Blog Archives
Cool TV Video of the Day: Jerry Lawler and Andy Kaufman Fight on Letterman
Comedian Andy Kaufman and wrestler Jerry Lawler had a feud going sometime in the 1980s. Looking back, it was obviously staged. However, that fact was not apparent at the time because DVRs and the Internet were not invented and VCRs had yet to become ubiquitous.
On July 29, 1982, Late Night with David Letterman gave the world the following incident. (Warning: The video is uncensored and Kaufman says some variation of f*** a lot.)
Letterman Has an Old-Fashioned Christmas
In December 1987, David Letterman parodied old Christmas special’s on Late Night by turning the show into Dave Letterman’s Old-Fashioned Christmas. During the show, Dave “sang” with Ted Nugent. It’s a shame Dave doesn’t sing more often, since he has an amazing voice.
Please do not turn the comment section into a political debate.
Remembering 9/11
It is hard to believe that 9/11 happened 11 years ago. Each year, I usually watch David Letterman’s post-9/11 return speech as a reminder of how the country was feeling in the days following the attacks. For me, it is a reminder of the raw emotions I felt at the time and the fact that I was not alone. This year, I decided to compile the poignant returns of the New York-based late night comedy shows. (Saturday Night Live is notably missing from this article because I have not found the show’s first episode after September 11th on the internet.) Instead of commenting on David Letterman, Jon Stewart, and Conan O’Brien’s speeches, I will let the three men speak for themselves.
David Letterman:
Jimmy Kimmel Will Air at 11:35pm
Starting in January, ABC will push Nightline back an hour, so that Jimmy Kimmel Live can be a direct competitor to the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Late Show with David Letterman. This does not make sense. ABC already wins the 11:35pm late night ratings race against Leno and Letterman with Nightline, which averages 3.8 million viewers. However, ABC loses the ratings race a half hour later because Kimmel averages 1.8 million viewers to Leno’s 3.71 million viewers and Letterman’s 3.22 million viewers. Kimmel also receives the fewest number of viewers among the 3 hosts in the coveted 19-49 demographic.
Cool TV Video of the Day: Dave Says “Don’t Blame Conan”
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Conan O’Brien hosted to The Tonight Show for a total of 7 months and was replaced by his predecessor, Jay Leno. Regardless of whose side you’re on, Conan’s last two weeks at NBC made for some great television. Not just on NBC, but on CBS as well. David Letterman took delight in tearing into Leno because he had found himself in a similar situation 18 years prior. In this clip, Dave warns that you can think whatever you want about NBC’s late night drama, but “don’t blame Conan.”
Cool TV Video of the Day: The Most Censored American Talk Show Interview
On March 31, 1994, Madonna appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman. Throughout the interview, Madonna brought up topics that are inappropriate for network television and cursed excessively. Because of Madonna’s language, the interview is the most censored in American talk show history with 13 bleeps (in this case audio drops) just for f*** alone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TgqquzI6-A
Part 2 is after the jump.
Cool TV Video of the Day: Letterman Introduces the GE Handshake
In the 80s, David Letterman used to host Late Night on NBC. Naturally when GE bought NBC from RCA, Letterman would want to “drop in and say hello,” complete with a fruit basket. However, Dave has trouble even entering the building. You will see the infamous GE Handshake and the rest of the hilarious results in today’s video.
TV Shows You Should Know: The Tonight Show Starring Steve Allen
Before The Tonight Show debacle of 2009-2010 starring Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno, there were three other hosts of The Tonight Show: Steve Allen, Jack Paar, and Johnny Carson. If you’re over 30, you probably think of The Tonight Show as Johnny Carson’s show. However, Steve Allen was the first host of the show. He hosted it from 1954 to 1957.
As the first host of a national late night talk show, Steve Allen directly influenced David Letterman. Letterman has influenced Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, and Jimmy Fallon, so some of Allen’s attitude and antics can still be seen on current late night talk shows.
Foreign Friday: Die Harald Schmidt Show
Every Friday, I post a clip from a country other than the United States.
This week we visit Germany. Die Harald Schmidt Show is a talk show strongly influenced by David Letterman and Conan O’Brien. Harald Schmidt is often called the “German David Letterman” to the point that Letterman once referred to him as “the guy in Germany who does my show.” Schmidt’s original set was almost an exact replica of the set that Letterman had during his Late Night days.
While the following clip only has a few subtitles, it is pretty easy to understand what is going on. Enjoy this look at German television.
Wait! What's A Dial? 