Stop talking about TV already. I mean, really, do you HAVE a degree in English?

Some of you may know I spent a short period of my life (let's round it down to a decade) as a sort of insomniac. I slept about four-six hours a night on average. Two things I watched with some consistency: Nightline and Letterman.

Nightline, to me, is Ted Koppel, the Nightline reporters, and the production staff. I haven't watched it regularly in about four years, but I rejoiced when they started the Nightliine podcast (despite their crappy labeling system of not labeling). So since Katrina I've been listening to all of Nightline any time I want.

Then Koppel had to go and retire. I like Koppel okay, but I really like when the show was unbiased and newsy, which it often was. An odd little diamond among the increasing sea of unpolished dog turds. For crying out loud, their last show was about LIFE AND DEATH. About dying. No gimmicks, no "pretty it up for the camera." Who is ballsy enough to confront THAT in a major media outlet with no hyperbole and an unflinching eye towards conversation and humanity?

Now Nightline as I know it is gone. I haven't listened since Koppel bowed out. I just did a fresh install of my podcast aggregator and haven't resubscribed to all my old feeds. But I did read this today: http://www.newsday.com/news/columnists/ny-ettel4514566nov17,0,5045216.column?coll=ny-news-columnists

"We let go of this guy because he's old." Your perogative, ABC, for sure. And that's fine. I don't think I'll be resubscribing to your show, because, well, I don't think it'll be much of a show.

ABC tried to kill Nightline with Letterman, in what, 2002? Not a lot of confidence there, the Go Network. I think you just killed it for me.

I'll be concise with Letterman: Oprah is on tonight. It's been years since this feud has been really front and center, but I remember the Oscars, I remember the Oprah Log, I remember the Super Bowl of Love.

Letterman in 2005 has traces of the Letterman that's in there. This 2005 guy is tired and bored, and that makes the show tired and bored. You still get glimpses though, he still has the strength of ten men, Pedro.

Tonight should be fun. "It ain't Oprah till it's Oprah."

Damn straight Dave.