Michael: Dave and Stephen

The mountains roll down
To the coast like a fine silk
Robe ready to fall.


 May 22, 2015



This is to show, just like the comedians I’ve admired, how whimsical life can be.

Starting in high school, because my best friend was a big Johnny Carson fan, I started staying up late to watch The Tonight Show. When David Lettermen started to follow his program at 12:30 a.m., I’d watch at least the monologue and the first stunt that Dave had cooked up that night. I was in my early twenties and thought the irreverence that Dave brought to the late night format was a refreshing update to the enjoyable but very worn skits that Carson use to do, like the Amazing Carnac, or the grouchy little old lady.

I was working at May Co. at the time and often pulling a 1:30 - 10 p.m. shift so staying up late was routine. But that quickly changed when I became an elementary school teacher a few years later. With the shift to early morning work hours late night T.V., and Dave, were quietly forgotten in the fatigue induced slumber of my new career.

I never invested in a D.V.R. and don’t know when they even came into existence. Setting aside time to watch a show when it was scheduled was how it was done as I grew up and how I’ve always enjoyed watching television. Even now, with Hulu, and caving into watching programs a day or week later, the only sport I’ll watch as a re-broadcast is the Tour de France.

Being a teacher meant that I often got home pretty early in the day. Sometimes I’d flop on the couch and surf the channels to unwind. That’s how I discovered Colbert and quickly became indoctrinated into the Colbert Nation. The fact that he was now throwing a Dave like whimsy into the political arena, I thought was hysterical and surreptitiously brought me back to late night television.

When I first started watching Colbert I didn’t realize I was watching the re-broadcast from the night before. I really didn’t have any idea of when his show was on. It didn’t take me long to realize that at Comedy Central, Colbert was re-broadcast just about every other hour. But I was hooked and so long as I caught the show the next day without any idea of what was going to be on, I was happy. I now once again become part of the late night television audience without the inconvenience of staying up late.

Once I stopped teaching, to cut expenses, I dropped cable. Knowing that I could continue to follow Colbert on Hulu made that an easy decision. When Colbert ended his show I switched over to watching Stewart daily and have become a fan, though not with the quite the fanaticism I had as a member of the Colbert Nation. And now Stewart’s leaving in August.

But shortly after that in September Colbert’s going to return to late night and take Dave’s spot. I’m really hoping he’ll once again bring something fresh to the late night format and I’ll be able to find a way to watch him. Otherwise the whimsical late night comics and my roller coaster ride of finding and following them will once again dive into a dark tunnel without me knowing what I’ll see on the other side.