CBS Giving Dave a Prime Time Salute

[Mark Jeffries]

The 90-minute doc "David Letterman:  A Life in Television," will air on May 4 at 9:30 and will be narrated by Ray Romano:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/david-letterman-get-primetime-special-790992?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_livefeed_daily&utm_campaign=THR%20Live%20Feed_2015-04-23%2011%3A00%3A00_lgoldberg

[Joe Hass]

I'm not at a point where I can do the research, but this would be the closest to a Dave prime-time special on CBS, correct?

[David Bruggeman]

I could have sworn that there was a special or two in the earliest years on CBS, but I appear to be misremembering this.

In terms of late night specials in prime time, has there been anything since Conan's last anniversary show on NBC?

David

---

From: Joe Hass <hassg...@gmail.com>
To: tvor...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2015 3:50 PM
Subject: Re: [TV orNotTV] CBS Giving Dave a Prime Time Salute

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[Mark Jeffries]

The Kimmel half-hours before the NBA Finals games.

Mark Jeffries
Saints Spotlight Editor
spotl...@gmail.com

[David Bruggeman]

Those are regular episodes in a shortened format, or at least that's how they come across to me.

David

---

From: Mark Jeffries <spotl...@gmail.com>
To: tvor...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2015 4:33 PM

Subject: Re: [TV orNotTV] CBS Giving Dave a Prime Time Salute

[Kevin M.]

Letterman did at least three "Late Show Video Specials" in prime time (I have the first and third) that highlighted some of his pre-taped bits like the Taco Bell drive-thru segments. I don't recall any prime time anniversary shows. 

--

Kevin M. (RPCV)

[David Bruggeman]

Thank you.  I was sure I saw the segment with Dave and Zsa Zsa Gabor driving around Los Angeles in prime time, but couldn't find any reference to it outside of a week of shows in LA.

I don't remember Letterman doing any anniversary shows at CBS.  Maybe at NBC?

David

---

From: Kevin M. <drunkba...@gmail.com>
To: "tvor...@googlegroups.com" <tvor...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2015 5:13 PM

Subject: Re: [TV orNotTV] CBS Giving Dave a Prime Time Salute

[Kevin M.]

He did at least one at NBC (his 6th) from Radio City Music Hall. He also did at least two "Film Festivals" in prime time featuring films made by various celebs.

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Kevin M. (RPCV)

[M-D November]

Has there been any scuttlebutt re: NBC allowing use of old Late Night clips for this retrospective?  I mean, it's "A Life in Television", not "23 Years at CBS".

[Jim Ellwanger]

On Apr 23, 2015, at 3:11 PM, M-D November <mdnov...@gmail.com> wrote:

Has there been any scuttlebutt re: NBC allowing use of old Late Night clips for this retrospective?  I mean, it's "A Life in Television", not "23 Years at CBS".

I note that Conan has occasionally used clips from his NBC shows on “Conan” (with a credit to Universal Television), so such things are not entirely off-limits.

-- 

Jim Ellwanger <trai...@ellwanger.tv>

<http://www.ellwanger.tv>

[Joe Hass]

It is worth noting, however, that in many of the opportunities where LS could have logically asked for stuff from NBC, none appeared (the best example is the Robin Williams tribute). It would not surprise me if Dave has a standing policy not to show anything from Late Night (remember how much he freaked out when USA would show reruns?)

That said, no one has identified *who* is producing this special. I could completely see CBS doing this without Dave's direct input or approval (or disapproval).

[Mark Jeffries]

The CBS press release says that "CBS Eye Productions" is producing the show, meaning it's in-house.  One wonders if they will get (or bother to try getting) rights to the NBC shows.

Mark Jeffries
Saints Spotlight Editor
spotl...@gmail.com

[Karen Owen]

They could use the stick figure doodles that
have been used occasionally on Late Show
to illustrate Late Night highlights.
I have tapes of Late Night Anniversary shows
for 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th anniversaries
from when E! channel repeated them when
they were doing the Late Night reruns.
There was also a 10th anniversary show
(I have that one too but it's not next to the
other ones on the shelf). No 11th because
Dave left NBC right after that.
I also see that I have tapes of Late Show
Prime Time Video Special and
Late Show Video Special 2 (was this second
not in Prime Time?)






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[Brad Beam]

From: tvor...@googlegroups.com [mailto:tvor...@googlegroups.com]

>In terms of late night specials in prime time, has there been anything since Conan's last anniversary show on NBC?

Per the Wiki, some of American Jimmy’s “Late Night” musical pieces were compiled for a primetime special in 2012.

 

_  _

|_>|_>  Brad Beam- Belle WV

|_>|_>  http://www.facebook.com/74bmw

[Diner]

On Thursday, April 23, 2015 at 10:34:29 PM UTC-4, Brad Beam wrote:

From: tvor...@googlegroups.com [mailto:tvor...@googlegroups.com]

>In terms of late night specials in prime time, has there been anything since Conan's last anniversary show on NBC?

Per the Wiki, some of American Jimmy’s “Late Night” musical pieces were compiled for a primetime special in 2012.

 

 

 

There was also a two-hour "Best of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" that ran on January 5, 2014.

 

Jay, who disliked the retrospective format, nevertheless did a one-hour primetime 10th anniversary show on April 30, 2002 that was taped at the Pantages Theatre in LA.

 

-Tim

[Bob Jersey]

Back on April 23, Mark Jeffries replied to Joe Hass, Jim Ellwanger and M-D November:

The CBS press release says that "CBS Eye Productions" is producing the show, meaning it's in-house.  One wonders if they will get (or bother to try getting) rights to the NBC shows.

A clip inside this THR piece (link) shows the Bill Murray appearance from the début NBC show, and at least Stupid Pet Trick believed (by me) to be of Peacockian vintage.

B

[Bob Jersey]

Edit:  and at least one Stupid Pet Trick believed (by me) to be of Peacockian vintage.

B

[Kevin M.]

There was obviously no way this special was going to please everyone. Stuff was going to be left out. My chief criticism is the focus was on highlights of people who are popular now as opposed to popular over the past several decades. That said, Selena Gomez wasn't included despite her being one of Dave's most frequent guests in recent years (she did make the Late Show's official highlight package on the Steve Martin show the other night). Also omitted was one of my favorites, Tony Randall, who was for my money one of the top five best talk show guests ever. I suspect potential uproar prevented the inclusion of either Bill Cosby and Brian Williams. Cher, Howard Stern, and Julia Roberts appeared on multiple segments on the show, and considering they only had 90 minutes to work with, a single mention of each should have sufficed so there could have been others included. 

I am contemplating creating my own highlight reel of Letterman stuff from my VHS archives and maybe posting it to YouTube or Vimeo, but I suspect CBS (and/or NBC) would issue a takedown notice. To me, the absolute best moment in all of the Late Show was Dave telling the story about waking up to find a bear in his house. It was funny, of the moment, personal, and a story only Letterman could tell in the way only Letterman could tell it. It runs roughly 15 minutes so I understand why it wouldn't be included on the prime time special, but it stands out to me as a personal favorite worthy of inclusion.

On Sat, May 2, 2015 at 11:56 AM, Bob Jersey <bob.in...@juno.com> wrote:

Edit:  and at least one Stupid Pet Trick believed (by me) to be of Peacockian vintage.

B

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Kevin M. (RPCV)

[Joe Coughlin]

Some of the video quality from the NBC years was horrible. One would
think they just got some VHS dubs from a collector. Strange. I have to
believe the originals are in much better quality of the Late Night
years. If not, that's a damn shame.

+++++++++++++++
Joe Coughlin
http://www.twitter.com/inturnaround

[David Bruggeman]

I am hoping it will be repeated or perhaps included on the website, as I managed to miss the special last night.

As for the bear story, I remember this being told with the assistance of either animation or pictures (like a court reporter's series of sketches).  Am I completely crazy?

FWIW, there is a video of this story accessible via the series of tubes.

David

---

From: Kevin M. <drunkba...@gmail.com>
To: "tvor...@googlegroups.com" <tvor...@googlegroups.com>

Sent: Tuesday, May 5, 2015 11:59 PM
Subject: Re: [TV orNotTV] Re: CBS Giving Dave a Prime Time Salute

[Tom Wolper]

On Tue, May 5, 2015 at 11:59 PM, Kevin M. <drunkba...@gmail.com> wrote:

There was obviously no way this special was going to please everyone. Stuff was going to be left out. My chief criticism is the focus was on highlights of people who are popular now as opposed to popular over the past several decades. That said, Selena Gomez wasn't included despite her being one of Dave's most frequent guests in recent years (she did make the Late Show's official highlight package on the Steve Martin show the other night). Also omitted was one of my favorites, Tony Randall, who was for my money one of the top five best talk show guests ever. I suspect potential uproar prevented the inclusion of either Bill Cosby and Brian Williams. Cher, Howard Stern, and Julia Roberts appeared on multiple segments on the show, and considering they only had 90 minutes to work with, a single mention of each should have sufficed so there could have been others included.

The producers seem to intentionally left out guests who are no longer alive. Not only was Tony Randall left out, so was Farrah Fawcett's notorious appearance, which was as well known as Madonna and Drew Barrymore, and staples of the old show like Brother Theodore and Harvey Pekar. Andy Kaufman and Warren Zevon barely got on.

[donz5]

Kevin posts, in part:

"Selena Gomez wasn't included despite her being one of Dave's most frequent guests in recent years."

Not really: The criteria here is "one of most frequent guests in recent years." Selena Gomez appeared on the show, in total, 5 times, from July 2010 until October 2013. So, starting within the time of when she first appeared, here are the guests who have appeared more times than Gomez (5) from July 2010 until today (exceptions noted for those scheduled to appear within the next week and are included here). Includes cameos:

24:
Regis Philbin

20:
Jack Hanna

15:
Brian Williams

14:
Tom Hanks

12:
Julie Chen
Rachel Maddow
Steve Martin

11:
Alec Baldwin
Anderson Cooper
Tom Dreese
Paul Rudd

10:
Bill O'Reilly
Keith Olbermann

9:
Billy Crystal
Will Ferrell
Tina Fey (includes her upcoming appearance)
Andy Kindler
Bill Murray
Amy Sedaris
Martin Short (includes tonight's appearance)

8:
Matt Damon
Ricky Gervais
Neil Patrick Harris
Dr. Phil McGraw

7:
Jeff Altman
Tom Brokaw
Stephen Colbert
Shannon Eis
Foo Fighters
James Franco
Kathy Griffin
Joan Rivers
Donald Trump

6:
Marv Albert
Justin Bieber
Matthew Broderick
Louis C.K.
Steve Carell
Michael J. Fox
Jake Johannsen
Nathan Lane
Darlene Love
Julianna Margulies
Tracy  Morgan
Brian Regan (includes upcoming appearance)
Don Rickles (includes upcoming appearance)
Kelly Ripa
Chis Russo
Ben Stiller
Michael Strahan
Barbara Walters
Bruce Willis

[donz5]

There have been four LS Prime Time Specials:

PTS-1: November 21, 1994 (taped 11/11)

PTS-2: February 19, 1996 (taped 2/9)

PTS-3: February 24, 1997 (taped 2/14)

PTS-4: November 23, 1998 (taped 11/12)

[Doug Eastick]

nicely done donz.

 

we all know that Kevin's mind is affected by brunettes.

 

 

--

[Kevin M.]

On Wed, May 6, 2015 at 12:31 PM, Doug Eastick <eas...@mcd.on.ca> wrote:

nicely done donz.

 

we all know that Kevin's mind is affected by brunettes.

 

I do freely confess to having a crush on the half-my-age Ms Gomez, so that must be it

--

Kevin M. (RPCV)

[Joe Hass]

On Wed, May 6, 2015 at 2:20 PM 'donz5' via TVorNotTV <tvor...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Kevin posts, in part:

"Selena Gomez wasn't included despite her being one of Dave's most frequent guests in recent years."

Not really: The criteria here is "one of most frequent guests in recent years." Selena Gomez appeared on the show, in total, 5 times, from July 2010 until October 2013. 

I'd add if you're gonna pick someone who's only been on five times in that timeframe, the logical choice would be Jennifer Lawrence, who brings out Classic Dave as well as any young(er) guest today.

[Kevin M.]

That might be true, but I don't have a crush on Lawrence.

 

--

Kevin M. (RPCV)

[Diner]

On Tuesday, May 5, 2015 at 11:59:27 PM UTC-4, Kevin M. (RPCV) wrote:

Cher, Howard Stern, and Julia Roberts appeared on multiple segments on the show, and considering they only had 90 minutes to work with, a single mention of each should have sufficed so there could have been others included. 

 

 

 

The special's exec producer was Vinnie Favale, who, as his friend Mark Evanier points out, is a CBS executive (VP of late night?) and who used to work for Stern. So I'm guessing the reason we saw so much of Stern on the show is that Vinnie is partial to him. Same with Richard Simmons.

 

Nice to see Cher do a walk-on appearance on last night's show. But I couldn't help notice that one of Dave's monologue jokes last night - saying that he and Jay Leno would be appearing together in a production of "The Sunshine Boys" - is the exact same joke Jay told reporters the day after Dave announced his retirement.

 

Been taping most of Dave's shows lately so I can see the final appearances by some of my favorite guests, like Nathan Lane and Martin Short. And his interview with Obama reminds me that we may never see a late night host deal with important subjects/guests with Dave's level of maturity again, knowing just when to be serious and just when to be funny. Yet while it's great to see Dave interacting with them, I have to admit that the rest of the show is really exhausting. Not just the monologue and top ten list, which Dave seems to treat like chores, but some of the clips he's been running - like the one last night where Dave harassed a radio traffic reporter for no good reason. I hated that bit in 1993, and I hate it now. Yes, I'll miss Dave, but I can't wait to go scurrying back to Fallon - someone who, for all  his faults, hasn't forgotten how to entertain.

 

-Tim

[Diner]

BTW, here's a wonderful piece that interviews a lot of Dave's writers, and Dave himself, on bits that never made it to air.

 

http://www.vulture.com/2015/05/23-lost-laughs-of-letterman.html

 

-Tim

[Bob Jersey]

Diner, to Kevin M, in part: 

The special's exec producer was Vinnie Favale, who, as his friend Mark Evanier points out, is a CBS executive (VP of late night?) and who used to work for Stern. So I'm guessing the reason we saw so much of Stern on the show is that Vinnie is partial to him. Same with Richard Simmons.

VP/late night/East coast.  ISTR he'd worked for E! when Howski started doing radio-on-TV... he'd also been at Comedy Central.  In between jobs he'd cowritten an off-Broadway musical, "Hereafter."

B