Krusty the Clown has retired

Tonight, David Letterman retired. After over 3 decades in TV, the man followed in the footsteps of his mentor, Johnny Carson, and retired while he was on top of his game. I guess his heart no longer said "Buttafuco".  (That was the reason Letterman gave for signing up with CBS.)

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Like Carson before him, Letterman was a master of his craft. However, also like Carson, he defined the type of show that worked best in a time slot.  Carson took the tonight show, and created an impossible mix - a show that kept you entertained, but if you fell asleep watching it, you'd feel as if you missed nothing while asleep. Letterman did something similar for the 12:30 am to 1:30 am slot - taking a mix of edgier comedy,"dumb" comedy, up and coming celebrity interviews, and targeting a younger generation than Carson aimed for. And, like Carson, he aged with his audience.

If you have been in the public spotlight for 33+ years, there will be a lot of people poking fun at you - as they have with Letterman.  In his case, the "Krusty the Clown" character from "The Simpsons" was modeled on his curmudgeonly character traits.

And the creators of the Simpsons helped out with an animated bit on Letterman's final show as a way of paying tribute to the man.  But the best tribute may have come from the man hosting the show immediately following Letterman - who did a "Top 10" list during the show, and then at the show's end, rolled watermelons off the roof onto the parking lot below.

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Letterman was not known for political humor, but he didn't avoid a good political joke it it came to him.  One of my favorites was:

"Bush presidencies are like Godfather movies - it is best to stop at 2."

If I wanted to, I could find a lot of jokes he may have done about politicians of both parties. But I'm not interested in recycling old humor. Instead, I'm more interested in the fact that the real life Krusty did let his feelings show in public.  And it is fitting, that when he exited the building, that he did not go through the the theater's front or side doors. Instead, he made an unceremonious exit through the delicatessen that shared the building, and walked away into retirement.

Dave - you will be missed!!!!!