Happy 75th, David Letterman!

One of our favorite late-night hosts (Hey, we haven't gotten around to Joe Franklin yet) turns 75 years old today. Happy birthday, David Letterman!

75 is a great number, but we can think of some other great numbers. Hey, 10 is a great number! Here with more, courtesy of the official Letterman YouTube channel, is Casey Kasem (Speaking of numbers, this is from 1993, but we think it's worth stepping outside our timeframe):

Interesting 1984 David Letterman interview

An excellent companion to the ongoing History of Late Night series is the Playboy Interviews collection Late-Night Talkers, available for Kindle. The collection includes Cavett, Leno, Stewart...many notables except, unfortunately, Johnny Carson.

The David Letterman interview from the October 1984 issue is a real winner, though. You get Dave as the 12:30 show is taking hold but the sting of past failures is still strong. His comments are often funny but also insightful. There are some moments of sincerity and vulnerability, too; at one point he expresses guilt and shame about not realizing what the Vietnam War did to his contemporaries who served (he got a favorable position in the draft lottery).

Asked about guests who he didn't like--remember, this is only 1984--he gives this answer:

"The only guest who really bothered me was Andy Rooney--and he was especially disappointing, because here was a man I'd admired for a long, long time. Years before 60 Minutes, Andy had done a series of news specials that I think represented American television at its best: entertaining, intelligent--absolutely state of the art stuff. But when you actually meet the guy, you quickly discover that he doesn't just appear to be a nasty curmudgeon, he is a nasty curmudgeon."

The questioner asks what guests excited him to have on the show, and Letterman responds, "This may sound crazy, but I found myself really looking forward to meeting Johnny Bench."

Asked if he watches much TV, Dave says sometimes if he likes something he will try to catch it, and he mentions Cheers. Then he adds, "But I must say I do enjoy watching The Love Boat. To me, that's American TV at its finest."

The interviewer wonders, "Because it's so bad?"

The reply: "I won't go on record saying The Love Boat is bad TV. It's solid American fare, and there's no mystery as to why it has succeeded. Every week, people from other television shows are thrown together in what's presented as a glamorous circumstance. And I get a kick out of that."

YouTube Spotlight: Dave visits Toy Fair

This clip didn't actually make it into our YouTube playlist for this week's bonus episodes, but since we discussed toys we'd like to see, and since we talked about David Letterman, why not enjoy a clip of Dave at Toy Fair?

 

His interaction with Milton Levine, inventor of the ant farm, is a highlight!

David Letterman beat us to our Knight Rider episode by about 30 years!

Recently, while enjoying a video history of the David Letterman vs. Terry Forster feud (with a skirmish between Dave and Good Morning America host David Hartman thrown in for good measure), I saw this bit: Letterman at the desk reading copy from NBC PR. It's touting not just any episode of Knight Rider--Dave would be excited enough about that--but the same episode we covered on the podcast in season 3.



Click the embedded video below to see Letterman's early thoughts on the upcoming episode. Perhaps we should have consulted him for the season 3 Battys!

"We're taking another important step tonight in the wrong direction."

I think the look he gives the camera at 21:28 says it all, but I also think we give the series a bit more reverence than he does.

Special thanks to the great Don Giller for making this material available on his channel!

Tomorrow on Battle of the Network Shows...

Wishing Summer a Fond Farewell

We here at Battle of the Network Shows consider Labor Day the demarcation line between summer and fall, the beginning of what we like to call "emotional fall." As a special farewell to summer, we now share this YouTube clip from an end of summer of yore. Enjoy now the "final" episode of Dave Letterman's Summer Time Sunshine Happy Hour (August 29, 1985).