Finding The New Rhythm: David Letterman on Life After Late Night
“Retirement is nonsense,” he declared, stating flatly that “retirement is a myth. Retirement is nonsense.” For decades, David Letterman ruled late-night television, becoming a cultural icon as the irreverent host of “Late Night” on NBC and “The Late Show” on CBS. With 6,080 episodes under his belt, Letterman holds the record for the longest-serving late-night talk show host in American television history.
Despite stepping down from his nightly spot in 2015, the 77-year-old isn’t ready to sip lemonade on a porch just yet.
“As long as you are healthy, you still want to produce,” Letterman emphasizes. He elaborates, explaining, “You will find ways to. Once I stopped doing the show, it took me a couple of years to figure out that, oh, this is a completely different rhythm, and without the rhythm that you’re accustomed to, largely unsatisfying.”
Now, Letterman finds fulfillment hosting “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction” on Netflix. The show’s success proves that the human impulse to create and connect persists, even after stepping away from a demanding career. All told, Letterman shows no signs of slowing down.
Finding Himself Beyond the Spotlight
Letterman admits that he’s much happier now, free from the intense pressure cooker of late-night television. “I felt like whenever I would go out, there would be an expectation to which I could not live up,” he said advocating for himself. “‘Oh, here he comes. He’s going to do a show. He is going to be funny. We’re going to be entertained’,” he thought to himself, adding,
>”And I kind of felt like that expectation takes quite a lot of energy, so I didn’t want to bleed it off before or after the actual show, which was always in desperate need of entertainment.”
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He candidly points out that this constant pressure contributed to his reputation for being somewhat aloof or antisocial.
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You would either then spend time preparing, time ruminating about what may have gone wrong or trying to enjoy what may have gone right. And anything else didn’t matter,” Letterman reflected, “And that’s the mistake of having a career where it’s the same thing each and every night.” He remembers saying, “Now, I still advise people not to retire, but it was so single focused. If we can make these three, 400 people laugh every night, that’s our responsibility. So the idea that it actually transported beyond that would always come as kind of a glaring surprise.”
