Many late-night talk show competitors have weighed in very gently about the David Letterman extortion case. Some of the women on Letterman s staff that he had affairs with have been identified. Even the lawyer for the accused was on NBC s "Today" Monday getting in his two cents.

But my take on the situation hasn t changed since I wrote about it Friday in my Talkin TV blog.

Near the end of his nine-minute discussion on his CBS late-night show Thursday about the alleged $2 million extortion attempt against him, the "Late Show" host called the whole thing "a very bizarre experience."

You could say the same thing about his "bizarre" performance before an adoring studio audience that didn t seem to realize the seriousness of the situation.

The audience laughed and cheered as Letterman used his usual assortment of funny expressions and hand gestures while describing what he called a "blackmail" attempt by a man who has since been identified as Emmy-winning CBS news producer Joe Halderman. Letterman said the accused extortionist threatened to reveal in a book and a movie that the host had sex with women who worked for him.

At times, the laughter and cheers seemed as inappropriate as Letterman s occasional creepy attempts to joke about a very serious situation. In one case, the audience laughter even led to a joke. You almost wondered if members of the audience hated themselves later for laughing but couldn t help it.

When Letterman said he had to go before a New York City grand jury to tell "all of the creepy things I ve done," the audience laughed.

"Why is that funny?" asked Letterman. Of course, it was funny because of the way Letterman told the story. Letterman s performance made it great TV. He had some great defensive and self-deprecating lines.

"If you know anything about me, I m motivated by nothing but guilt," he said. "I m just a towering mass of Lutheran Midwestern guilt."

Letterman confirmed that he had sex with women who worked for him and acknowledged that had the potential to be "embarrassing."

"Especially for the women," he joked with perfect timing as the audience clapped.

He turned momentarily serious at the end, saying he had to protect "these people, my family, myself and hope to protect my job."

Letterman has gotten credit for getting ahead of the story and acknowledging he had sex with staff members. However, that was bound to come out shortly anyway. The appropriateness of the humorous way Letterman dealt with the situation was debated on talk shows over the weekend.

Letterman was just being Letterman, when it might have been smarter to be more serious— like Dick Jauron is after embarrassing Bills losses. After all, Letterman was talking about something that could be in the news for days and may have serious potential for sexual harassment suits—not really a laughing matter.

The suggestion by some that Letterman was guilty of hypocrisy for making jokes in the past about politicians caught in sex scandals is ridiculous. So is the idea that it will make it more difficult for him to make jokes about cheating politicians in the future. Letterman wasn t elected by anyone. If anything, he might even be able to use his behavior to his advantage in a self-deprecating way when he makes cracks in his monologue about cheating politicians, in the same way that the late Johnny Carson made fun of his failed marriages.

As I wrote Friday, I doubt Letterman s job is in any jeopardy unless more damning aspects become known. In the bizarre world of TV, his embarrassment probably will help the show get improved ratings in the short term.

On confession night Thursday, Letterman s "Late Show" on Channel 4 out-drew NBC s "Tonight Show with Conan O - Brien" on Channel 2 here by a 3-1 ratings margin, 6.3-2.1. A Friday show that Letterman taped days before the extortion case was revealed had a 5.4 rating here to Conan s 2.9 on a night that O Brien (who got Letterman s 12:35 a. m. time slot after the host left for CBS) notably was one host who avoided any Letterman jokes.

Cheers to Time Warner Cable for passing 100 HD channels. I presume many subscribers don t yet realize several new HD channels are on channels 802 and above.

Of course, the local cable company still can infuriate subscribers. One of the chief complaints is the corporate decision not to make a deal to carry The NFL Network.

Another maddening situation from TWC is the inability to get On Demand replays of AMC s "Mad Men," the Sunday night series that has received the best drama Emmy for the past two seasons.

According to TWC spokesman Matthew Tremblay, the cable company doesn t currently have a deal with AMC s owner, Rainbow Media Holdings, to put episodes On Demand after they air.

He added that TWC is in negotiations with Rainbow, but we ve heard that one before. Let s hope the negotiations end before TWC s negotiations with the NFL Network end.

Without "Mad Men" On Demand, viewers have to rely on periodic "Mad Men" marathons to catch up on episodes they have missed.