What happened to David Letterman?

I don't mean the endlessly publicized sex scandal or the Sarah Palin controversy. I don't mean the ham-fisted and unfunny political commentary -- or even the strange tales of stalkers around every corner. I mean what happened to the guy from the mid-late 1980s who seemed so above and beyond any such tired showbiz cliches?

When Letterman followed Carson during the Golden Age of NBC late night TV, his show was admittedly quirky. But it was one of the best examples of post-modern comedy in the medium's history. Late Night with David Letterman not only mocked TV entertainment while being a part of it, but the show made fun of the very idea that people get paid to gab or act silly in front of millions of people.

To highlight the absurd mindlessness of showbiz, Letterman trotted out a collection of bizarre acts. We met Larry "Bud" Melman, Brother Theodore and Harvey Pekar. We saw in-house bits like Stupid Pet Tricks, Flunky: The Late Night Viewer Mail Clown and The Book Mobile Lady with Gruff, But Lovable Gus. Chris Elliott trotted out an endless line of running characters like The Guy Under the Seats, The Fugitive Guy and Marlon Brando with his Banana Dance.

No other show had the brass ones to unveil a circus of freaks like that because nobody else had the guts to say, "What we do for a living is ridiculous." What other television concept had the audacity to get laughs by throwing blue cards through a non-existent window and playing a "crashing sound?"

Now, Letterman is a tired cog of the showbiz engine he used to mock. He was above it all -- too cool to trot out tired jokes and lazy sketches every night like Chevy Chase or Arsenio Hall once did. Somewhere along the way, Letterman got lazy and became enamored with being David Letterman. The day that happened, a classic TV concept died.