A Hot Letterman Rides Off, Headed for CBS

He could have made a big deal out of it. He could have asked Bette Midler to sing him a sentimental song. He could have done a lot of things that attracted attention. Yet humble as always Friday, he chose a simple, tasteful way to depart the network where his late night show had run for 11 1/2 years and 1,809 episodes.

David Letterman left NBC on a white horse.

Actually, the hilarious horseback bit--with Letterman lit by a spotlight as he waved goodby and heroically rode off like an old-time movie cowboy--was a segment from a previous show that was edited into Friday’s finale. The rerun of this exaggerated pomp--to parody the real-life exaggerated pomp accompanying his network hopping--was quintessential Letterman, a perfect capper on his 12:30 a.m. talk-show career at NBC.

“It’s not like I’m going to prison,” he told “Today” host Katie Couric earlier last week.

Not unless prison is paradise. The sunrise that Letterman rode into is a $14-million-a-year job at CBS, where on Aug. 30 he’ll resurface with an 11:30 p.m. version of his old hour of inspired nonsense opposite Jay Leno’s golden oldie “Tonight Show.” With Chevy Chase’s show scheduled to debut on Fox in September and the syndicated “Arsenio” already in place, the late-night talk show crowd is starting to look like Times Square on New Year’s Eve.

Because Leno got the post-Johnny Carson “Tonight Show” job that Letterman wanted--and kept it even when the latter began citing his top 10 reasons to leave NBC--it’s Leno vs. Letterman that will capture the most attention after Aug. 30. “David, good luck, all the best,” said Leno as he signed off Friday. It was like Montgomery wishing Rommel good luck before El Alamein.

“Late Night With David Letterman” spent some of its last week on NBC rerunning memorable excerpts from past episodes, in effect re-emphasizing the uniqueness of his show.

From July 28, 1982, there was the late Andy Kaufman getting slapped around by a professional wrestler.

From Aug. 7, 1986, there was Letterman and a camera crew arriving unannounced at the home of a young woman who had written him criticizing his sloppy sneakers. Although she was at work, her younger brother innocently let Letterman visit her room, where her bed was unmade, and fish through her closet. Next stop, the Sears store where the woman was employed. Seeing Letterman, she just flipped.

From Feb. 8, 1991, there was Letterman saying with a straight face how much he and bandleader Paul Shaffer enjoyed ice skating. Cut to them putting on their skates, then a long shot of two pro skaters dressed like Letterman and Shaffer performing dazzling moves together on the ice.

From April 8, 1986--when NBC’s parent company, RCA, was being absorbed by behemoth General Electric--there was Letterman arriving at the corporate giant’s Manhattan headquarters with a camera crew and welcoming basket of fruit, only to be denied entrance by a security guard. They pushed their way through the revolving doors anyway, but were greeted inside by a gruffer, higher-ranking security guard who angrily blocked the camera lens with his hand. Letterman on GE: “Oh, it will be fun to work with these people.”

It has been, in a manner of speaking, as both GE and NBC have been the running butts of Letterman jokes. Will he ridicule his new employers, too? “Oh, yeah,” he told Couric.

Letterman’s guest on Thursday was Garry Shandling, reportedly NBC’s second choice to succeed Letterman at 12:30 a.m. after Dana Carvey said no to the job. Little known Conan O’Brien was ultimately hired. Letterman surveyed his “Late Night” realm. “This all could be yours,” he mockingly told Shandling.

In a case of reality and fantasy blurring, Letterman has already taped a future appearance on “The Larry Sanders Show,” Shandling’s scintillating HBO comedy series that spoofs the talk-show milieu at times so subtly that you’d swear you were eavesdropping on the real thing. On last Wednesday’s episode, contract talks between talk show host Sanders (Shandling) and his network were going poorly. When his agent handed him a slip of paper with the network’s latest offer, Sanders was aghast, saying he had been expecting “Letterman money.” The agent shrugged.

Listening in, Sanders’ producer (played by Rip Torn) feared the worst. “It’s not Leno money?” he worriedly asked the agent about the network offer, referring to the reported $3 million annually--less than 25% of Letterman’s reported CBS contract--that NBC is said to be paying the “Tonight Show” host.

Whether Letterman himself is worth “Letterman money” remains to be seen. But he looked especially bankable Friday, going out hot-hot-hot. A very funny Tom Hanks related his affection for old Elvis movies, including the 1964 classic “Roustabout,” in which Elvis joins a carnival operated by Barbara Stanwyck. Hanks remembered Stanwyck’s angry response when Elvis called the show a circus: “This is not a circus, mister. This is a carnival, and don’t you forget it.”

Friday’s episode also included the inevitable farewell digs, including Letterman’s “top 10 things I need to do before I leave NBC.” No. 1? “Untie Willard.”

The evening’s big, bold exclamation mark was supplied by the epic, never-before-booked mystery guest that Letterman had been promising all week: Not Bette Midler but Bruce Springsteen. Operating from atop Shaffer’s piano, he sang the hell out of “Glory Days.” Then, in that sign-off of sign-offs, came Letterman and the white horse, symbolizing the brand of exquisite absurdity that one hopes he will transfer to CBS in tact.

This is a carnival, and don’t you forget it.