Excellent reporting Don . Your montage serves to memorialize an important event in television history . Peace and good health to you … Miles in Canada .
The fact that he preyed on dozens and dozens of young female staffers and interns gives you the insight into Dave’s true character. As a kid, I always wondered why Jay always beat him, besides Dave clearly being better. The answer? Jay worked on his show, while Dave was trying to fuck everything in a skirt. This is why Dave can never be the true King. Conan did it all, while being kind to everyone. Dave notoriously made his entire staff miserable (the ones he wasn’t fucking).
@@DABA2024 Do you have any idea how many staffers stayed with Dave for multiple decades? Lots. And he had relationships with staffers, but not "dozens" like you claim. Your entire post is one giant smoke blow.
The Motor Cat Himself at the end of the day, Late Night talk shows are much different nowadays compared to the 80s,90s-2010s they feel much more safe and friendly now, much more celebrity heavy too.. but I think that’s the style of the times
The Motor Cat Himself it seems that the hosts just play games with the guests, they are always doing songs, dances, skits, hardly anymore edgy tension anymore on the Late Night shows. That’s my opinion
Donn-This whole video is better than sex. your comercial edits are sensational. There will never be anything as superb as Dave and the whole Late Night Crew. Thanks for the upload.
I seriously miss this era of TV. I was 14 when this aired and I remember staying up to close to 2am when it ended since it was the start of summer vacation and I could get away with such things.
Love seeing this episode. At 33:32, the shot of the audience shows my 4 friends who came to the show with me wearing yellow shirts saying “Friend of Herb Klumpe III” as I was in the green room at the time.
Always love the cranky Dave. At work everybody thinks I'm a little bit crazy with my witticisms. Then I told a buddy Sam I got my sense of humor from watching Letterman for 30 years .... and he seemed to understand.
Is it bad I could FEEL the smugness from Jay during his signoff and "wishing Dave well". You just know he didn't mean it and was glad to get rid of Dave, finally.
I totally saw it, that Good Luck Dave, and the smug wink. What a real , well you know. I mean just think about all the times Dave had Leno on his show, and treated him well, gave him a platform and more exposure. I just never liked Leno, but after that whole betrayel thing I just couldn't stand him at all
Please 🙏 add more full episodes of 1980's Late Night with David Letterman! I especially love seeing the ones with old commercials! I truly LOVE it! Please consider separating them into their own list
I’m no longer able to upload additional Dave-owned or -licensed content. Since February 2022. There are over 1,900 uploads already available on this channel.
@dongiller Mr. Giller, I didn't know you held such a prestigious position in the anils of late night! I must have come across very poorly. I am writing this to explain; My father recently passed away and one of the few things that he and I mutually enjoyed was David Letterman. I happened upon an episode that was uploaded by this wonderful channel and I actually have a full flashback memory of my Dad and I watching the episode the night in 1985 in which it aired and It made me smile,and laugh, ...eventually even cry . All it was was the fact that here was this full episode I distinctly remember watching with my Dad and it had to have been even the very same commercials that aired that night in the 1980s! It was an awesome way of watching and reliving due to the complete structure of the video. I have since been on a bit of a deep dive LNwDLetterman binge and have learned who you are thanks to the Letterman podcast and watching nearly every video you've ever posted! While I truly enjoy all of the compilation videos you've edited seeing those complete episodes, (particularly the ones that have the vintage commercials) is my favorite. I am sorry if I came across as a pinhead(haha) and please don't take any offense to the first post that you responded to above. I was really just reacting emotionally. Thanks for all of your hard work preserving the great Videos and clips that you've. shared! My Bad , Joshua Croy Jackson Michigan
@@WhoCares-j6b I’m so sorry to hear about your dad. We’ve all been there, and they’re all so individually personal. The void never leaves, but know that he’s always there inside you.
@dongiller Thank you. I just wanted you to know what my original message meant and where it was coming from. You contributed so much to the historical archive of this program and I think I came across in my earlier message as if it wasn't good enough or something like that.
I was curious about the short bit after the Hanks segment.....I’m guessing it was during the break in-atudio where Dave muttered an expletive to Bill Wendell....how the hell did you find that?!? Was that taken from a Satellite Feed? I know that there’s some old 1970’s Carson footage floating around that has some of that type of stuff.....them goofing off (or in Carson’s case, smoking off) during the commercial breaks Thanks for this upload! I was almost 18 when this episode aired and I missed it at the time.....I was sad that he was moving to CBS as they never had a late night show before.....but it all obviously worked out for both Dave and the Network. I was not a fan of Jay’s.....and I was perplexed as to why NBC passed over Dave.....I always viewed Leno as just a guest host and when Leno started turning his show into Dave’s (The Dancing Ito’s bit, more zany humor, etc.) I knew that Leno was in trouble......it all obviously worked out for him as well, but I digress Thanks again, Don!
That's raw footage of the promo Dave would typically (but not always) tape during the station break. A clean, edited version would then usually air during primetime shows and in the station break on The Tonight Show. But, as shown here, NBC went with that "Goodbye goodbye goodbye" piece instead. Can't share from where I got it, only that I have many from earlier years. I thought I'd include a couple Easter eggs in this collection; that was one of them.
And airing instead "Stop bending the shafts!" would have made utterly no sense to anyone. We can assume that there had been a prepared, written script for the planned promo, but Dave just did what he felt like. In the moment.
Gen-X Ennial That’s an interesting question that I can’t elaborate at this time. Only that it’s extremely doubtful a project of this sort will ever be attempted by the network.
My guess is NBC or Worldwide Pants (since they presumably still had control of the show at THIS point) knew that this was going to get a lot of media attention and assembled a reel of video clips for video editors to tinker with however they wanted.
I had first thought that NBC might have released an EPK with those clips (they're clearly better than VHS quality), but it seems unlikely that they would promote his exit with some of his best material. Between Dave's exit and Conan's start, NBC aired a bunch of first season reruns, allegedly because they wanted to embarrass Dave since he reportedly found the earliest shows awkward.
When Carson retired from The Tonight Show, Jay Leno took over Carson's Seat, David Letterman leaving NBC for CBS and Conan O'Brien taking over David's Seat along with Chevy Chase signing with FOX and Arsenio Hall on its way out the door would soon mark the beginning of The Late Night TV WARS My oh my, how television has changed
@@darealpapajon NBC also screwed Carson (by forcing him into early retirement) and Leno (by forcing him out of The Tonight Show in five years for Conan).
@@raunchdressing2204 don't *pal* me, straight up, I'm not your friend nor intend to be, you still hold a grudge on jay after all this time, if it wasn't for leno taking up tonight, late night tv in general wouldn't be the way it is today, dave opened up a new playing field that was next to minimal during carson's run.
@@sillygoose635 Give it a rest, pal. Leno was middle of the road trash. Garbage. He was a great comedian prior to stealing the job from Dave. Dave reinvented the wheel at late night... and when big chin took old man Carson's job... Dave went to CBS and started their WHOLE late night programming department. Leno farted around for too long, and ruined Conan's chance at the gig too. Screw him.
Damn good editing. Thanks again, Don. Maybe you can photoshop your name into the credits of the last NBC show. (And I'm sorry, but the show lost something in the move to CBS.)
Parenthetically speaking .... the show did lose something after it moved to CBS . The show lost its collegial and regional charm and appeal and became more corporate if not leaning heavily towards neo-liberal ways . For me , the only reason why I tuned into the show after 1993 was to see Paul . Without Paul , there would be no Letterman show .
@@miles6593 Proof that Dave’s show changed was the fact that one fateful night on CBS he spent an entire hour speaking with and kissing up to...Hillary Clinton. Huh? That was not the Dave we remember from the glory days of Late Night.
@@CBrolley Yes , indeed , ... he was sucking up to Hillary and to Obama who are two of the most powerful and corrupt individuals in the world . Stephen Colbert has been heavily pandering to the establishment Democrats ' propaganda for the past four years . I remember the good old Dave when he didn't hang out with people who are responsible for committing genocide against innocent people in places like Yemen and Syria . Peace and good health to you ... Miles from Canada .
@@miles6593 Dave was never the same after his heart surgery. He came back from the hospital all soft and squishy. It was his road to Damascus moment. And since he either couldn’t or wouldn’t serve God he served the liberals instead. Plus he probably felt a lot of guilt at having made tens of millions of dollars over the years for essentially goofing around on television. That’s enough to make anybody lose their edge.
It's interesting to me how Katie referred to CBS' Larry Tisch as Laurence "Bud" Tisch. I assume that was a reference to Larry "Bud" Melman. I wonder if she made that up, or if that was something that Dave and co. came up with first and had used earlier. Anybody know anything about this?
When the pre-taped segment with Katie and Dave was over, and they threw it back to Katie live in her studio, as she went to commercial, she should have said, "We're cooking eggs!". What a wasted opportunity!
5:27 Katie Couric asks a question that touches on what I've always wondered - whether Dave's unhappiness at NBC gave him a comedic edge that he would lose by moving to CBS. I for some reason always liked his old NBC shows from Studio 6A more than the shows after he moved to CBS and the larger Ed Sullivan Theater.
You're 1000% correct. I never had the same feeling for the CBS show like the NBC show. It didn't feel the same and after a while I stopped watching every day. Maybe it was the time slot and a different target audience? I hated the fact they added more band members, the bigger theater and less spontaneity. I also think the last 10+ years Letterman phoned it in. No pun intended.
I never did like the bigger band, but I don't think it was because it was bigger per se. I think the 4-piece band was an absolutely first rate small band, but the larger band was a first-rate rhythm section with a kind of mediocre horns section. It just wasn't as sharp.
For instance, I always loved Doc Severensen's Tonight Show band, which was a big band every bit as sharp as Paul's NBC band. The Late Show band just sounded more like bland TV music. Perhaps Paul's strength was not in directing a big band, because unlike Doc the horns weren't in his wheelhouse.
I forget the exact quote, but America can always break apart unless every generation protects and preserves our way of life. DL was the spearhead for this generation.
I have an irrational dislike for Katie Couric. There is nothing genuine, real or likable about her that I can see. 14:00 Hilarious. This last NBC show marked a huge period for me in my life at the time. I left my childhood behind and became a real adult just as Dave's show grew up. I still watched the CBS show now and then but it was never the same. This is an outstanding piece of work. Thanks so much Don.I hate to admit it but Ive watched around 100 of your videos and it just occured to me to subscribe today. What the hell was I thinking?
It’s at the very end of this collection - th-cam.com/video/BfVFGXLHlH0/w-d-xo.html The story re Will: He was scheduled to play in Japan that last week with Sadao Watanabe, but he first asked Dave weeks before if he wanted him to be with the show instead, as he’d then cancel the trip. Dave told him he didn’t think it was that important for him to be there, so he gave his ok. Will told me years later that he regretted not being there, as did Dave, though Dave didn’t feel the sentiment when Will had initially asked him.
Which one? His last here or at CBS? If here, simple enough to watch for yourself. If his Last CBS show in 2015, that’s here - th-cam.com/video/2EMtwKZhBIs/w-d-xo.html
Weird, all these years I had remembered it as CURRENT FOOTAGE of Dave riding out on a horse with a lit up suit that gets unplugged as he rides down the actual street outside ala "the electric horseman" which up until looking that up just now I've been calling "the electric cowboy" for lord knows how long. Huh. I also remembered Springsteen playing like three songs. I guess I was just really excited and over the years my memory became more and more OF that excitement. I'm usually not like that but this was a pretty big deal for me back then. It was a larger than life moment.
@@dongiller Yeah, it's becoming clear to me now, I remember hearing then that the show went over time wise and Springsteen is known for his long shows and many encores. The "electric horseman" I mixed up with "Urban Cowboy" and I guess the riding out on a horse memories kinda "merged" over the years. Its a good thing I've never mentioned this to anyone until now 'cause I'd have looked like a real goofball, heh. Free Nelson Mandela! Haha.
1993 was a sad year for NBC A Different World cancelled after 6 seasons, Quantum Leap cancelled after 5 seasons, Cheers says goodbye to NBC after 11 seasons (only for Frasier to get his own show), Santa Barbara says goodbye to NBC after 8½ years and David Letterman along with bandleader Paul Shaffer says goodbye to NBC's Late Night after 11 years I was in 6th Grade during the 92/93 Season also, during the 92/93 Season, the Dallas Cowboys RULED the NFL when they blew out Jim Kelly and the Buffalo Bills to win their 1st Super Bowl in 15 years, the Pittsburgh Pirates clinch a 3-peat in the Stanley Cup Finals, Michael Jordan and those Chicago Bulls clinch a 3-peat def. Charles Barkley and the Phoenix Suns in the 1993 NBA Finals and the Toronto Blue Jays once again RULED the MLB by def. the Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 to win the World Series Back to Back and also, 1993 saw the end of an era for Soul Train as the late Don Cornelius stepped down as the host of the show after 22 seasons on syndication, but would stay Executive Producer for the next 13 years as the show would move from the Hollywood Center Studios to the Paramount Studios and the show would get a brand new set, new logos, new looks and a whole new attitude Plus, William Jefferson Clinton became the 42nd President of the United States
Co-Co makes light of getting a horse from Letterman at the end of his Tonight Show tenure. If you watch Letterman's first appearence on J. Kimmel's show post retirement, you get an explaination.
And to think, if those people at the GE bldg had simply let Dave bring a fruit basket up to the executive boardroom, they could have spared themselves a lot of grief. Hell, if they got off on the right foot, maybe we would have enjoyed "The Tonight Show with David Letterman". 😄😄😄 But no, those jackasses blocked one of their most beloved talents at the door. Once that humorless GE turd physically charged at the camera, you can almost certainly hear Dave thinking, ala Bugs Bunny, "of course you realize- this means WAR!" Can you imagine if they closed the door in Carson's face instead? There would have been firings that very day. Oh well. Things turned out for the better.
I never watched the Leno show. I couldn't stand that guy. He always annoyed me, but after the whole tonight show fiasco I really didn't like him. Seeing the clip in here with Leno wishing Dave good luck, and that smug wink, I then saw the credits and his production logo. It totally makes sense to me, fits with his whole ego and personality which is part of why I didn't like him. He's like the opposite of Letterman. His Logo said Big Dog, like he's so great, while Dave's is Worldwide Pants. To me that just about sums up the difference between the two. Dave is quirky and off the beaten track, all the while poking fun at the mainstream while Leno desperately wants to fit in, and be the Top Dog. Look at me everyone, look how cool I am. And the point I was making is that it just finally clicked in my head when I saw that clip. I never liked the guy, I was just put off by him, but that brought it into perspective.
Dave was literally a sexual predator at work, something Jay never, ever did. It’s weird that you’re so concerned about their character but skip right over that. Dave should have taken a cue from Howard Stern and left the interns alone. The Big Dog logo is somehow a bigger offence than systematically fucking all the interns and chasing who knows how many of them right out of show biz? LOL wtf
He was in Japan on tour with Sadao Watanabe. He was told that Dave didn't want to make a big deal of the last shows, so with Paul's ok, Will did the tour. Only later did he learn that it had become a big deal for Dave.
No reason it should have. Everything was on the up and up. Will told me he felt bad he missed the last week, but, again, he had gotten the word that he probably wouldn't miss anything. No one knew otherwise at the time.
Without a doubt, Tom Hanks' segment on Dave's last NBC show stands as the best (non Martin Short) guest appearance ever..every time I watch an Elvis movie & he suddenly breaks into song I think of Tom. Wasting his time with this acting thing..boy should be in comedy.
surprising he wasn't welcome to bring a gift into the building and meet the board of directors walking in off the street with cameras. the letterman show in the 80's is, for me, as good as anything ever on tv. (and i only learned that through this channel and others like it!) but when he left the studio and tried to make his show happen using anyone, anywhere, and anytime; i found it pretty rude and offensive to a lot of his comedy targets. like telling people to show him what was in their bags-or having Rupert Gee say rude things he was told to through an earpiece to get a reaction. i don't think people always knew they were being filmed on some of those occasions; like when Mr. Gee said offputting and strange things to waitstaff, i think they were filmed out on a deck from a distance. the stuff i liked took place in front of an audience who was there for the show. this team manipulated the 'walls' between the show/studio/and audience like nothing else i've seen. but i didn't care for much of his often cocky and invasive street footage.
In the case with the visit to GE headquarters, the company had been notified in advance. This was not an ambush. As for other civilians on camera: they all agree by signing releases. If they don’t agree, either they’re cut from any aired footage, or their faces are blurred. And Rupert’s last name is Jee, not Gee.
@@dongiller ok-well, they were his bosses-and obviously didn't agree to the 'Notification'. and are you really saying that all the people who look at him like they can't believe he is being so rude and keep walking quickly past him signed releases? i don't think so. and thanks for pointing out my misspelling-although i am sorry you seem offended by using that as a tag in a list of things i 'got wrong'-(I thought Mr. Jee was doing his best to represent and teach White America about a Minority in these occasions/and never really faulted him for playing along) but am i really wrong about all the people who seem offended when he puts a mic in their face and says 'What's in your bag?' they just get away from him. so They signed releases? if they did; then i was ignorant of how much goes on behind the scenes and i thank you for enlightening me. you obviously are a higher level student of this program than I-and I apologize for not realizing that Mr. Letterman and his team humbly reached out to all of those people somehow-even though many of them were immediately ignored after they turned him down on camera while he turned to someone else, if i am remembering correctly. Staff people behind the camera must have chased after each of them to apologize and get their signature-as many of them had unaltered faces. Do you find Mr. Letterman to have ever been cruel to Mr. Mellman (sp?)? I often feel that man didn't realize he was seemingly being laughed at. I heard he wanted to be famous-so i don't know-maybe he deserved the manipulation. but i am presently of the opinion that Mr. Letterman used him pretty selfishly. and Dave was guilty of some other crimes too-like how many 'Turban' jokes he made. or how many Clinton Intern jokes he made; then, Lo and Behold...He screwed his Interns! Nobody's perfect-if Letterman were perfect, he would have just kept going up at a constant rate. Noone would ever disagree with him-and he would always put a smile on every face he met or was seen by. We've heard him apologize a few times for how being on camera and trying to have the funniest show in the world often made him do things he wasn't entirely comfortable with. He was born to do that job though-and he and that bunch tore it up-as you obviously are well aware-like no other group i can think of. Do you receive any money for doing this-either through channel subscription or endorsement of any kind? Either way-I think you are the main Letterman uploader-the 80's shows have vastly improved a lot of my days this past year; all at no charge-so again I Thank You. I'll make sure i hit subscribe if i haven't already. Brian Turner
I’m suggesting that perhaps - just perhaps - Letterman wasn’t as rude and/or nasty than you believe him to be. I’m not dismissing your view, just disagreeing with it. And Calvert DeForest would not have put up with any rudeness that you perceive Dave to have committed upon him. He understood the act, as the act was all it was.
And no, I wasn’t “offended” by Rupert’s misspelling. I was simply correcting an error. Sometimes a duck is just a duck, and reading anything further into it isn’t necessary.
GOB BLESS YOU DON, your uploads actually improve my life!!!!
Hear, hear! He's doing the Lord's work
Don! the greatest!!!
I always love that Cheers bit where everyone walks out when they realize Dave is on next.
Would have been great if the Cheers staff had walked back onto the stage with Dave.
"Why are they showing a Cheers rerun when it should be....ohhhh."
@@keithleonard5085Coincidentally, the Cheers finale (and subsequent drunken after-party on Leno) happened less than a week before Dave's NBC finale.
Thanks for this! I actually *missed* the last episode when originally aired. I overslept!
I was in high school. I stayed up until 12:30, and made sure my beta Vcr was running. 👍👍
Excellent reporting Don . Your montage serves to memorialize an important event in television history .
Peace and good health to you … Miles in Canada .
Thank you so much for putting these up. I was born in 1980 so as far as I'm concerned Dave was the King of Late Night television
I think this chevy chase show will really go somewhere
Lord Shaxx I remember watching the very first one. Took about 30 seconds to realize it was dead in the water.
Oh, it went somewhere.....
Go somewhere?
I didn't even know he was sick.
Streets ahead?
Will really go somewhere alright.
Straight into the trash?
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for posting this Don!
Man love watching things before I was born its great. Thank you.
This one video alone is giving me more insight into Dave's true character. I like Dave even more now.
True, and this was "top of his game Dave". No one better before or since. He exudes such confidence, intelligence, and charisma.
The fact that he preyed on dozens and dozens of young female staffers and interns gives you the insight into Dave’s true character. As a kid, I always wondered why Jay always beat him, besides Dave clearly being better. The answer? Jay worked on his show, while Dave was trying to fuck everything in a skirt. This is why Dave can never be the true King. Conan did it all, while being kind to everyone. Dave notoriously made his entire staff miserable (the ones he wasn’t fucking).
@@DABA2024 Do you have any idea how many staffers stayed with Dave for multiple decades? Lots. And he had relationships with staffers, but not "dozens" like you claim. Your entire post is one giant smoke blow.
Thanks for posting the Late Show
This was Late Night. :)
Uuups, my bad @@dongiller
Love them both, David Letterman and Conan will always be my favorite Late Night guys :)
Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers will never be able to hold a candle to them!
The Motor Cat Himself at the end of the day, Late Night talk shows are much different nowadays compared to the 80s,90s-2010s they feel much more safe and friendly now, much more celebrity heavy too.. but I think that’s the style of the times
@@HumblyArtsy safe and friendly? Explain!
The Motor Cat Himself it seems that the hosts just play games with the guests, they are always doing songs, dances, skits, hardly anymore edgy tension anymore on the Late Night shows. That’s my opinion
@@JorgeCat78 no, they can.
Awesome upload! You delivered EXACTLY what I was looking for! LOVE IT! 👌🏻😊😊😊
This is fantastic! I have loved Dave since high school, when I would watch his morning show, when I could! And this is the Tom Hanks I love!
God bless you sir for giving us this montage
The Boss' set was something else.
Thanks again Don Giller
Donn-This whole video is better than sex. your comercial edits are sensational. There will never be anything as superb as Dave and the whole Late Night Crew. Thanks for the upload.
Having Springsteen singing Glory Days is pitch perfect. A great song, and yeah those were the glory days truly 😢
I seriously miss this era of TV. I was 14 when this aired and I remember staying up to close to 2am when it ended since it was the start of summer vacation and I could get away with such things.
To this day, I still remember the first late night
Let's hear it for Sue Simmons! A Legendary Television News Anchor Icon for WNBC-4 in New York! Sue was always good.
18:10 Dude says "Conan the comedian" the way you would say Conan the Barbarian
Conan the O'Brien.
And pronounces it "Koe-NAN" xD
Love seeing this episode. At 33:32, the shot of the audience shows my 4 friends who came to the show with me wearing yellow shirts saying “Friend of Herb Klumpe III” as I was in the green room at the time.
Always love the cranky Dave.
At work everybody thinks I'm a little bit crazy with my witticisms.
Then I told a buddy Sam I got my sense of humor from watching Letterman for 30 years ....
and he seemed to understand.
"STOP BENDIN' THE SHAFT!" Great line.
Since the GE episode, none of their products have entered our home.
Hmm... Interesting that you posted David's last Late Night a few hours after Conan's Crew posted his First Late Night in High Quality. XD
TheTVPartyNetwork when you think about it, they are both one in the same :) and both had eachothers back :)
conan does not compare to letterman or carson... never once as funny
@@rjp801 you're right, he was twice!
@@rjp801 sorry, but Carson was lucky.
Is it bad I could FEEL the smugness from Jay during his signoff and "wishing Dave well". You just know he didn't mean it and was glad to get rid of Dave, finally.
really? I didn't see it.
@@sillygoose635 i didn't see it. They were both making a fortune. Not like dave was going to sell cars
I totally saw it, that Good Luck Dave, and the smug wink. What a real , well you know. I mean just think about all the times Dave had Leno on his show, and treated him well, gave him a platform and more exposure. I just never liked Leno, but after that whole betrayel thing I just couldn't stand him at all
Believe what you want hear, buddy.
AMAZING cold open! I forgot about that😁
Don, you deserve a plaque outside the Ed Sullivan! Such an astounding archive. The Springsteen farewell is fantastic. "Dont bend the shafts."
Thanks! If you haven’t punched this up yet, Bruce’s rehearsal - th-cam.com/video/R9hqLDOPNg8/w-d-xo.html
@43:46 Isley Bros to Nirvana in a minute...
Paul's the dude
Please 🙏 add more full episodes of 1980's Late Night with David Letterman! I especially love seeing the ones with old commercials! I truly LOVE it! Please consider separating them into their own list
I’m no longer able to upload additional Dave-owned or -licensed content. Since February 2022. There are over 1,900 uploads already available on this channel.
@dongiller I love your channel you are awesome for sharing everything that you have. Thank you.
@dongiller Mr. Giller, I didn't know you held such a prestigious position in the anils of late night! I must have come across very poorly. I am writing this to explain; My father recently passed away and one of the few things that he and I mutually enjoyed was David Letterman. I happened upon an episode that was uploaded by this wonderful channel and I actually have a full flashback memory of my Dad and I watching the episode the night in 1985 in which it aired and It made me smile,and laugh, ...eventually even cry . All it was was the fact that here was this full episode I distinctly remember watching with my Dad and it had to have been even the very same commercials that aired that night in the 1980s! It was an awesome way of watching and reliving due to the complete structure of the video. I have since been on a bit of a deep dive LNwDLetterman binge and have learned who you are thanks to the Letterman podcast and watching nearly every video you've ever posted! While I truly enjoy all of the compilation videos you've edited seeing those complete episodes, (particularly the ones that have the vintage commercials) is my favorite. I am sorry if I came across as a pinhead(haha) and please don't take any offense to the first post that you responded to above. I was really just reacting emotionally. Thanks for all of your hard work preserving the great Videos and clips that you've. shared!
My Bad , Joshua Croy
Jackson Michigan
@@WhoCares-j6b I’m so sorry to hear about your dad. We’ve all been there, and they’re all so individually personal. The void never leaves, but know that he’s always there inside you.
@dongiller Thank you. I just wanted you to know what my original message meant and where it was coming from. You contributed so much to the historical archive of this program and I think I came across in my earlier message as if it wasn't good enough or something like that.
Sue and Chuck were awesome together.
Thank you bro
Thanks for uploading I love it
I was curious about the short bit after the Hanks segment.....I’m guessing it was during the break in-atudio where Dave muttered an expletive to Bill Wendell....how the hell did you find that?!?
Was that taken from a Satellite Feed? I know that there’s some old 1970’s Carson footage floating around that has some of that type of stuff.....them goofing off (or in Carson’s case, smoking off) during the commercial breaks
Thanks for this upload! I was almost 18 when this episode aired and I missed it at the time.....I was sad that he was moving to CBS as they never had a late night show before.....but it all obviously worked out for both Dave and the Network.
I was not a fan of Jay’s.....and I was perplexed as to why NBC passed over Dave.....I always viewed Leno as just a guest host and when Leno started turning his show into Dave’s (The Dancing Ito’s bit, more zany humor, etc.) I knew that Leno was in trouble......it all obviously worked out for him as well, but I digress
Thanks again, Don!
That's raw footage of the promo Dave would typically (but not always) tape during the station break. A clean, edited version would then usually air during primetime shows and in the station break on The Tonight Show. But, as shown here, NBC went with that "Goodbye goodbye goodbye" piece instead.
Can't share from where I got it, only that I have many from earlier years. I thought I'd include a couple Easter eggs in this collection; that was one of them.
Don Giller I was surprised at how effective the “goodbye” promo was. Catchy tune and a powerful image. It was very end-of-an-era.
And airing instead "Stop bending the shafts!" would have made utterly no sense to anyone.
We can assume that there had been a prepared, written script for the planned promo, but Dave just did what he felt like. In the moment.
Gen-X Ennial That’s an interesting question that I can’t elaborate at this time. Only that it’s extremely doubtful a project of this sort will ever be attempted by the network.
Damn Katie was super cute back then
I wonder where CNN came across all the old Late Night clips they used in their piece. Not easy to come by in the Pre-TH-cam, Pre-Don Giller days.
I long for the pre-Don Giller days. :)
My guess is NBC or Worldwide Pants (since they presumably still had control of the show at THIS point) knew that this was going to get a lot of media attention and assembled a reel of video clips for video editors to tinker with however they wanted.
I had first thought that NBC might have released an EPK with those clips (they're clearly better than VHS quality), but it seems unlikely that they would promote his exit with some of his best material. Between Dave's exit and Conan's start, NBC aired a bunch of first season reruns, allegedly because they wanted to embarrass Dave since he reportedly found the earliest shows awkward.
@@andyrose5616 They WERE awkward. But it seems pretty petty on NBC’s part.
This is great! Especially the WNBC clips with Sue Simmons and Chuck Scarborough.
Sue Simmons… why does that name sound familiar?
th-cam.com/video/RUwjG84PCUo/w-d-xo.html
What is that music piece after the top ten list at 43:48?
When Carson retired from The Tonight Show, Jay Leno took over Carson's Seat, David Letterman leaving NBC for CBS and Conan O'Brien taking over David's Seat along with Chevy Chase signing with FOX and Arsenio Hall on its way out the door would soon mark the beginning of The Late Night TV WARS
My oh my, how television has changed
NBC screwed dave and conan
@@darealpapajon NBC also screwed Carson (by forcing him into early retirement) and Leno (by forcing him out of The Tonight Show in five years for Conan).
Jay: "Stay tuned for a very special show."
What a crook.
THE WORST. He's a criminal
yea sure.
@@sillygoose635 yea, I AM SURE, pal.
@@raunchdressing2204 don't *pal* me, straight up, I'm not your friend nor intend to be, you still hold a grudge on jay after all this time, if it wasn't for leno taking up tonight, late night tv in general wouldn't be the way it is today, dave opened up a new playing field that was next to minimal during carson's run.
@@sillygoose635 Give it a rest, pal. Leno was middle of the road trash. Garbage. He was a great comedian prior to stealing the job from Dave. Dave reinvented the wheel at late night... and when big chin took old man Carson's job... Dave went to CBS and started their WHOLE late night programming department. Leno farted around for too long, and ruined Conan's chance at the gig too. Screw him.
Great edit!
Thanks!!
One network's loss is another network's gain.
Damn good editing. Thanks again, Don. Maybe you can photoshop your name into the credits of the last NBC show. (And I'm sorry, but the show lost something in the move to CBS.)
Ha. Blasphemy!
Parenthetically speaking .... the show did lose something after it moved to CBS .
The show lost its collegial and regional charm and appeal and became more corporate if not leaning heavily towards neo-liberal ways .
For me , the only reason why I tuned into the show after 1993 was to see Paul . Without Paul , there would be no Letterman show .
@@miles6593 Proof that Dave’s show changed was the fact that one fateful night on CBS he spent an entire hour speaking with and kissing up to...Hillary Clinton. Huh? That was not the Dave we remember from the glory days of Late Night.
@@CBrolley Yes , indeed , ... he was sucking up to Hillary and to Obama
who are two of the most powerful and corrupt individuals in the world .
Stephen Colbert has been heavily pandering to the establishment Democrats '
propaganda for the past four years . I remember the good old Dave when
he didn't hang out with people who are responsible for committing genocide
against innocent people in places like Yemen and Syria .
Peace and good health to you ... Miles from Canada .
@@miles6593 Dave was never the same after his heart surgery. He came back from the hospital all soft and squishy. It was his road to Damascus moment. And since he either couldn’t or wouldn’t serve God he served the liberals instead. Plus he probably felt a lot of guilt at having made tens of millions of dollars over the years for essentially goofing around on television. That’s enough to make anybody lose their edge.
Carson and Letterman were the best hosts ever in the US
I do remember Dave on NBC as a very young kid
Between 1993 and 2022, Tom Hanks, Bruce Springsteen, and Letterman himself are all still culturally relevant.
It's interesting to me how Katie referred to CBS' Larry Tisch as Laurence "Bud" Tisch. I assume that was a reference to Larry "Bud" Melman. I wonder if she made that up, or if that was something that Dave and co. came up with first and had used earlier. Anybody know anything about this?
When the pre-taped segment with Katie and Dave was over, and they threw it back to Katie live in her studio, as she went to commercial, she should have said, "We're cooking eggs!". What a wasted opportunity!
Hey, Don. I want to ask you a question. Who was the drummer for the Paul Butterfield performance. Who subtitute for Anton Fig?
That was Charley Drayton; he was subbing for Steve Jordan. February 13, 1985. Anton hadn't joined the show until over a year later.
Katie Couric really dropped the ball by not ending the segment saying, "come on back cuz we're fryin bacon!"
5:27 Katie Couric asks a question that touches on what I've always wondered - whether Dave's unhappiness at NBC gave him a comedic edge that he would lose by moving to CBS.
I for some reason always liked his old NBC shows from Studio 6A more than the shows after he moved to CBS and the larger Ed Sullivan Theater.
You're 1000% correct. I never had the same feeling for the CBS show like the NBC show. It didn't feel the same and after a while I stopped watching every day. Maybe it was the time slot and a different target audience?
I hated the fact they added more band members, the bigger theater and less spontaneity. I also think the last 10+ years Letterman phoned it in. No pun intended.
I never did like the bigger band, but I don't think it was because it was bigger per se. I think the 4-piece band was an absolutely first rate small band, but the larger band was a first-rate rhythm section with a kind of mediocre horns section. It just wasn't as sharp.
For instance, I always loved Doc Severensen's Tonight Show band, which was a big band every bit as sharp as Paul's NBC band. The Late Show band just sounded more like bland TV music. Perhaps Paul's strength was not in directing a big band, because unlike Doc the horns weren't in his wheelhouse.
I forget the exact quote, but America can always break apart unless every generation protects and preserves our way of life. DL was the spearhead for this generation.
Only Dave can pull off a bubble machine and it not be lame. Leno or Fallon with a bubble machine wouldn't make it.
And yet Jay beat him for years and years and years.
I have an irrational dislike for Katie Couric. There is nothing genuine, real or likable about her that I can see.
14:00 Hilarious.
This last NBC show marked a huge period for me in my life at the time. I left my childhood behind and became a real adult just as Dave's show grew up. I still watched the CBS show now and then but it was never the same.
This is an outstanding piece of work. Thanks so much Don.I hate to admit it but Ive watched around 100 of your videos and it just occured to me to subscribe today. What the hell was I thinking?
irrational. out of the mouths of babes and lunatics...
Dave on Larry Bud Melman: "He's nothing if not glib" 🤣
You have saved me again. *BOWS*
Welcome to the comments section! WE'RE COOKING BACON!
never seen these before, does this give nostalgia for anyone from the 90’s? interested in hearing some thoughts
yes...this was big back then...The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson was the place to be and then Dave...it was great
Francisco Centeno instead of Will Lee?? Btw Don, do you have a link to that clip of the “Thank You Dave” after the last repeat of LN on NBC?
It’s at the very end of this collection - th-cam.com/video/BfVFGXLHlH0/w-d-xo.html
The story re Will: He was scheduled to play in Japan that last week with Sadao Watanabe, but he first asked Dave weeks before if he wanted him to be with the show instead, as he’d then cancel the trip. Dave told him he didn’t think it was that important for him to be there, so he gave his ok.
Will told me years later that he regretted not being there, as did Dave, though Dave didn’t feel the sentiment when Will had initially asked him.
@@dongiller Thank you Don! Did they forget David Sanborn in the credits? (I assume that’s him playing the sax in the band)
@@nickandthecrisis Evidently. I’m sure it wasn’t deliberate.
hey Don? did Dave talk about NBC in his last episodes as Conan did in his?
Which one? His last here or at CBS? If here, simple enough to watch for yourself. If his Last CBS show in 2015, that’s here - th-cam.com/video/2EMtwKZhBIs/w-d-xo.html
Weird, all these years I had remembered it as CURRENT FOOTAGE of Dave riding out on a horse with a lit up suit that gets unplugged as he rides down the actual street outside ala "the electric horseman" which up until looking that up just now I've been calling "the electric cowboy" for lord knows how long. Huh. I also remembered Springsteen playing like three songs. I guess I was just really excited and over the years my memory became more and more OF that excitement. I'm usually not like that but this was a pretty big deal for me back then. It was a larger than life moment.
The horse clip was taken from the 8th anniversary special in 1990 at the Universal Amphitheater in L.A.
@@dongiller Yeah, it's becoming clear to me now, I remember hearing then that the show went over time wise and Springsteen is known for his long shows and many encores. The "electric horseman" I mixed up with "Urban Cowboy" and I guess the riding out on a horse memories kinda "merged" over the years. Its a good thing I've never mentioned this to anyone until now 'cause I'd have looked like a real goofball, heh. Free Nelson Mandela! Haha.
1993 was a sad year for NBC
A Different World cancelled after 6 seasons, Quantum Leap cancelled after 5 seasons, Cheers says goodbye to NBC after 11 seasons (only for Frasier to get his own show), Santa Barbara says goodbye to NBC after 8½ years and David Letterman along with bandleader Paul Shaffer says goodbye to NBC's Late Night after 11 years
I was in 6th Grade during the 92/93 Season
also, during the 92/93 Season, the Dallas Cowboys RULED the NFL when they blew out Jim Kelly and the Buffalo Bills to win their 1st Super Bowl in 15 years, the Pittsburgh Pirates clinch a 3-peat in the Stanley Cup Finals, Michael Jordan and those Chicago Bulls clinch a 3-peat def. Charles Barkley and the Phoenix Suns in the 1993 NBA Finals and the Toronto Blue Jays once again RULED the MLB by def. the Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 to win the World Series Back to Back
and also, 1993 saw the end of an era for Soul Train as the late Don Cornelius stepped down as the host of the show after 22 seasons on syndication, but would stay Executive Producer for the next 13 years as the show would move from the Hollywood Center Studios to the Paramount Studios and the show would get a brand new set, new logos, new looks and a whole new attitude
Plus, William Jefferson Clinton became the 42nd President of the United States
*🐧 pengiuns
Also Carlton replaced Thames as a ITV Franchise
I hope Dan Rather takes me fishing.
58:00 unbleeped S word? Where was that aired?
Edit: I know 1993 was the NYPD Blue era when network TV did allow some swear words but still
From an unaired source.
What?! can’t believe letterman is leaving NBC! I’m gonna have to reprogram my DVR. What a mild inconvenience!
STOP BENDING THE SHAFT!!!!!!
Tom Hanks is the best. That story still makes me laugh all these years later.
Thanks as always for posting.
56:00
General electric visit was gold
And his two last guests would win Oscars for same movie nine months or so later. Good times!!!
TH-cam recommended this; especially since I was talking about it. i thought Facebook was the only thing spying on me.
I know what you had for breakfast today. ;)
@@dongiller creepy, sir. very creepy
@@pagmatic I knew you’d say that.
Could you find the viewer mail that has a letter saying I eat lint from Marion va it was from the 80s
August 18, 1983.
Don, you wouldn't happen to have the show where Dave had the haircut montage?
It was the day before. For reasons, it's unlisted for now: th-cam.com/video/m-BdLNg_GyQ/w-d-xo.html
What does Dave double tap before walking off? Seems like he's putting out an invisible cigar.
Is there a Katie Couric compilation of her appearances?
I actually made one for her a few years ago but didn’t upload it onto YT.
Excellent haircut montage
that guy @ 1:04:41 looks a lot like my former employer when i worked as a "silencer" in Palermo - fun fact : his name was Don as well :o)
30th anniversary today.
I love letterman, but like him, Tom Snyder will always be my hero
its funny tom hanks talked about james bond and elvis presley when he worked with daniel craig and was in the biopic of elvis presley recently.
Co-Co makes light of getting a horse from Letterman at the end of his Tonight Show tenure. If you watch Letterman's first appearence on J. Kimmel's show post retirement, you get an explaination.
Why wasn't Will Lee performing that night?? Was he ill??
Will was in Japan, touring with saxophonist Sadao Watanabe. He explains it all here - th-cam.com/video/mXHRxFRJfUA/w-d-xo.html
@@dongiller wow..must've been big $$$ at stake knowing his last few days at nbc....
Again, Will explains what happened. Worth watching before making presumptions.
And to think, if those people at the GE bldg had simply let Dave bring a fruit basket up to the executive boardroom, they could have spared themselves a lot of grief. Hell, if they got off on the right foot, maybe we would have enjoyed "The Tonight Show with David Letterman". 😄😄😄
But no, those jackasses blocked one of their most beloved talents at the door. Once that humorless GE turd physically charged at the camera, you can almost certainly hear Dave thinking, ala Bugs Bunny, "of course you realize- this means WAR!" Can you imagine if they closed the door in Carson's face instead? There would have been firings that very day.
Oh well. Things turned out for the better.
I never watched the Leno show. I couldn't stand that guy. He always annoyed me, but after the whole tonight show fiasco I really didn't like him. Seeing the clip in here with Leno wishing Dave good luck, and that smug wink, I then saw the credits and his production logo. It totally makes sense to me, fits with his whole ego and personality which is part of why I didn't like him. He's like the opposite of Letterman. His Logo said Big Dog, like he's so great, while Dave's is Worldwide Pants. To me that just about sums up the difference between the two. Dave is quirky and off the beaten track, all the while poking fun at the mainstream while Leno desperately wants to fit in, and be the Top Dog. Look at me everyone, look how cool I am. And the point I was making is that it just finally clicked in my head when I saw that clip. I never liked the guy, I was just put off by him, but that brought it into perspective.
Dave was literally a sexual predator at work, something Jay never, ever did. It’s weird that you’re so concerned about their character but skip right over that. Dave should have taken a cue from Howard Stern and left the interns alone. The Big Dog logo is somehow a bigger offence than systematically fucking all the interns and chasing who knows how many of them right out of show biz? LOL wtf
Man, that old theme give me a rush.
That CNN was quite the network at one time
Where was Will Lee during the last show?
He was in Japan on tour with Sadao Watanabe. He was told that Dave
didn't want to make a big deal of the last shows, so with Paul's ok,
Will did the tour. Only later did he learn that it had become a big deal
for Dave.
Well at least it didn't affect their professional relationship after that
No reason it should have. Everything was on the up and up. Will told me he felt bad he missed the last week, but, again, he had gotten the word that he probably wouldn't miss anything. No one knew otherwise at the time.
He missed a kick ass performance by Bruce
Who was the bass player?
I really miss Letterman.
Does Katie Couric look like Luke Skywalkers sister or what!?
Without a doubt, Tom Hanks' segment on Dave's last NBC show stands as the best (non Martin Short) guest appearance ever..every time I watch an Elvis movie & he suddenly breaks into song I think of Tom. Wasting his time with this acting thing..boy should be in comedy.
Those haircuts.
Catie Couric bowl haircut 🤮
33:09. Joke of the night.
surprising he wasn't welcome to bring a gift into the building and meet the board of directors walking in off the street with cameras.
the letterman show in the 80's is, for me, as good as anything ever on tv. (and i only learned that through this channel and others like it!) but when he left the studio and tried to make his show happen using anyone, anywhere, and anytime; i found it pretty rude and offensive to a lot of his comedy targets. like telling people to show him what was in their bags-or having Rupert Gee say rude things he was told to through an earpiece to get a reaction. i don't think people always knew they were being filmed on some of those occasions; like when Mr. Gee said offputting and strange things to waitstaff, i think they were filmed out on a deck from a distance. the stuff i liked took place in front of an audience who was there for the show. this team manipulated the 'walls' between the show/studio/and audience like nothing else i've seen. but i didn't care for much of his often cocky and invasive street footage.
In the case with the visit to GE headquarters, the company had been notified in advance. This was not an ambush.
As for other civilians on camera: they all agree by signing releases. If they don’t agree, either they’re cut from any aired footage, or their faces are blurred.
And Rupert’s last name is Jee, not Gee.
@@dongiller ok-well, they were his bosses-and obviously didn't agree to the 'Notification'. and are you really saying that all the people who look at him like they can't believe he is being so rude and keep walking quickly past him signed releases? i don't think so. and thanks for pointing out my misspelling-although i am sorry you seem offended by using that as a tag in a list of things i 'got wrong'-(I thought Mr. Jee was doing his best to represent and teach White America about a Minority in these occasions/and never really faulted him for playing along) but am i really wrong about all the people who seem offended when he puts a mic in their face and says 'What's in your bag?' they just get away from him. so They signed releases? if they did; then i was ignorant of how much goes on behind the scenes and i thank you for enlightening me. you obviously are a higher level student of this program than I-and I apologize for not realizing that Mr. Letterman and his team humbly reached out to all of those people somehow-even though many of them were immediately ignored after they turned him down on camera while he turned to someone else, if i am remembering correctly. Staff people behind the camera must have chased after each of them to apologize and get their signature-as many of them had unaltered faces.
Do you find Mr. Letterman to have ever been cruel to Mr. Mellman (sp?)? I often feel that man didn't realize he was seemingly being laughed at. I heard he wanted to be famous-so i don't know-maybe he deserved the manipulation. but i am presently of the opinion that Mr. Letterman used him pretty selfishly.
and Dave was guilty of some other crimes too-like how many 'Turban' jokes he made.
or how many Clinton Intern jokes he made; then, Lo and Behold...He screwed his Interns!
Nobody's perfect-if Letterman were perfect, he would have just kept going up at a constant rate. Noone would ever disagree with him-and he would always put a smile on every face he met or was seen by.
We've heard him apologize a few times for how being on camera and trying to have the funniest show in the world often made him do things he wasn't entirely comfortable with.
He was born to do that job though-and he and that bunch tore it up-as you obviously are well aware-like no other group i can think of.
Do you receive any money for doing this-either through channel subscription or endorsement of any kind?
Either way-I think you are the main Letterman uploader-the 80's shows have vastly improved a lot of my days this past year; all at no charge-so again I Thank You.
I'll make sure i hit subscribe if i haven't already.
Brian Turner
I’m suggesting that perhaps - just perhaps - Letterman wasn’t as rude and/or nasty than you believe him to be. I’m not dismissing your view, just disagreeing with it.
And Calvert DeForest would not have put up with any rudeness that you perceive Dave to have committed upon him. He understood the act, as the act was all it was.
And no, I’m not making a penny off of any upload. I’m neither monetizing anything nor receiving any income from any source for this.
And no, I wasn’t “offended” by Rupert’s misspelling. I was simply correcting an error. Sometimes a duck is just a duck, and reading anything further into it isn’t necessary.