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Is Sarah Palin What's Ailin' Conan?

Mon., Jun. 15, 2009 2:45 PM PDT by Leslie Gornstein

CBS; NBC Photo: Paul Drinkwater

Isn't Sarah Palin stupid for attacking David Letterman? She's just making this whole thing the biggest news in talk-show history...
—Har, Sugar Land, Texas

Let's analyze this. Sarah Palin seems to have two general areas of talent: maintaining beehive hairdos at any height, and misdirecting her power to the very people she hates the most. In declaring her Alaskan fatwa against Letterman, Palin has probably granted him more ink in a week than she's read in her entire lifetime. And of course the rivalry couldn't have come at a more critical time, what with the great Talk-Show Host Shuffle of '09.

By way of background, the whole stink started one week ago, when Letterman made a tasteless joke about A-Rod knocking up one of Palin's daughters. Letterman later sort-of apologized, even invited Palin to appear on his show (and later issued a bigger ultra-apology). It should have ended days ago, but Palin ratcheted up Letterman's gaffe into a tent revival of righteous outrage, even implying that Letterman is a danger to teens.

But does this rank as the biggest thing to hit talk shows since the Hugh Grant-Leno appearance of '95? The answer is...

...No. According to Syracuse University TV and pop culture professor Robert Thompson, this spat doesn't even come close. Yes, Letterman's ratings beat those of new rival Conan O'Brien's last week, and Palin probably had something to do with that. But Letterman also got help from strong guests like Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington. And O'Brien is generally thought to be suffering from a shaky start in his new time slot, Thompson points out.

"I wouldn't even count this as the biggest moment for Letterman in the past year," Thompson says. "I think that would have to be when John McCain stood him up and Letterman caught him doing that interview with another show. I wouldn't even put the Palin thing in the top 10."

Throw in Johnny Carson's departure from late-night TV, Bill Clinton playing the sax on Arsenio Hall's show and Letterman's bitter battle with Paris Hilton post-sex-tape, and you realize that so far the Palin affair is really just a blip. That is, unless she decides to keep on talking about it. And would that really be much of a surprise?