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Interviews are the foundation in the structure of the late-night talk show.
But in recent years, their importance has receded into the background.
And these days, it seems like aint nobody got time for that.
It certainly doesnt help that several of our current late-night hosts are not exactly masters of interview craft.
(Did you immediately think of Jimmy Fallon when you read that sentence?
Wonder why that is.)
On Friday, the second episode dropped, this time offering a 50-minute chat between Letterman and George Clooney.
Everything aboutMy Next Guestsuggests that for his second act, Letterman is operating in a similar, against-the-grain mode.
Instead of anchoring a nightly show, hes rolling one out on a monthly basis.
Rather than appearing on a major broadcast web connection, he has parked himself on Netflix.
Instead of reciting top-ten lists and attempting to answer the eternal question, Will It Float?
But watching him conduct them was always interesting.
(Cher oncecalled him an assholefor a reason.)
He doesnt work in any gotcha questions or aggressively push for major revelations.
Even though Letterman quite clearly is a guy with a talk show, he separates himself from that identity.
Its classic Letterman self-deprecation, but it also gives the interview an almost folksy, relatable quality.
People dont know much about you, Clooney tells him at one point.
And people are very interested in you and how you became David Letterman.
Again, there isnt a Wow, youve gotta see this moment in the interview.
Thats the other thing that made Letterman such a good host in his broadcast days.
There are many reasons that, as Clooney says, people are interested in Letterman.
