Humor Me - The Steve O'Donnell Letter Conclusion

This is the Part 2, the conclusion of Letterman, Smigel, Downey helping to write a letter to Steve O'Donnell. Part 1 was here.

Beyond the Fringe - Great Train Robbery

Robert Smigel, David Letterman and Jim Downey

Robert Smigel (head writer for Conan, writer for SNL, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog) has a podcast.

In this episode, he talks to Jim Downey (Conan, SNL) and David Letterman (himself).

To the casual observer, this doesn't mean much but for someone like me, it feels like the Super Bowl.

The premise of the show (or the premise of the show within the show) - that someone in Turkey wants help writing an email to Steve O'Donnel (Letterman, Seinfeld, The Simpsons, Norm Macdonald) - is ludicrous, bordering on annoying. But, again, it really doesn't matter what the premise is, with this panel.

Another Mitch Hedberg Letterman Set

Another random Mitch Hedberg stand-up appearance on the Late Show.

I assume, eventually, all of these will be released, which is nice, but I wish they said how many their were total and said what number each one is. Just a small thought.

Late Night 1st Anniversary Show

 

Dave celebrates 1 year on the air in Late Night. This is the full episode.

Original airdate 2/4/83.

Downey Wrote That (2025)

 

I mentioned earlier that I was interested in seeing "Downey Wrote That" and now I have.

"Downey Wrote That" is a documentary about the comedy writer Jim Downey, who is most famous for being a long-time writer for SNL - including specifically writing for Norm Macdonald's Weekend Update - but was also head writer for Late Night with David Letterman in the early 80's. He's also particularly responsible for the most famous political sketches - the 2000 Presidential Debate is probably most noteworthy.

In short, you don't need my review. If you're interested in comedy writing and/or SNL, you'll enjoy this documentary. If not, you probably still will enjoy it but you probably have better things to do.

There is some of the regular "writing for SNL, is so stressful" blah blah blah, we get it. Fortunately, that's kept to a minimum. The movie impressively includes interviews with David Letterman, Lorne Michaels, Conan O'Brien, Adam Sandler, John Mulaney, Bob Odenkirk, Robert Smigel and the list goes on... it's crazy.

A small complaint is that in the "he played small parts in movies" section, they don't show his part in "Dirty Work" - a masterful performance. His part in "Billy Madison" is more iconic, of course, but show both.

My main complaint is that there are a number of montages where we see quick clips or shots of SNL sketches and I think the implication is that Downey wrote all of them but I can't be sure if it's that or they're just giving a flavor of the era. I would have loved to have a more comprehensive understanding of all the skits he wrote. Would I have been happy if this documentary was replaced by an Excel Spreadsheet? Yes, basically, but that's probably just me.

Late Show - Top 10 Things That Sound Romantic When Said by Barry White

If you've been following this blog, you've certainly seen this before. But it bears repeating and this is the officially-released isolated clip.

Does it bother anyone else that the category is "Top 10 words" but then some of the entries are phrases? I'll try to get over it.

JAZZERCISE...

Dave and Jim Downey

Who is that in the thumbnail, is that Estelle Costanza? No. Is it Jim Downey's mom? No, that's Jim Downey.

Apparently there's a new documentary out all about Jim Downey. It's called "Downey Wrote That" and it apparently covers his time as a writer for Letterman and SNL. I'm not big on movies anymore but I'm gonna have to find this one.

David Letterman Inducting Warren Zevon at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Warren Zevon has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and David Letterman was chosen to be the ... what's the term for this - inductor? He was inducted by David Letterman.

You know we're all familiar with the Foo Fighters playing "Everlong" for the last episode of the Late Show. This was certainly appropriate. When Dave came back from heart surgery, he introduced them as "My favorite band playing my favorite song." But I've always been inclined to think that if Warren Zevon had lived, he would have been in that spot.

Late Night - The World's Largest Vase (the Complete Saga)

 

 

A compilation of all the World's Largest Vase content from Late Night.

I mean, I'm using the phrase 'the complete saga' but they haven't included the interview with F. Lee Bailey. Hopefully I'm not going to jail. 

For behind-the-scenes memories of this event, it was covered here.

Dave Meets the Professor of Rock

 

I didn't have this on my Bingo Card. Dave talks to the Professor of Rock, of Youtube fame.

Nothing crazy important here, just a fun, casual discussion about Rock and Motown and popular music, generally.

I think this is mainly a test of Youtube's collaboration feature where two people can do a show and the show will be added to both of their feeds.

To learn more about the Bob Dylan performance they mention, see this.

Meanwhile I'm SURE I have a post about the Future Islands performance but can't find it. The performance is here.

Why Are You Laughing - Harvey Pekar vs. Letterman

I posted the full Harvey Pekar/David Letterman collection a while back, but I know from firsthand experience that that's not for everyone. If you want just the highlights as well as humorous commentary, Blind Mike takes you through Harvey Pekar's appearances on Letterman.

And in case anyone's wondering, I'm fully on Letterman's side in this. The "you're a guest in my house" paradigm is 100% correct. But while I don't fully agree with the thrust of "American Splendor," it is quite a good film.

A Short History of Radiohead and Letterman

On August 29, 1997, Radiohead played "Karma Police" to promote their new album "Ok Computer" - their first appearance on Letterman.

Big deal for me since Radiohead were my favorite band and the "Late Show" was my favorite TV show. That's why it always pained me that Radiohead hated either Letterman or his show, at least that's the impression I got.

Rewind back a few days earlier - August 26, 1997 - playing the Hammerstein Ballroom, and before playing "Karma Police, Thom remarks, "In two day's time, we have to do this song on a TV show called 'Mr. Letterman'... bullshit." That's it, simple and concise. Perfectly cryptic: no reasons listed, no explanation given.

Then we move forward to the day of the appearance. At the soundcheck on the Late Show, documented in the film "Meeting People is Easy." Thom tells the sound booth, "Twenty minutes to rehearse spinning a wheel and we don't get five minutes to play the fucking guitar?" Later, offstage he complains, "There [was] a guy on stage giving us shit." What he says after that has never been clear to me and the exact nature of the conflict is not explained to any degree that I can discern.

Fast-forward to 2003 and it's time to promote "Hail to the Thief." Radiohead go on the "Late Show" again to perform "2+2=5." The song ends and no handshake or communication of any kind.

Ah, but let's rewind to just before that... we gain more context by remembering the "Late Show" era we're in. This is during the period where Paul Shaffer is doing his James Brown bit. If you don't know, there was a running bit from 2002-2004 where Paul Shaffer would sing "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" in the style of James Brown, even to the point of falling to his knees, getting covered in a cape, ushered away from the microphone, before throwing off the cape and returning to sing. The bit was made more elaborate by having guest cape operators who were celebrities. The apex of the bit was  the time when James Brown himself came out to do the cape. The full song was only for the theater audience (played during commercial) but the TV broadcast would come back in time for the cape part.

So Radiohead are on stage waiting to perform "2+2=5" and are confronted by this bizarre ritual. And it probably didn't help that the cape person that night was CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer. I doubt they know who that is. I don't believe they appreciated the joke. I seem to recall someone saying so in an interview later but I have not been able to find the source so it may be my own hallucination. Nevertheless, I challenge you to look at the expressions and body language of the band and decide for yourself . And, again, after the performance they avoid shaking hands with Dave or even acknowledging him. Significant? Coincidence? Thom's a big Michael Stipe fan, perhaps he's doing an impression.

Apparently someone agreed with my assessment that something was going on and thought to submit a question about it to BBC Radio 1 in an interview a few months later:

Mark: Right, James in South Korea, says: I saw Radiohead perform on David Letterman a few weeks ago, and they seemed a little annoyed by the whole thing, was there a reason?

Thom: (laughs) I'll tell you why, man

Mark: What was going on there?

Thom: I'll tell you

Mark: Well do, yeah

Thom: In order for Mr. Letterman not to break into a sweat, he has the studio at sub-zero temperatures

Mark: Does he?

Thom: Yeah

Ed: Yeah

Thom: So our hands went numb (laughs)

Lard: Ahhhhhh!

Thom: So there you go

So maybe it's that innocent, laughed off as a joke. Radiohead are a very tough band to figure out, it remains a possibility that I may be overthinking everything.

1997 and 2003 are the only two times Radiohead performed on the "Late Show."

But ever since 1997 (or 1998), when I discovered the Hammerstein ballroom quote, I've been wondering "why the hatred?" One might look at "Meeting People is Easy" and just assume they hated the show because they had a bad experience there. But the key here is Thom was complaining about having to go on the show before he was ever on the show. Another possibility, then, it may be just a matter of: they hated doing television appearances in general and Letterman just happened to be in the way. I'm certainly open to that possibility, they probably don't like TV. But then, they've also done Conan's show, Leno, Jool's Holland, Stephen Colbert and "Saturday Night Live" and I've never heard them complain about those, show disdain or avoiding shaking hands with the host. In fact, on Leno and SNL, they seemed delighted.

Reddit had a thought that could connect the dots. In a thread speculating on who the song "Talk Show Host" was based on, a redditor points out that Radiohead were big fans of "comedian" Bill Hicks, even dedicating their second album to him and Bill Hicks was famously censored in his last "Late Show" performance before dying of cancer in 1994. If this is the cause, it would completely explain why they hated Letterman and resented having to do the show sight unseen. I personally don't think it's likely. Remember: this is in the days where the different sides of the Atlantic had completely separate spheres of entertainment and the internet was still very nascent. I doubt they even knew who Letterman was, let alone knowing about the behind-the-scenes censorship controversy. [Footnote: years later, Letterman would air the performance in full and apologize to Hicks' mother.]

Another possibility: it may be a matter of timing; the band was in a bad place at this point and things were only getting worse. According to Yorke in a Rolling Stone interview, the band's all-time low point would come only two months after their 1997 appearance. Bad timing, bad mood... maybe.

But that's the history of my favorite band "feuding" (perhaps) with my favorite talk show host. It's always bothered me and the "feud" is made all the more irksome because it seemed to arise without a cause. My best guess is that their disdain for doing the show was a combination of being a famously temperamental band, resenting having to do TV appearances and the particular timing of August 1997. But that's only a best guess, and not very satisfying.

Late Show - The Best of Norm Macdonald

A two part compilation of Norm Macdonald's best appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Why Are You Laughing? - Late Night Wars

 For those of you who want to learn about the Late Night wars of Leno vs. Letterman, there is no better resource than Bill Carter's book "The Late Shift."

But if you don't want to commit hours and hours of reading time, the "Why Are You Laughing?" podcast is perhaps the second best source of information.

The book was turned into a made-for-tv movie also (same name), for those of you who would prefer that. But that's a distant 3rd place, as the movie is less informative and a bit cheesy.

And for those of you who want to learn about the Late Night wars of Leno vs. Conan, there is no better resource than Bill Carter's book "The War for Late Night."

But, as above, if books aren't for you, the following podcast has you covered. There has been no made-for-tv movie about this topic, to my knowledge, but can you imagine?

If you'd like to read my book review of "The War for Late Night" see here.

As a self-proclaimed expert, I have my disagreements and differences with the podcast, just as I do with the TV movie. But they're mainly minor quibbles and who cares anyway? I enjoy their fresh perspective shedding light on my own.

Paul Shaffer: Behind the Music

 

A classic bit from the Late Show.

I watched this a million times on the Late Show website, back in the day. This is the first time I'm seeing it in actual video rather than the horror that was RealAudio/RealMedia over slow internet. Remember RealAudio?

Late Show - Best of Vince Vaughn

It's the best of Vince Vaughn and it's all gold.

Late Show - Best of Conan Compilation

 

A compilation of Conan O'Brien on Letterman. Nothing new here - these are the same clips we've seen a million times - but they're all in one place and it's solid entertainment, regardless.

Late Show - Best of Amy Sedaris

Ah, Amy Sedaris, eases the pain.

Late Show - Best of Chris Farley

 

20 minutes of Chris Farley on Letterman. The only thing that would make it better is if it was longer.

RIP Garth Hudson

The last remaining member of The Band, Garth Hudson, has passed away at 87.

Here is The Band (sans Robbie and Richard) performing on Late Show with the CBS Orchestra.