Tom Shales - David Letterman Article

Tom Shales - David Letterman Article

Two stand-up guys sat down for a chat. The result was good conversation andquietly terrific television. And if you happen to
be a fan of the two men in question -- Ted Koppel and David Letterman -- and you saw this encounter, you may have come
away with a new understanding of why you like them. Or love them, as the case may be.

The occasion was the premiere of "Nightline UpClose," a new and interim late-night show that follows "Nightline," but only, as Koppel noted on last night's premiere, until January. Then a new late-night comedy show starring Jimmy Kimmel, whoever the heck that is, claims the slot.

Having Letterman as the first guest on the new show, which consists of one-on-one interviews without a lot of added
production, was rich in irony, as Koppel mentioned at the outset, because earlier this year executives at ABC and
the Walt Disney Co., which owns the network, disgraced themselves by publicly entertaining the idea of wooing Letterman
away from CBS to do his late-night stuff on ABC. And "that," as Koppel noted last night, "would have meant the end of 'Nightline.' "

It still sounds absurdly unthinkable even in this era of unthinkable things coming true.

With all this as background, rather elegantly and without venom, Koppel introduced his guest by saying, "They wanted
Letterman -- so here he is." In an admirable and perhaps whimsical gesture of good sportsmanship, Letterman agreed to be Koppel's first guest even though in many markets the second half of Letterman's own show airs opposite "UpClose" (but not in Washington, where laggardly ABC affiliate WJLA delays it until 12:35 a.m.).

The conversation was candid, engrossing and revealing. Koppel's guest tonight and tomorrow night is Desmond Tutu, and
there are actually more laughs in the Tutu talks -- mostly from Tutu, whom Koppel finds (and keeps) in good humor --
than in the Letterman session. But though Letterman was serious, he was anything but boring. One of the charming things
about him is a humility rare in show business; he seems to have no idea what a remarkable, if often confounding, creature he is.

By agreement with Letterman, and contrary to usual policy, ABC News would not make a tape of the interview available in advance, even though it was recorded a week ago (on the stage of the Ed Sullivan Theater on Broadway). Critics were
allowed to see it, though, in time for this morning's deadlines.

Koppel brought up the messy business of ABC's flirtation with Letterman immediately. Letterman explained that although
CBS has been "very nice," "generous" and "patient" with him, he couldn't ignore ABC's offer because it came from people who "were very enthusiastic and equally generous and really enthusiastic." He made reference to executives flying in to woo him
and even bringing him gifts from their children.

Though admitting his head was turned by the courtship, Letterman said, "In practical terms, I don't think I could have ever
really made that move." Oddly, Koppel didn't press Letterman about nearly killing "Nightline" or ask him if he
had any guilt over that. At the time of the ugly dust-up, Letterman spokesmen said ABC executives had told them that
"Nightline" was going to the graveyard anyway, whether Letterman accepted or not.

That was the unkindest cut of all, totally inexcusable. So was an unnamed ABC executive's assertion that "Nightline" had
become irrelevant. Do you suppose that executive knows there's a war on terror going on? That the times we live in are
intensely, if unfortunately, news-intensive? That "Nightline" has justifiably won every award in the book and that -- oh well,
it's no use arguing with birdbrains.

Besides, the poor old ABC Television Network may at any moment be declared a disaster area, eligible for federal aid.

Koppel, in a casual shirt and jacket, asked Letterman about the only two times Letterman has really vented his deeper
emotions on his own show -- the first when he returned from quintuple-bypass surgery in 2000 and introduced the
medical team that "saved my life." Letterman told Koppel he found the operation itself to be "thrilling."

The second emotional outpouring was last Sept. 17, when Letterman did his first show after the Sept. 11 attacks. "As late as 4 o'clock" that afternoon, Letterman said, he was still wondering, "Are we honestly going to do a show?" And the show tapes at 5:30.

On that program, he spoke movingly and passionately about both the horrors and the heroics of Sept. 11. Although he watches most of his programs after the taping is over, Letterman said of that one, "I didn't want to see it" and indicated he still hasn't.

Letterman told Koppel that late in the 2000 presidential campaign, one of the two main candidates called "Late Show"
producers and let it be known he'd come on the show and "do comedy" -- obviously as a way of enhancing his image. "We
refused," Letterman said, and he remembered wondering, "Are they really that desperate?" He said of both George W. Bush
and Al Gore, "They're silly men."

At the end of the interview, Letterman said he feared that it was "dull." Of course it wasn't vaguely or momentarily dull.
But that pathological insecurity of his is one reason he stays fresh and compelling. Letterman introduced the idea of worrying
as entertainment; part of the perhaps perverse pleasure of "Late Show" is watching Letterman fret and stew over how it's
going and imagining that he's lost the audience.

One problem with "Nightline" that even its loudest defenders had to acknowledge during the fracas over Letterman is that
Koppel, so integral to the show, has now won the right to take too many nights off. A spokeswoman for "UpClose,"
asked how often Koppel would be doing the interviewing, said yesterday, "He will anchor 'UpClose' with the same regularity
as he anchors 'Nightline.' " But that's not much regularity. Nevertheless, it was promised that "most nights"
Koppel will be there for both shows.

His sessions with Bishop Tutu, airing tonight and tomorrow night, are also very engaging. Tutu, 70, talks tonight about death
and sex, in that order. Sex should be regarded as "a beautiful gift," he says, and he laments that "far too much guilt" has been attached to it.A clergyman opposed to guilt about sex? Well, you never know.

That's part of what promises to make "UpClose" a perfect companion to "Nightline." You never know but, with Koppel around, you're likely to find out.

"Letterman gives Koppel's new show a boost, not the boot"

By TOM SHALES

Late Show With David Letterman Webpage>

Tom Shales
Article

July 9th 2002

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