Letterman's Scandal Will Blow Over, Just Like All the Others [Updated]

(UPDATE: So Howard Kurtz — see below — was right, of course. On Monday night, “The Late Show” had 5.7 million viewers. As The New York Times’ Media Decoder blog pointed out, this not only was an audience more than twice that for Conan O’Brien’s “Tonight Show” that night — it also was bigger than NBC’s primetime schedule.)

OK, let’s get this David Letterman “sextortion” plot out of the way, surely the strangest permutation in the currently heated stew that is the late-night talk show wars. Except for the confession itself, the  whole thing was most bizarrely depicted in the way it played out in The New York Times on Friday. Tucked into space just under a story headlined: “‘Late Show’ Ratings Surpass ‘Tonight’ by Wide Margin” was this: “Letterman Reveals Extortion Attempt Over His Affairs.”

Wow. Talk about it being the best of times and the worst of times.

However, now that the shock from the scandal itself has subsided, follow-up stories have fallen into the usual, not very enlightened, pattern of questioning Letterman’s ratings future or his future with CBS (BNET Media’s corporate overlord), which carries the show. (Officially, Letterman is not a CBS employee.) Said the Times:

The network has been put in a precarious position of trying to steer clear of fallout from some highly questionable activities engaged in by its biggest star, who is experiencing his biggest surge in popularity (and ratings) in years.

Naturally — at least if you live in New York — Andrea Peyser of The New York Post has called for his head, declaring:

Americans would not stand for this kind of behavior from a government official. Should a jock act in a like manner, his morals clause would likely kick in.

Letterman’s contract expires at the end of next year. I count on CBS to pull Letterman off the air, then kick him to the curb.

Um, last time I checked, Letterman was a comedian, and while he certainly can be accused of some not-so-great behavior, so far there’s no sign that any of what went on wasn’t between consenting, if misguided, adults. If we fired our entertainers for not keeping their clothes on, well, we’d be pretty much reduced to watching cartoons.

Which is a long way of saying, don’t believe these naysayers for a minute. I’m surprised at how many sources I’ve read who seem to have forgotten that scandals have a way of blowing over, and this one will too. If you need evidence, today just happens to be the day that Don Imus’ redemption — from what, to me, was a transgression at least as egregious — becomes complete; his radio show started to be simulcast this morning on Fox Business Network.

And let’s not forget the fact that Letterman’s admission of affairs came prepackaged with an outer wrap of extortion — allegedly by a producer at CBS’ “48 Hours.” That even gives Letterman a — well — fig leaf of sympathy to hide behind. At least some of his viewers will take his side, and the rest of us will watch because we’re voyeurs. Maybe an advertiser or two will quietly demure from advertising on the show temporarily, but, ultimately, this just makes David Letterman more interesting. And interesting equals ratings.

Thankfully, Howard Kurtz of The Washington Post got it right earlier today, when he said, in an online Q&A:

He will do a huge number tonight. He may not talk about it, but everyone will want to see if he does, or just how he conducts himself.

Once the expected ratings bump is over, business as usual will take over again with surprising swiftness.

I’ll close with pointing to this post over at Gawker, headlined: “Scandalous Evidence Mounts: Letterman Had Human Emotions, Relationships.” Ok, consider this rant officially done.