Tag Archives: late show with david letterman

May 23

Same joke

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It is not unusual for two of the late-night talk shows to make the same or a very similar monologue joke about a current event. (Sometimes, “InfoMania” on Current TV will highlight this, with a feature called “Same Joke.”)

But tonight, “Conan” and “Late Show With David Letterman” had, not a verbal joke, but a piece of produced visual comedy in common. Both hosts made jokes about Newt Gingrich’s supposed Tiffany debt and then said they were surprised at his appearance on CBS’s “Face The Nation .”

And then, both Conan and Letterman showed a clip of Gingrich on “Face The Nation,” with gaudy jewelry superimposed on his face. In Conan’s case, the most prominent piece was a crown; on Letterman it was a tiara. But the production technique, the source material and the joke itself were identical.

The clips aren’t online yet, but I’ll have to look for them tomorrow and post them side-by-side. I don’t think it’s anything but coincidence, but it’s quite a coincidence.

May 18

Carney on Letterman

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I’ve always wanted to see “Late Show with David Letterman” in person — once, I wrote a hundred postcards to enter a contest for a trip to see the show.

Sure enough, tonight John Carney will be at the Letterman show — not as an audience member but as a guest.

Unfortunately, it’s not me. Nor is it John Carney, the Delaware politician, or John Carney, the NFL kicker, or John Carney, the St. Louis radio host, or John Carney, the district attorney.

It’s this John Carney, who will appear as part of “close-up magic week.” Despite his mellifluous name, he’ll have a hard time topping Letterman favorite Jason Randal, who appeared Monday night.

Feb 08

No story tonight

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I was really counting on a long and funny story from Dave Letterman tonight about the taping of the Super Bowl ad with Jay and Oprah. But there wasn’t one; he made a very brief monologue joke, and then later at the desk he dryly thanked “the actors who played Oprah and Jay Leno.”

Part of the problem may have been that tonight’s Late Show was chock full anyway, with little time for desk chat — Super Bowl QB Drew Brees, Sandra Bullock, the unveiling of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover, and some unexpected crisis in the form of stage manager and frequent cast member Biff Henderson injuring himself. Dave, in Brees’ honor, was tossing the pigskin to various members of the crew and the CBS orchestra, and Biff fell down trying to make a catch. Dave said he was fine, but they apparently took him out on a gurney with his leg in a splint.

I actually watched the first few minutes of “The Jay Leno Show” tonight — the first time I’ve done so since Jay started whining at the peak of the late night crisis — and I have to admit that Jay did a nice job talking about the spot, and about how he had to sneak into the Ed Sullivan Theater in a hoodie, shades and fake moustache for the taping last Tuesday.

Top NBC officials had to approve Jay’s appearance on the CBS promo, but it was kept so hush-hush that a lower-level NBC functionary actually came to Jay a day or two after the taping to tell Jay about a rumor that Letterman had taped a Super Bowl promo with a super-secret guest, which the executive figured might be … Barack Obama. Jay listened with great interest and instructed the NBC executive to keep him informed.

Bet that guy felt stupid when he saw the promo.

Oct 02

Changing the subject

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Each day, Mike McIntee, a writer for “Late Show With David Letterman,” posts “The Wahoo Gazette,” a breezy, sometimes tongue-in-cheek recap of the previous night’s show, on the “Late Show” web site. The recap is broken down by “acts,” or segments, of the program. Everything until the first commercial break is Act One, everything between the first and second breaks is Act Two, and so on. I think this is pretty standard terminology.

I had to laugh when looking at today’s issue, a recap of last night’s show. Here is the recap of Act 2, in its entirety:

ACT 2:
Hey! How ‘bout them Mets?!

Act 2, of course, was when the big (and awkward) announcement happened last night. I don’t guess it lent itself to a funny recap.

Sep 07

Jumping dogs, Howie Mandel, and Crystal’s kids

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Letterman’s week-in-review video is pretty funny this week, including the “Beavis and Butthead” appearance I referenced in an earlier post.

By the way, Dave’s mock annoyance with Neil Patrick Harris is because there’s some sort of CBS promotional magazine called “Watch” — Dave hadn’t heard of it either — which had Harris on the cover, promoting his sitcom. Dave responded in mock outrage, demanding to know why the magazine had never done a cover or a story about him.

And (although you could probably figure this out) the young woman whose parents Dave inquires about is Rumer Willis, daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore.

Feb 16

And them, too

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The Late Show with David Letterman will have some outstanding musical segments the week of March 2-6.
On Monday night, the musical guests will be … U2.
On Tuesday night, the musical guests will be … U2.
On Wednesday night (do you begin to see a pattern here?) the musical guests will be … U2.
On Thursday night, the musical guests will be … U2.
And on Friday night, the musical guest will be … Celine Dion. No, wait, I was misinformed; it turns out the musical guests will be … U2.
This brings to mind Bruce Springsteen’s interview with Bob Costas on the day of the Super Bowl. Costas noted that Springsteen had been sought many times as a Super Bowl halftime performer. Why had he suddenly agreed this year?
“It’s not rocket science,” he told Costas. “I’ve got an album to promote.”