Cavett

The Paris Review: Elliott David interviews Dick Cavett. An excerpt:

Your show faced criticisms about having so many commercial breaks, or issues with plugging a movie that you didn’t personally like—but shows now seem to be in and of themselves commercials for their guests.

To be avoided. Between commercials, a starlet, as we used to say, comes on with a very short dress and visible gam, makes a joke about it, and then uses the word excited four times in the next four sentences. About how excited she is about her producer, and excited about the script, and the exciting towel she got at the gym. And she’s super excited to be there. As if all of life strives for a state of perpetual excitement. Excitement isn’t necessarily a good thing for the blood pressure. So you sit through a bewildering, out of context film clip for a movie that will go right past movie theaters on its way to limbo and will badly need the applause sign at the end. And then, with a snap of her gum, she’s off, and you’re on to somebody else. Anybody.