Letterman & Palin joke furore: The Left and the Right are both winners

It seems that the furore surrounding David Letterman’s ‘joke’ has benefited both parties. Following the departure of Jay Leno from NBC’s Tonight Show, the CBS host is facing new blood in the form of Conan O’Brien – some may think it will pay to appear edgy against a host 16 years his junior, and making off-colour jokes about Sarah Palin’s daughter being knocked up by third baseman Alex Rodriguez could be one method.

On the other hand, it’s highly unlikely that Letterman actually meant to imply it was the Alaska governor’s 14-year-old daughter who was in danger of sexual congress with A-Rod – despite her being on the trip – the nod was more clearly toward 18-year-old Bristol, a single mum. At the very least, that’s a defensible position.

This allows Palin to play the wounded party and demand an apology – while Letterman offers her a chance to come on the show which she will, of course, decline. In a time when the Republican party is bereft of obvious leadership, Palin’s stock rises with the conservative base as she maintains a dignified semi-silence – and Letterman’s ratings leap.

Then again, aren’t there less painful ways to bolster one’s position? A situation well-exploited is perhaps the best final analysis.

Fight the power: Strikebreakers and shivering smokers

In one small corner of Hollywood, the guns have fallen silent. The writers guild has negotiated a deal for online rights with David Letterman’s Worldwide Pants company, allowing Letterman and Craig Ferguson (yes, that’s where he disappeared to – and he doesn’t even need subtitles) to get back to work with a full writing staff. Does this create a two-tier industry? If the strike slowly fractures, will some writers get paid for online work and others not? The proximity of awards season would suggest that some networks may get desperate, despite their stoney public faces. But if the strike simply fails, does this mean that writers of quality will now flock to the extra goodies promised by Letterman?

(Assuming he paid a higher basic salary to begin with, of course – but given the eternal rivalry between Letterman and Jay Leno on NBC, you can’t imagine the pay, even for a lowly writer, is going to be pennies.)

It is impossible to say. But the strike is clearly taking its toll, amounting to a de facto ban on jokes in some quarters as many of the chat show hosts returned to air, penning their own scripts. Conan O’Brien span his wedding ring around for 36 seconds, and Jimmy Kimmel looked like he was about to lose it completely, inciting his audience to ‘<a href="http://defamer.com/339890/jimmy-kimmel-dispenses-with-wga-kowtowing-sick-of-all-the-talk-show-picketing
“>run down these weasel-faced Commies’ – while WGA member Leno turned scab by writing his own monologue. It seems support for your writerly brothers and sisters only goes so far – it’s one thing giving out donuts, quite another when your biggest rival returns to air with a full staff. Who can blame him? Leno had Republican hopeful Mike Huckabee on – someone you can wind up and let off, like an unpredictable clockwork toy (Letterman had Robin Williams, which seems like a waste). Given that the caucuses kick off this week, America will be looking to its comedians for comment.

In keeping with the new friendliness between the two countries, the French are having a tough time of it, too. The onion-loving nation, cowed by the lothario boot of Tsarkozy, is now struggling under the draconian requirements of the smoking ban (Lord knows what will happen to the Red Light District if they impose it in Amsterdam), introduced free from the mooted exception for bar-tabacs that many had hoped for. In Rennes, café owner Gilles Berard has even taken to giving his patrons fleeces to wear, so they can enjoy their Gauloises and Gitanes outside – which lead us to wonder, wouldn’t it have been kinder to introduce it in summer? Long afternoons of Sauvignon, Sartre and sunshine could while happily away into warm evenings, yellowed fingers turning the pages of turn-of-the-century texts. Not for M Sarkozy – oh no. Which is surprising, considering that the new woman in his life, model Carla Bruni, is a known smoker. Will Sarko have a special unit built onto the Elysee Palace to accommodate his love’s filthy habit? And will he have to step outside to smoke his own Cubans?