When I was but a wee laddie, I witnessed something on television that would change my life forever. The year was 1980; that particular summer day was rainy and miserable, and none of my friends were anywhere to be found. So I listlessly flipped the four or five channels on our TV before unhappily settling on an NBC morning show hosted by a very average-looking guy with an uncomfortably large gap between his teeth.
If memory serves, the host was interviewing a scientist who was pontificating over some very abstruse subject, and being extremely patronizing in the process. In fact, the scientist was a total a-hole, and I began desperately hoping the gap-toothed host would tell him off—but he didn't. He just sat there, patiently, letting this smug, know-it-all butthole dominate the entire interview. HOWEVER! When the segment was over, and the host thanked his guest, something I've never seen before or since occurred: As the a-hole scientist got up and left his chair, a HUGE 200-pound sandbag fell from the ceiling and—KA-BLAM!!—crushed the chair into splinters. And I was like, "OMIGOD, WHAT JUST HAPPENED??"That's when the gap-toothed host turned to the audience, shrugged, and said, "Just missed." Cut to commercial.
I... was... astounded. I mean, I'd already been regularly watching the still-young Saturday Night Live, so I was no stranger to acerbic comedy—but at 10 am in the morning?? I eventually learned I was watching The David Letterman Show, starring a former weatherman from Indiana (!!) who later moved to LA to pursue his dream of becoming a comedian and comedy writer. Everything about The David Letterman Show was weird: From his choice of weird comedian guests (including Andy Kaufman, Steve Martin, and Richard Lewis), to his weird regular segments (like the birth of "Small Town News" and "Stupid Pet Tricks"—which shall always be remembered for the time Dave presented a canned ham to a monkey washing a cat). But weirdest of all? What was a show like this doing on in the morning? In short, I WAS IN LOVE.