David Letterman doesn’t miss late-night television at all. As a matter of fact, he “couldn’t care less about” it.
Also, he thinks CBS should have given his show to a woman.
“I thought for sure I would,” the former “Late Show” host told Tom Brokaw when asked if he misses the day part. “And then, the first day of Stephen’s show when he went on the air — an energy left me and I felt like, ‘You know, that’s not my problem anymore.’ And I’ve kind of felt that way ever since.”
“I devoted so much time to the damage of other aspects of my life,” Letterman continued. “The concentrated, fixated, focusing on that — it’s good now to not have that. I couldn’t care less about late-night television.”
“I’m happy for the guys — men and women — there should be more women,” he added. “And I don’t know why they didn’t give my show to a woman. That would have been fine. You know, I’m happy for their success. And they’re doing things I couldn’t do. So that’s great.”
Anybody paying attention knows that Letterman couldn’t have cared less about late-night television for probably the last ten years that he was on the air, but that’s another story entirely.
Letterman is the anti-Leno in retirement as much as he was when they were direct competitors. Jay Leno wouldn’t know how to stay off of a stage for any length of time even if he were under a court order to do so. He is a restless entertainer. Letterman was always more of a reluctant entertainer, dedicated to the craft, but always seeming like he would have been just as happy doing it for only friends and family. Obviously that can’t be entirely true for someone who spent most of his life in a huge spotlight, but it is the vibe he gave off.
That’s also probably why he is able to cut loose completely in retirement. He’s not waxing nostalgic for applause, which most comedians get itchy for after a night or two without. It suits him.
Nice beard too.
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