Originally Posted by
GuitarGeek
Not only is Dave "phoning it in", he even admits it, using it to generate cheap laughs. I'm sorry but deliberately getting people to "laugh at you" rather than "laugh with you" is pathetic. It's the reason why I never liked the likes of Andy Kaufman, Chris Farley, etc.
And turning bad material around so that it was funny was something Johnny was great at. I remember one show where a joke during the monologue flopped, so he reaches up to the boom mic pulls it down, and goes "testing, one, two...clean up in aisle 9!". That was funny.
But Dave, half the time, can't even tell the jokes right. He either screws up the setup, says the wrong name, or messes up the punchline. And he carries on likes it's a live show, like he couldn't just do another take and edit out the clam. Last night, he had a guy who is in a new movie called The Promised Land (did anyone notice the band played the Chuck Berry that song of that name when the guest came out?), and Dave refers to the movie title as "Graceland". It was funny when back in the NBC days, because he only did it occasionally. But now he does it nearly every night.
And then there's long endless stories like he's tell before, or sometimes in place of, the top 10 list. I have the understanding they do a top 10 list every night, but Dave gets so wrapped up in telling his occasionally funny, but more often completely boring, there's no time to air the top 10 list. One night, he had Michelle Obama read a top ten list. Since the top ten list had a gardening theme (I think tying into a book the First Lady had just written or something like that), Dave launches into this stupid story about how his family had a garden when he was growing up. He goes on and on about the vegetables his parents grew, yada yada yada. Well, he went on so long (and he even noted this later) that they didn't have time to air all of Mrs. Obama's piece (which was pre-recorded) during the segment. At the end of the bit, Dave was supposed to thank her, and she was supposed to say goodnight. Well, they had to save that bit for after the commercial break.
Now, if Dave had been smart, he'd have ditched the stupid story, and if he was really smart, he'd have not drawn attention to the fact that Mrs. Obama's part of the show was pre-recorded. He'd have just played it as if he was actually speaking to her live via satellite.
The thing is, when the writers are delivering funny material, and Dave behaves like he actually showed up for rehearsal, the show is still funny. But it's like he's realized that CBS isn't going to drop the hammer on him, so he's under no pressure to do a consistent program.
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