seem.
I think that's why I love Brothers and Sisters so much. Just good stories and acting, no gimmicks -- how revolutionary!
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Nov 8, 2006 1:52 PM
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I fell in love with Gordie Brown on PAX's "Twice in a Lifetime". I'm guessing he usually doesn't play an angel.
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Nov 8, 2006 11:03 PM
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Joe Piscopo was a gigantic loser who relied on the SNL makeup department to pull off Dave.
Gord you are getting a little spooky in being right on target so much lately. Piscopo is a huge nothing. For my dough it's Norm McDonald's spooky take on Letterman that really stands out. Like Dave Thomas' Bob Hope it really taps into an easily imagined dark side of Letterman.
Dave has always exhibited much more respect for his predecessors (like Carson, Paar, Allen) and showbiz history than that hack Leno
There is so much wrong with Leno that I'm working up a new Blog topic to deal with him. The problem so far has been that it's so hard to decide where to start.
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Nov 9, 2006 2:12 AM
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