Howard Stern Tries to Smooch David Letterman: Ready, Set, KISS!

Howard Stern’s history with David Letterman goes back decades, with Letterman supporting Stern during the rise of his career, and Stern’s consistent appearances during his height. Stern fans know his loyalty, and it’s no surprise that the notorious curmudgeons rejoined for Letterman’s last days on air. Watch below as the King of all Media tries to make the most of the moment with a goodbye kiss.

Olivia Munn on Letterman: Imitates Mother’s Asian Accent

Olivia Munn landed on Letterman’s iconic stage with a high-slit skirt and some seriously funny stories about her family. Guests with pre-packed comedy are always welcome given that it’s less work for Letterman, who won’t have to do the heavy lifting. Hats off to Munn for an insanely awesome imitation of her family’s Chinese accent mixed with a southern drawl. She came to play. Watch below.

Selena Gomez on Letterman — “Cry Me a River, Bieber”

Sure it’s fun to take swipes at your ex, but experience tells me that if you feel the need to take a dig, then you’re still in the ditch. Selena Gomez appeared on Letterman, who set her up for a well-timed joke when Letterman informed Selena that he made Justin Bieber cry. Selena’s response? “That makes two of us.” She also gave a Cheshire Cat smile, and said, “I’m so good,” which also leads me to believe the opposite. She’s clearly not over it, and her public put-down only served to take herself down a peg. WATCH BELOW.

Leno Out, Fallon In? Late-Night Rumors Resurface

The Tonight ShowHere we go again. Rumor has it that NBC is looking to replace Jay Leno with Jimmy Fallon as the host of The Tonight Show when Leno’s contract expires in 2014. Though Leno still has competitive ratings, NBC allegedly fears that Kimmel is a strong contender for the coveted 18-34 market, and when Leno’s star fades, CBS might poach Kimmel if Letterman retires, which will tank NBC. Too confusing? Here’s a shorter summary: Leno has an expiration date, and NBC wants to stay ahead of the game before Kimmel becomes king.

While NBC needs a game plan, since they have yet to get a hit show on the air, my suggestion is that they find the right team of people to make creative decisions before they become doomed with another late-night debacle. The first one was embarrassing enough, and they won’t survive another. So until I see a ratings surge in other areas, I’d hold off on trusting the executives behind these “rumors”

The Kills Perform ‘The Last Goodbye’ on Letterman

I don’t know much about The Kills, but I know one thing — I really like their music video. It was directed by Samantha Morton, the actress from Sweet and Lowdown, and she clearly saw something very special in Allison Mosshart and Jamie Hince. The video is a piece of art. Watch it below, followed by their performance on Letterman. Might I add that Letterman’s music team is killing it lately (no pun intended)?

Leave Lana Del Rey Alone — The Girl is Good

The late comedian Drake Sather once said that he wished he’d waited to perform on Letterman, because he wasn’t ready for the success that happened immediately thereafter. He didn’t have enough material, and the attention he gained as a result of his performance waned far too quickly. When I read that interview with Sather, I thought, “That can’t be true. If you waited, you might have forgone an opportunity that would never come your way again. You might have never had the experience of performing on that coveted stage, and you could have spent the rest of your life kicking yourself and living the regret of “the guy who turned down David Letterman.” But Lana Del Rey’s recent performance on Saturday Night Live might have confirmed Sather’s theory — there’s just no room for error. She performed on SNL because Lorne Michaels took a liking to her, and she was a media flop. The public didn’t get it, and they tore her apart. She then performed on Letterman, but she failed to redeem herself in the public’s eyes. And rumors are now circulating that she’s working on her stage presence.

But there’s something very important that the public is missing amidst this debacle. She’s fucking good. The SNL performance was terrible — that is for certain. And it’s unfortunate that she got really bad clothing and hair advice in addition to what was presumably a stage-fright-meltdown. That being said — I have absolutely no idea why every blogger and news outlet wants to take an artist with talent and throw rocks at her. If the public feels the need to attack her, then don’t complain that the radio is filled with musical garbage, because the only people meant to succeed in our unforgiving country are over-produced robots that spend more time on their image than their music. Watch her performance on Saturday Night Live and Letterman below, along with SNL’s very funny Kristen Wiig sketch, which comes to Lana Del Rey’s defense.

Jennifer Lopez Discusses Marc Anthony on Letterman — Promotes Q’Viva!

Here at The Dishmaster, I watch a lot of interviews. And there’s no one better to interview than Jennifer Lopez. First, she’s insanely beautiful with a great sense of fashion. And second, you can’t trip her up. She stays honest, while still managing to keep her privacy intact. It’s a delicate dance, and she’s mastered it. Watch her discuss her relationship with Marc Anthony while promoting Q’Viva.

Barbara Walters on Letterman: “You Cannot Trust the Kardashians”

It’s no secret that I love Barbara Walters, but her Kardashian tirade on David Letterman while promoting her 10 Most Fascinating People special made my Barbara-Walters-love-bubble nearly explode. Walters’ anger resulted from her well-known standard that the participants in her interviews refrain from making big announcements prior to the air-date, because the interviews are filmed well in advance and any big life-changes will make Walters look as if she forgot to ask the relevant questions. There’s simply no excuse for Kourtney Kardashian’s pregnancy announcement prior to the interview being aired. It’s just rude. How dare these Kardashians disrespect Queen Walters.

Ryan Adams Sings Lucky You on Letterman — Kills It!

There’s a running joke amongst my musician posse that every song must be at least 100 beats per minute for me to like it. To be fair, they are correct. Sad music either depresses me or adds to an already existing depression. That being said, I will make an exception for Ryan Adams who blew me away with his performance of “Lucky Now” on Letterman. The song appears on his album, Ashes & Fire.

Jon Stewart v. Seth MacFarlane — Piers Morgan Gets the Dirt

Everyone knows that Jon Stewart notoriously addresses bad behavior. But when Seth MacFarlane recounted the verbal tongue lashing he received from Stewart during the 2008 writer’s strike — I was shocked. Who knew Jon Stewart made house calls?

The irony of the writer’s strike is that while many writers fought for more — they ended up with less. The main issues being asked for at the time, included: a higher DVD residual rate on DVD sales; compensation for new media (such as internet streaming of television shows); and obtaining writing credit for work on reality television (at the time this was considered a “non-scripted” medium). But while the writers were fighting, Hollywood suffered, and many shows were canceled because the ratings didn’t recover from the extended hiatus. As a result, jobs were lost. David Letterman led the moral pack by paying his own writers out of pocket during the strike, and he later struck a deal with the Writers Guild, which allowed his staff to return without crossing the picket line.

It was rumored that Stewart attempted and failed to negotiate a Letterman-style deal, so he instead chose to air his show without his writers. But he was between a rock and a hard place. Had he gone dark, many non-writers working on The Daily Show at the time stood to lose their jobs. Did he make the right choice? Is it arguable? And if it is arguable, did Seth MacFarlane have a right to take a stand?