Bill Simmons writes a few paragraphs about Letterman vs. Leno in his ESPN Super Bowl Blog.
I never really got into Carson much, more because of timing than anything. I remember when he left late night that it was a big deal, and I don’t know why, but I sided with Letterman immediately. Leno still hurts my head to wach today, and I’ll usually skip late night all together, catching Conan if I catch anything.
At any rate, I agree 100% with Simmons’s assessment that Carson did it right when he retired:
Carson headed to Malibu and never came back – not for an Oscars show, not for a Barbara Walters interview, not for a Curb Your Enthusiasm cameo, not even for an informercial – and only because he wouldn’t allow us to remember him any other way than we already did.
The monologue of Carson-penned jokes by Dave last night illustrated that Johny still knew what was going on in the world and could still find some humor in it all. I’m glad he left us laughing, and not feeling sad.
