Washington D.C. (August 30, 2005) -- Late Night With David Letterman last night aired for the first time in High-Definition TV.
Based on Monday's broadcast, CBS might want to merge the show with ABC's Extreme Makeover.
The production was generally sound with crisp pictures of both the indoor studio and the New York streets that surround the Ed Sullivan Theater, where the show is taped.
But the problem is the host. At age 58, Letterman is just not HDTV-friendly. His face has more creases than a 10-year-old pair of pants. He doesn't look like he had open heart surgery; he looks like he had open face surgery. Seriously, his face has more lines than his writers. (Which ain't saying that much; when did this show stop being funny?)
And, in high-def, Dave's eyes seem to bug out behind his specs, making him look like he's been startled. Maybe he looks this way because he's surprised that CBS actually decided to go high-def with this thing. (Letterman's competition, NBC's The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, has been in high-def for several years.)
To make matters worse, Letterman chose to book former tennis star John McEnroe and comedian Andy Dick for his HDTV debut. What was he thinking? In high-def, McEnroe looks like he's still recovering from a serve in the face from Pete Sampras. Mac's make-up job didn't help either; his eye brows last night looked like they were smeared with grease, almost creating a Groucho effect.
Dick, the former star of News Radio, showed up wearing a denim outfit that looked like it hadn't been cleaned in days. Of course, considering Dick's notorious late night escapades in Hollywood, it's possible that he hadn't been cleaned in days, either.
From its debut, it appears that Letterman is not taking the HDTV launch very seriously. Throughout the show, the host mocked the new picture format with mini-sketches designed to lessen its importance.
But, as more people get high-def sets, the Letterman team might want to start thinking about booking better-looking guests -- and buying Dave some moisturizer.
© TVPredictions.com
Phillip Swann is president and publisher of
TVPredictions.com. He has been quoted in dozens of publications
and broadcast outlets, including CNN, Fox News, Inside Edition,
The Chicago Tribune, The Associated Press and The Hollywood
Reporter. He can be reached at swann@tvpredictions.com
or at 703-505-3064.
And click TVPredictions.com
to read more news and features on TV
technology.