@roodles: Yeah, that's why I record the show and just watch the interviews (much more time efficient too - especially when you cut out all the commercial bloat - the watchable portion is usually only about 10-15 minutes total, depending on who the guests are). And he's been repeating jokes for a long time. It's not a new thing.

major disaster

am I the only one who doesn't think Letterman is funny? A good interviewer, but not funny.

roodles

That's bizarre. Did they just hold up the same cue cards again by accident?

Sweet Panda Love

What is even weirder is how writers, making thousands per week, writing for a top-rated late night show could be reaching for such low hanging comedic fruit. Yo: wake the fuck up, dudes.

RonMwangaguhunga

Used to love DL back in the day. But these days he seems increasingly angry and depressed. Also, got to laugh at his "McCain is so old..." shtick. Hate to tell ya Dave, but you look like shit (and you didn't do five years in the Hanoi Hilton).

CharlieSays

Not funny. Time to call it a career.

kokotaylor

He's been doing this a long time? The same jokes? The exact same jokes? Two nights in a row? Uh, that is super fucking weird.

Kois

Oliver Stone should properly document The single cue card theory in a 3 and half hour movie.

Benovite

@Mark Graham: Really? I mean, I don't care how much you're phoning it in, wouldn't he realize he was saying the exact same jokes?

InfoMofo

@Sweet Panda Love: That's the only plausible theory that we have been able to come up with so far.

Mark Graham

Wow, that is one MASSIVE glitch in the Matrix!

Plankton420

I was going to suggest that it might have something to do with April Fool's(either overtly by Dave or covertly by the writers), but if it began April 2nd then it kinda deflates that theory. = /

Benovite

@Mark Graham: It's gotta be that. And maybe something made them skip the run-through. Don't they at least briefly rehearse the monologue jokes? Or so Larry Sanders led me to believe.

Sleepyhead

No question, this was done entirely on purpose. Whether you thought is was funny or not, Letterman and his writers certainly thought it was. Repeating jokes is nothing new. Screwing around with the whole talk show genre is nothing new.

For the predictable, there's always Leno ...

PeterRRRR

Has to be a joke. Letterman is too smart to make such a big mistake. Maybe it's April Fools Week....?

TryThisAtHome

Why are people giving Dave Letterman the benefit of the doubt here? I've never understood the trance he seems able to put the general public in. He's not funny and no, he never was. ...Why do we make so many excuses for people on television, especially if they've been at it a long time? It's like we want so much to believe they're as great as they tell us they are that we suspend all judgement on the matter.

It is not a surprise to see this guy rehashing his material. It's merely the fulfilment of the promise he's shown for years.

Benny

This is so strange. Usually he leaves it to Leno to repeat Letterman jokes.

raincoaster

He doesn't have to be a half human/half cow to milk himself... he's already doing that to the writers.

SayHeyJay

Yes April Fool's week is definitely it. They wouldn't make a mistake like that, there's 100 people working on that show.

dluvvly

@dluvvly: Who ever heard of April Fool's week? Last I checked, it was a 24-hour gag.

Mark Graham

Why not lift from 1985? The material was better and only us old guys would know.

FameBall

It's nothing new for Dave to mine "comedy gold" out of an incident/personality for extended periods of time (ex: faithfully working over Bill Clinton since 1998). To me, it isn't a question of being lazy and repeating jokes, as much as it is an example of him using a long-established practice of returning to slight variations on a comedic theme.

Lazy? A little bit, but if you like Dave, you don't mind so much: I've been watching the show from the 1980s jump, and I have come to expect him to go back to the well time and again -- in fact, it is one of the things I now find endearing about his act. Maybe it's no more than comedy comfort food, but I likes it anyhoo. Dish it up, I say.

If you're not a fan, his tendency to repeat stories (kinda like Granpa does!) is very likely to annoy you.

UnklStinky

It's a CLONE!! They are cloning talk show hosts!!

The clones can only repeat the same jokes over and over, but nobody seems to notice because we are all BRAINWASHED.

Wake up, people! They feed off your laughter!

moondawg9

Dave's never been as good as he was on NBC. He's more and more aggravating as he ages.

Oldboy

He should bring back the beard and embrace that dark side we all know is just stewing underneath that facade.

LoveHandles

Talk about milking a cloned cow! Comic dementia is bad for everyone AND the environment.

HappyBlues

@TryThisAtHome: So his April Fools jokes are a mediocre as the rest of his material.

CrankYank

Monologue not easy. Honestly. Try one on your own see what you can come up with. Post it here.

blindmunkey

He does some funny stuff. "Will It Float?" is great TV, but every night comes "Great Moments in Presidential Speeches". We get it, Dave, you hate Bush, now move on to something funny. Loved it when McCain came out and "hit" him back. If he wins the election, he should open each press conference with: "Great Moments in Late Night TV", show clips of Carson, Steve Allen, etc., followed by Dave screwing up something. (Taken out of context, of course!)

Musicguy

this is just letterman's style. he always does this kind of stuff.

although the "half cow/half man" joke wasn't nearly good enough to repeat.

give the guy a break he's like 94.

nolocomotive

It has to be on purpose.
This guy is way too much of a hands on control freak to just do this by accident.

DrFeelgood