David Letterman (77) dismisses retirement as 'nonsense' and a 'myth'
The 77-year-old television icon David Letterman, who has spent over three decades in late-night shows, has rejected the notion of retirement. Speaking to GQ magazine, he said "retirement is nonsense" and a "myth." He asked rhetorically, "What do [people] do? Sit there and wait for Judge Judy to come on?" The Emmy-winning host now hosts his own Netflix talk series My Next Guest Needs No Introduction.
Letterman's perspective on productivity and fulfillment
Letterman, who is also the longest-serving late-night talk show host in American television history with 6,080 episodes to his credit, spoke about productivity. During an interview with GQ, he said, "As long as you are healthy, you still want to produce." "And you will find ways to. Once I stopped doing the show, it took me a couple of years to figure out that this is a completely different rhythm."
Letterman's reflections on late-night spotlight and public expectations
The television veteran looked back on his time in the late-night spotlight, confessing that he was happier now that he was out of it. He explained how public expectations were draining, saying, "I felt like whenever I would go out, there would be an expectation to which I could not live up." "And I kind of felt like that expectation takes quite a lot of energy, so I didn't want to bleed it off before or after the actual show."
Letterman's advice on retirement and career focus
Letterman further explained that his perceived antisocial behavior was actually because he was conserving energy for his shows. He advised against retirement, saying, "Now, I still advise people not to retire, but it was so single-focused." "If we can make these 300-400 people laugh every night, that's our responsibility. So the idea that it actually transported beyond that would always come as kind of a glaring surprise."
Letterman's current work and future plans
Despite his age, Letterman shows no signs of slowing down. He recalled sometimes hosting up to three shows a night for Netflix's My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. Recalling a hectic schedule from a few years ago, he humorously shared an incident where a stage manager advised him to sit up straight due to exhaustion. Meanwhile, the fifth season of his Netflix talk show premiered in June this year.
