Daily Corinthian • Sunday, April 6, 2014 • 3B
Letterman’s departure will reshape late-night TV BY DAVID BAUDER AP Television Writer
NEW YORK — Jimmy Fallon’s fast start replacing Jay Leno on the “Tonight” show the past two months had a secondary effect: David Letterman suddenly seemed old. The Top 10 list, the ironic detachment, even the set at the Ed Sullivan Theater. Time doesn’t stop for comedy legends, or superstars of any sort. Letterman, who announced Thursday that he will retire from late-night television sometime in 2015, had to feel it. CBS now faces the challenge of moving on in a reordered late-night world at a time the two Jimmys — NBC’s Fallon and ABC’s Kimmel — have a significant head start. When Jay Leno left in February, Letterman lost his foil — the man whose victory in the competition to replace Johnny Carson two decades ago he never let go. Leno was someone who spoke his language,
though, a generational compadre, and when he left, Letterman was alone. Fallon and Kimmel have a different style, more good-natured and less mocking of the entire concept of a talk show. It’s hard to know what role the new competition played in Letterman’s decision. His last contract extension, signed before Fallon took over, was for one year. The first time Leno left late-night, Letterman ascended to the throne. Not this time. Since Fallon began at “Tonight,” his show has averaged 5.2 million viewers, while Letterman has averaged 2.7 million and Kimmel 2.65 million, the Nielsen company said. Last year Letterman averaged 2.9 million and Kimmel 2.5 million, so the direction was clear. Much of late-night now is about making an impression in social media, or in highlight clips that people can watch on their devices and spread
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around the next day. Fallon and Kimmel have excelled in spreading their comedy beyond their time slots; Letterman has barely bothered. Late-night television is a far different world than when Letterman and Leno began their competition. There are more entertainment shows to choose from, with personalities like O’Brien, Arsenio Hall, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and Chelsea Handler working every night. CBS will first have to decide whether or not to continue with an entertainment program in that time slot. It’s not the money-maker it once was, but chances are the network will continue in that direction. The first in-house candidate would be Craig Ferguson of “The Late Late Show,” which currently airs at 11:35 p.m. Eastern on CBS and is produced by Letterman. But Ferguson’s star has dimmed, his show quickly passed by in
the ratings by Seth Meyers on NBC, and he is considered an unlikely choice. A month ago, Kimmel was asked by TV Guide magazine whether he would be interested in succeeding Letterman, and he didn’t shoot down the idea. “I’d definitely consider it,” Kimmel said. “I am loyal to ABC and grateful to them for giving me a shot. I was a guy from ‘The Man Show’ when they put me on. I’m not looking to flee. But just getting a call from Dave would be big for me. So it’s definitely something I would listen to.’” Could Leno come back? He’s not the retiring type, but he would hardly be considered a play for the next generation. Handler has let it be known that she’s ready to end her show on the E! network. A broadcast network gig again would be a step up for O’Brien. Colbert and Stewart both are considered major talents
encouraging him to relocate “Late Show” to LA. Wherever they’re located, Letterman’s replacement will face a real challenge with Fallon and Kimmel, who seem to have set up a bicoastal rivalry for years to come. Fallon is now king of the East Coast, and Kimmel currently rules out West. Besides the Top Ten lists, the monologue and occasional wild visit from Bill Murray, one facet of Letterman’s show that will be most sorely missed is his ability to do sharp, even hard-hitting interviews with people in the news. His first show after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks was memorable for his reaction. It’s hard to think of anyone who has the gravitas or ability to fill the role that Letterman fills. CBS Corp. and Moonves will have time to think of that over the next year, much of which will be spent celebrating Letterman’s legacy.
Two legendary stars portray ‘Game of Thrones’ in-laws BY FRAZIER MOORE AP Television Writer
Crossword
and CBS would be much more high-profile than Comedy Central. John Oliver is about to start a new late-night show on HBO. The question is whether those personalities would have too narrow an appeal for CBS, which is the broadest of the broadcast networks and would likely be looking for someone with wide appeal. Remember, many in TV considered O’Brien’s “Tonight” show a failure because his appeal was too limited. Another possibility could be Drew Carey, a hit on CBS daytime with “The Price is Right” who recently traded jobs for a day with Ferguson. Another possible decision for CBS is whether to move the New York-based “Late Show” to Los Angeles, now that “Tonight” has moved back to New York after decades on the West Coast. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti wasted no time on Thursday in firing off an open letter to CBS boss Leslie Moonves,
NEW YORK — Like every “Game of Thrones” fan, Charles Dance was gobsmacked by last season’s next-to-last installment. That episode floored viewers with its ritualistic “red wedding,” a massacre staged by Lord Walder Frey, the bride’s father, who meant to settle a score with his hall of guests, and did. “I got quite a shock!” says Dance, speaking for everyone who saw it. “It was bloody in the extreme!” The fact that Dance was caught off-guard is notable, since he’s a star of the show. Indeed, the character he plays, Lord Tywin Lannister, had a hand in the bloodshed. But he didn’t actually appear in that episode, “and when I’m not in it, to be honest with you, I don’t read the script,” Dance says. “I catch up on what’s happening when the episode airs.” “Game of Thrones,” which returns Sunday at 8 p.m. CDT on HBO, will pack its next punch soon enough in the new season. Such is the nature of this epic fantasy, set on a make-believe continent called Westeros, chockfull of warring kingdoms, rugged landscapes, lots of sex and swordplay, and, of course, fire-breathing dragons. If the scale of the series is vast, the source material is no less sprawling: the five-and-counting novels by George R.R. Martin in the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series. “I still have not read the books,” says Dance. “They frighten me, books that thick. And, anyway, we’re dealing with an adaptation. I think it’s counterproductive for actors to come to the set with wellthumbed copies of the book their film is adapted from.” Dance’s despotic Lord Tywin is the grandfather of King Joffrey, an infantile tyrant whose betrothed is the granddaughter of Olenna Tyrell.
“I loved the idea of playing this naughty old bag. It’s my idea of heaven.” Diana Rigg Actress Lady Olenna is played by Diana Rigg. On-screen soon-to-be in-laws, Rigg and Dance have known and worked together for decades, including a 1997 British TV adaptation of “Rebecca.” Little wonder they get on famously as they meet with a reporter at a Manhattan hotel. Rigg says she hasn’t read the “Game of Thrones” books either. “I rely upon the directors to fill me in before a shot,” she confides. “They’re very good with reminders.” The show’s dozens of cast members include Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Jack Gleeson, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Emilia Clarke. Asked what drew him into this elite community, Dance smiles and answers, “The writing was good, the costumes are great and, eventually, the location catering was fantastic.” “I loved the idea of playing this naughty old bag,” Rigg says, offering her own explanation. “It’s my idea of heaven.” Now 75, Rigg has had a rich and varied career in theater, both in her native Britain and as a Tony Award winner on Broadway, as well as films including the James Bond caper “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” and even an NBC sitcom. But her breakout role was in 1965 in the British TV thriller “The Avengers,” where she played the catsuit-clad karate queen Emma Peel. “It put me on the map,” she says, “which a lifetime of Shakespeare wouldn’t have done.” Tall and imperial, Dance, 67, grew up work-
ing-class in England and overcame a teenage stammer to devote himself to theater. His breakout project was the 1984 British TV hit “The Jewel in the Crown,” which he followed with such films as “Michael Collins” and “Gosford Park” and the British miniseries “Bleak House,” as well as lots of theater. His first job: working as a dresser in the original West End production of “Fiddler on the Roof.” Then he landed a spot in a London repertory company with a crushing regime: “It was 16 plays in 16 weeks. ‘What’s my motivation?’ ‘Your weekly paycheck. Just learn the lines and don’t bump into the furniture.’” Learning the lines wasn’t always possible, as when Dance’s mind went blank during a performance of “Charley’s Aunt.” But he was rescued. “A co-star came onstage with a tray. ‘Letter for you, sir.’ And on the tray was the page I needed from the script.” Likewise, Rigg paid her dues in repertory. Besides dashing onstage to say her lines, she was charged with such production chores as handling recorded sound effects and background music. “Once, when the curtain was coming down, I was supposed to play ‘Ride of the Valkyries,’” she says. Instead, she mistakenly cued up a polka. “The looks I got from the rest of the cast at our curtain call!” Rigg and Dance are cracking up at their shared memories of starting out so long ago. But both are caught short by this inquiry: When did you know you had finally made it? “When I could book a holiday,” Dance replies after a bit of thought, “and know there was a job to come back to.” As for Rigg, “It was when I found money in a handbag I didn’t know I had: ‘How did THAT get in there and how did I not notice it? I must be on my way!’”
Jon Cryer working on ‘candid’ memoir Associated Press
NEW YORK — Jon Cryer, an actor who knows a thing or two about Charlie Sheen and Demi Moore among others, is working on a “candid” memoir. The Emmy-winning star of “Two and a Half Men” has a deal with New American Library, an imprint of Penguin Random
House. The publisher announced Wednesday that the book, currently untitled, is scheduled to be released next spring. According to the New American Library, Cryer will share “candid” and “fascinating” stories about his 30-year career. He debuted on film opposite Moore in “No
Small Affair” and became known to millions as “Duckie,” Molly Ringwald’s pal in “Pretty in Pink.” In a statement released Wednesday, Cryer joked that he would write about stamp collecting, monetary policy and maybe Sheen, his former “Two and a Half Men” co-star.