Word: couchful
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Washington lobbyist: when he speaks, his left hand rests casually in his pocket while his right hand ticks off the logical points he wants to make; when he listens, his palms press together as he taps his fingers thoughtfully. At a lectern, he talks rather than preaches. On a couch, his relaxed body language and bemused self-assurance give him the aura of an actor in a light-beer commercial...
...Like Letterman, Sajak has a touch of self-mocking irony and presides over irreverent comedy bits, which range from funny (Sajak goes to the doctor) to lame (audience members are enlisted to play Dunk an Auto Mechanic). But the show's physical look (band on the right, desk and couch on the left) and format (opening monologue followed by brief chat with easygoing sidekick), along with the host's witty but nonthreatening style, are all unmistakably Carson...
...David Letterman, with its hip, self-parodying pose, has succeeded in cutting a new path. Letterman's influence will be evident in both shows: each, for example, plans to take the camera outside the studio occasionally. But mostly the newcomers are following the old-fashioned approach: a band, a couch and an easygoing, plain-folks appeal. Not since the heyday of Merv Griffin and Mike Douglas have talk shows been so user friendly...
...sometimes awkward. In Act Two, Starr's back is to the audience for a long time, and we miss the benefit of his facial expressions. But the feeling in Martha's seduction sequences is heightened because of the continuous circles she makes around Nick while he sits on the couch...
...gave my NFL bedsheets to charity. My pennants lay in a forlorn pile at the bottom of my closet. In their place, my father's diplomas hange with mocking pride. His desk rests serenely where I used to shoot Nerf hoops. My bed, remade and reeducated, is now his couch. It's not that I wanted a mausoleum, but did they have to paint over the height lines marked so carefully years before on the back of my door...