The Letterman Colbert Edition

Welcome back to another edition of Entertainment Guru News and Views.

 

It truly is the end of an era coming next year. The old guard is officially dead and the dawning of the new is upon us.

 

He has been on national television since 1982, but next year he is retiring. I am, of course, talking about David Letterman. He survived the fiasco of The Tonight Show. He recently survived a sex scandal. He has interviewed 1000s of people. He did a show in his theater with no electricity. The man even survived a fight with Oprah and can tell the tale. But next year, he is hanging up his Top 10 list.

 

Think about all the talk shows that have come and most of whom have gone in that time. We have seen some real bombs like Chevy Chase or Magic Johnson. In that time we have seen people have multiple late night talk shows like Arsenio Hall. We have seen The Craigs (Kilborn and Ferguson) and the Jimmys (Fallon and Kimmel). Even the man of a thousand shows, Carson Daly had one. And now Seth Myers has a show too. Let's not forget Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien. Really that's just a small sampling of the late show talk shows.

I was lucky enough to see a Letterman taping back in 1999. My college offered a trip to New York for communication majors so I went. I even got to see one of my favorite actors on the show. John Cusack was there to promote a movie called "Pushing Tin." There was no musical guest that day because Jack Hanna was there with his wonderful animals. It was a lot of fun!

 

It was announced last Thursday that Stephen Colbert will now host The Late Show, leaving his comfy desk at The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. As Lori and I both said, we hope we get to see the real Colbert and not Pseudo News Man that we have seen before. But I think that it is a good choice. I can't think of anyone else who would have been better. He is a well-known personality who was universally liked until the recent scandal and proceeding “Cancel Colbert” movement.

I am sure there will be people who won't be happy about Colbert taking over. Was what he did wrong? Yes; but worse things have been said. It was a joke that people failed to get. Was it funny? I don't think so. Everyone who is put in a comedic position has said something that has been deemed offensive by someone. Does that make Colbert a bad person? I don't think so.

Time will tell how well he will actually do in the role, but I think that he will fit in nicely.

Special thanks as always to my wonderful editor who is also my wonderful fiancée for all her work!

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Rip Mickey Rooney and More Edition

Welcome to another edition of Entertainment News and Views. We lost a few big names in the last few weeks, so I wanted to take this moment to salute their careers.

You might not know the name James Rebhorn, but you knew the man. He was once of "those guys" that was never the star of anything but was always around. He appeared in 125 different roles, with a lot of that being television work. He appeared in such shows as "White Collar," "The Good Wife," and "Homeland" just to name a few. Movie-wise he was in "Independence Day," "Meet The Fockers," and "Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle" among others.

We also lost stand up comedian John Pinette at age 50. Honestly, I don't remember a single bit of his. But I remember watching him and thinking he was funny. He was a large man, and a lot of his comedy was based on his weight. You have to admire a man who laughed at himself before the world laughed at him.

Peaches Geldof died at the age of 25. She was a British model and television personality. She is also the daughter of musician Bob Geldof who helped create Live Aid in 1985. For being so young, she accomplished a lot in her life, most notably being the mother of two small children.

And then there is Mickey Rooney. I've said it before and I will say it again. The word legend gets tossed around a lot, especially in Hollywood, but in my eyes only a few people deserve the title. Mickey Rooney deserves the title. Very few people in Hollywood have worked as consistently as Rooney did. In my lifetime, he has appeared in at least one television show or movie in 36 of my 37 years alive on this planet. Show me anyone else with that kind of consistency. It will be hard to. Not to mention the quality of great movies that he was a part of in his younger days. Like "National Velvet" with Elizabeth Taylor, "Breakfast At Tiffany's" with Audrey Hepburn and "Babes in Arms" with Judy Garland. For a much younger audience he appeared in "A Night At The Museum" with Ben Stiller and gave his voice in Disney's "Fox and The Hound."

Our thoughts go out to the families and friends that lost these talented people. Thank you for the great memories you have provided over the years.

Another thanks to my wonderful editor for helping me edit this week's blogs.

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