My Interview With Tom Green

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Tom Green was on pop culture's cutting edge thanks to The Tom Green Show and Freddy Got Fingered. Since then, he's been doing stand-up, and after the pandemic he decided to leave Los Angeles to move back to Canada. He now operates a farm on 150 acres in Ontario when he isn't touring the world. In light of his new stand-up special, documentary and reality series, all devoted to his new life as a farmer, I had a long talk with the veteran comic. We talked about everything, including David Letterman, Canada, being a trailblazer, and Freddy's legacy. Hope you enjoy.

David Letterman's First 'Late Show,' 30 Years Later

TIME Magazine Cover, August 30, 1993: David Letterman
He's Tanned.
He's Rested.
He's Ready.
Is America? pic.twitter.com/I6Ldftnb3p

— RetroNewsNow (@RetroNewsNow) August 30, 2021

I vividly remember watching the first episode of Late Show with my new college friends back in 1993. I haven't seen that episode since, so I decided to give it a revisit on its 30th anniversary. Turns out, I had a lot to say about it.

Revisiting 'G.I. Jane'

For reasons that should be obvious, I watched G.I. Jane this morning. It inspired a lot of thoughts.

David Letterman's YouTube Channel Rules

May I suggest you check out the early, early Late Show interviews first? I explain why over at MEL.

John Oliver Is the David Letterman of the COVID-19 Age

I will always be grateful to David Letterman for his first show after 9/11, which helped pull the country together. On Sunday, John Oliver did the same for me as we hunker down in quarantine. I wrote about a remarkable episode of Last Week Tonight for MEL.

Some Thoughts on 'Between Two Ferns: The Movie'

Why is the Between Two Ferns series so funny while the new Netflix movie is so disappointing?

Remember when Zach Galifianakis debuted on Letterman ... and Dave wasn't there?

And where did the Ferns theme song originate?

I answered those questions, and more, while writing about Between Two Ferns: The Movie for MEL.

How Seth Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel Saved My 2017

For Rolling Stone, I looked back at the year in late night, arguing that it wasn't Stephen Colbert who led the Trump resistance. It was actually Seth Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel. (Seriously, what a 2017 Kimmel had.) Here's my piece.

Goodbye to Letterman: Dave's Realest Moments

Late Night and Late Show were impossibly funny shows, but sometimes it was hard to be funny when real life got in the way for Dave. The final of my Rolling Stone pieces commemorating Letterman's retirement focuses on 10 of the most serious moments on the show. I'm rather proud of this one; several of these episodes have stayed with me -- shaped me, even. Hope you enjoy.

Goodbye to Letterman: His Best Guests

Both on Late Night and Late Show, David Letterman has cultivated a crop of reliable, go-to guests. For Rolling Stone, I wrote about 10 of them, and what each brought to Dave's show. (Of course, Amy Sedaris made the cut.) Hope you enjoy.

Goodbye to Letterman: His Toughest Interviews

For Rolling Stone, I went back and looked at 10 of David Letterman's most infamous interviews. But the thing I found really intriguing was that, in retrospect, several of these were far more engaging and revealing than I remembered. (And, in the case of Cher's so-called "asshole" appearance, it wasn't much of a train wreck at all.) Let's dive in.

Goodbye to Letterman: His Best Supporting Characters

For Rolling Stone, I wrote several pieces about the most important minutiae in the David Letterman universe. The first of these is live now: It's about the sidekicks who helped shape Late Night and Late Show. I imagine my pick for his greatest supporting player will annoy some -- the guy gets under lots of people's skin -- but, sorry, I'm right. Hope you enjoy.

'Late Show' Recap: Say Hi to Reese Witherspoon

Last night on Late Show, Reese Witherspoon was there to promote her lame comedy Hot Pursuit. But the real star was David Letterman, who reminded us in quiet ways just why we're gonna miss him so damn much. My final Late Show recap for Rolling Stone can be read right here.

'Late Show' Recap: Dave and Barack

Last night, President Obama made his eighth appearance on Late Show With David Letterman. It will be his last, and the president made it a worthwhile visit. As a vocal fan of both men, I was happy to see how well it went -- and it made me think about how different the two are. I wrote about the episode for Rolling Stone.

'Late Show' Recap: David Letterman Says Goodbye to Steve Martin

Rolling Stone is recapping every Late Show With David Letterman until the finale on May 20. The usual writer is off for a few days, so I'll be filling in. Here's my take on Friday's episode, which featured Steve Martin, "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" and an encore presentation of a classic Steve & Dave bit. Why wasn't the night more fun than it was? Here's my take.

Warren Zevon - "Hit Somebody! (The Hockey Song)"

Lots of reasons this song has been on my mind lately. The hockey playoffs are going on right now. David Letterman, who will be ending his show May 20, guest stars on the track. (And Paul Shaffer plays organ.) And the album that houses this song, My Ride's Here, dropped this month 13 years ago. Letterman and Warren Zevon were old pals, and as Late Show winds to a close, there have been reminders of their friendship on the show. (Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires played Zevon's "Mutineer" the other night.)

"Hit Somebody! (The Hockey Song)" was co-written by Zevon and longtime sportswriter (and Tuesdays With Morrie author) Mitch Albom, and it tells the story of a hockey goon with aspirations to be a scorer. It's a silly, endearing little tale, mostly for Letterman's yelled chorus hook. I hope it never gets made into a Kevin Smith movie.

Banks - "Begging for Thread"

With Late Show With David Letterman ending next month, I've made a point of watching the show on a pretty regular basis in recent weeks. I've been glad I did; I didn't need to be reminded how much I love the man, but it's been a treat to be reintroduced to Letterman's day-in-and-day-out genius.

Last Friday, Banks was on Late Show to perform "Begging for Thread." It's a great song enhanced by the simple but evocative production design. And I probably would have missed it if Letterman's retirement wasn't just on the horizon.

Taylor Swift - "Welcome to New York"

My understanding is that some people hate "Welcome to New York," the opening track off Taylor Swift's 1989. Apparently, Swift should be caned because, as a pop singer, she had the audacity to write a song about New York as an idealized place where young people can reinvent themselves, find love and perhaps live happily ever after. Doesn't she know there is a lot of crime and economic inequality in New York??!?!? What's wrong with her??!?!? Swift, who just turned 25 and was never expected to be an expert on economics, responded to the criticism exactly right....

[W]hen you write a song, you're writing about a momentary emotion. If you can capture that and turn it into three-and-half minutes that feel like that emotion, that's all you're trying to do as a songwriter. To take a song and try to apply it to every situation everyone is going through -- economically, politically, in an entire metropolitan area -- is asking a little much of a piece of a music.  

I'm as optimistic and enthusiastic about New York as I am about the state of the music industry, and a lot of people aren't optimistic about those two things. And if they're not in that place in their life, they're not going to relate to what I have to say.

I've never lived in New York, but I can't think of a song in the last few years that's so captured that giddy rush of being young and living in a big city -- of thinking that the whole world is in front of you and oh my god, it feels amazing. "Welcome to New York" conveys that sensation perfectly. It's what being in your mid-20s sounds like.

In fact, the track reminds me of two very different artists: PJ Harvey, whose own New York album, Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea, opens with a "Welcome to New York"-like tune called "Big Exit" and is full of similarly euphoric romantic abandon; and Liz Phair, whose 2003 self-titled album opened with "Extraordinary," which like Swift's "Shake It Off" is about the woman she is versus the woman other people assume her (or want her) to be.

I haven't finished filling out my Pazz & Jop ballot yet, but "Welcome to New York" might make the cut. I can say for sure, though, that it always sounds great blasting out of my speakers on the freeway. Here she is performing it on Late Show With David Letterman -- right, in New York.

What Are TV's Best Cult Comedies?

That's the question the editors of Rolling Stone tried to answer in their latest list. I very much enjoyed taking part, writing up the entries for Portlandia, Late Night With David Letterman, Arrested Development and Sledge Hammer! I had no say in the rankings, though, so don't get mad at me if your favorite isn't near the top.

Future Islands - "Seasons (Waiting On You)" (Live on 'Late Show With David Letterman')

I haven't had a chance yet to really dig into the new Future Islands album, Singles, but I've been enjoying its first single, "Seasons (Waiting On You)," for weeks. On the album, it's a deeply nostalgic, lovely synth-pop track, but when the band played it on Late Show With David Letterman, front man Samuel T. Herring turned it into performance art.

Rob Harvilla, my editor at Deadspin, described Herring's performance this way:

[H]e is absolutely mesmerizing. The power-schlub attire: black T-shirt smartly belted into black dress slacks, somehow recasting his hint of a gut and encroaching male-pattern baldness as assets, as seductive weapons. The knee-buckling electric-slide dance moves, so instantly iconic Dave worked them into his monologue the following night. The feigned-nonchalance-into-fist-pump lunge Herring pulls out for the choruses. The summer-stock-theatrical crease of pained sincerity on his face as he croons, "People change / But certain people never do," pounding his chest so hard his mic picks it up. The alluringly incongruous death-metal growls.  

He combines the jovial menace of the Pixies' Frank Black, the erudite yearning of Morrissey, the hammy ardor of Tom Jones. You want him to take you on a date, in a Venetian red Subaru Outback, to the Macaroni Grill. You belong together. 

[cut]

[On the album] Herring has the crisp diction of a knighted English actor and the sneak-attack uber-goofball flair of Jack Black in High Fidelity (WWWAAAOOWW), but he wisely refuses to acknowledge that he's in on the joke, or that there's even a joke here at all, and there actually isn't: He sternly roams these ersatz-'80s vistas like Flight of the Conchords channeling David Bowie channeling King Lear.  

Dude is dead serious. There is a song called "Sun in the Morning" ("She feeds me daily soul"); there is a song called "Like the Moon" ("She looks like the moon / So close and yet so far"). The death-metal growls resurface big-time on climactic ballad "Fall From Grace." These are karaoke songs for when you wish to disguise your crushing depression in a veil of pompous vocal radness so intense it makes your monocle fall off.

This is a great way of putting it, although I'd argue that there seems to be less calculated thought put into it than Harvilla suggests. Although Future Islands' members have art-school backgrounds, Herring is so daringly genuine that, if it's an act, it's an incredibly persuasive one. The dorky dance moves, the oddly placed growls: They're all really charming, almost sweet, and they complement the song's hopeful, pining tone. The performance is funny, but it's also brave, which makes it sorta inspiring.

David Letterman - First Show After 9/11

Last night's Late Show will go down as one of the handful of truly unforgettable episodes David Letterman has filmed over his now-27-year career. Not because it was an exceptionally great episode -- it's just that Letterman talked to his audience about an extortion attempt regarding sexual encounters he's had with female staff members. That means it was big, juicy news, which means lots of people who usually don't care about David Letterman suddenly started caring about him a whole hell of a lot.

Last night was riveting television, and for those of us who love the man, it demonstrated yet again what makes him a fantastic talk-show host: his charm, his integrity, his wit. The argument can be made that if he had more integrity he wouldn't sleep with underlings, but I think if one is going to acknowledge past failings, you couldn't have done it much better than he did last night.

This got me thinking of his most memorable Late Show moment, which has to be his first show after the 9/11 attacks. Forgive the mediocre video quality of the below clip, but I think the essence of the man's decency comes through regardless. Again, the argument could be made that to draw comparisons between one man's romantic infidelity and a nation's great sadness is perverse and a bit of a stretch. But I think that Late Show is at its best when Letterman talks straight with us. Last night, he did that. And eight years ago, he did it as well.