The newest season of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman has arrived on Netflix. I’m not a particularly big fan of Letterman and I’ve only watched a few episodes from previous seasons. However, I saw the celebrities he was going to  interview in these most recent 4 hour-long episodes, and I was really intrigued, as I was already familiar with most of the guests’ work. 

It’s clear that some of these interviews were filmed during the pandemic, but it’s not something the show tries to hide. It’s very insightful to see Letterman’s guests’ takes on the world we live in today, especially from someone like Dave Chapelle who rarely ever gives interviews in general. Speaking of Chapelle, he’s actually one of the main reasons I wanted to watch this series. He’s one of my favorite stand-up comedians and I was curious as to what he has to say about the state our country is in today. A few months ago Chapelle did a show which mostly reflected on the protests in response to George Floyd’s murder, and so hearing him cover COVID-19 and other subjects was great.

Lizzo’s interview was another standout. Again, as a fan of hers, it was great to get insight into her as an artist and as a person. This interview also covers the COVID-19 crisis and how it’s impacted Lizzo as an entertainer. For celebrities like Chapelle or Lizzo, a lot of what they do requires a close contact gathering of many people, and obviously that’s no longer an option. Meanwhile, Letterman manages to give us a look at Lizzo’s process as she creates and records music. At one point, Lizzo has Letterman come up with vocals on the spot and sing into the mic as she creates the beat and controls the sound board, which makes for a hilarious segment.

While Chapelle and Lizzo’s episodes were the standouts for me, the others were also really entertaining and I’d recommend checking them all out, even if you’re not extremely familiar with Chapelle or Lizzo. Letterman has a certain down to Earth quality that allows him to have such great interviews. It always feels like he’s on the same level as with whomever he’s talking and engages with them in such a natural way that keeps the audience interested. With a lack of new releases of movies in the past eight months, it’s always good to have a light and entertaining show like Letterman’s to tune into.