When I was six I lived with my grandmother and I still remember her breaking it to me that my favorite actor had accidentally blown his brains out with a blank. That was a really weird thing to hear at six. Especially considering that I fantasized about running away with him and having pirate adventures.
I watched VOYAGERS, though I'm not sure if I watched it on primetime when it was new. I think the reruns actually did show up in syndication on some American border station I could receive a year or two after it got cancelled.
Jeez, first decade of Letterman was amazing. There was nothing like it. The TV landscape was so plain and middle-of-the-road compared to Letterman's deadpan shenanigans and weird undercooked irony.
Now Letterman's just a big dull late night show.
The way of all flesh, I guess.....