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Late Show In The Media

alynch

By alynch
in Late Show With David Letterman [V]

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alynch

alynch

Seems like a media thread might be a good idea since in the months ahead there'll probably be a bunch of think pieces written as the retirement gets closer. Here a few I've seen in the last month:

 

The journal of a recent musical guest. Had no idea that they had to come in so early on those douple-taping days.

 

A couple of Paul Shaffer profiles: one from Rolling Stone and another from The Daily Beast.

 

The guy who plotted to kidnap Harry is getting paroled.

 

And my favorite, a former unpaid intern filed a lawsuit over being an intern that wasn't paid, and then dropped it two days later.

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jjis
jjis

Here's the full length​ version:        

nowandlater
nowandlater

Oh, hell yes!!!!        

alynch
alynch

And now mainstream news outlets are reporting the cancellation. I had them beat by a day, so I think deserve some money.

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jjj

jjj

alynch, the article about the musical guest is wonderful!  Anyone reading needs to be sure to get to the final section by the band member with lost luggage.  Great sense of how awesome it is to play that show!  Bonus:  Biff sighting!  and speaking! 

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jjj

jjj

(edited)

I saw the headline in Google News, and thought, "no, not Tony Mendez."  But that does sound like a disintegrated work non-relationship.  I am very impressed that Dave is acknowledging Tony's work by continuing to pay him until the show ends.   But both Tony and Bill are part of the larger family of audience members, so we don't want either one damaged. 

Edited by jjj
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kib

kib

Sad story.  I'm sure everyone on the staff are wound a little tight these days.  BTW - If I never see the phrase "gap-toothed funnyman" again, I'll die a happy man but I'm not counting on it.

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ebk57

ebk57

(edited)

You may be right, but it can't be worse than the sex scandal, which made air.

 

But, if I recall correctly, Dave told the story on the show before it hit the papers (or other media.  It's always "the papers" for me!) so he could get out in front of it.  This has already been in the papers and it happened 10 days ago, so I don't see the upside of Dave bringing it up on the show.

 

Stranger things have happened, though.

Edited by ebk57
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jjj

jjj

And the extortion was specifically about Dave, and he had to own up to it or let others tell the story.  I'll bet Tony makes it into the final montage, whatever shape that takes. 

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alynch

alynch

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I suspect they won't mention it on air. They could've acknowledged it any time last week but didn't. I suppose they might feel compelled now that Tony has talked to the Post, but more likely they'll just ignore it.

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dcalley

dcalley

(edited)

Yikes, Tony has some issues. And the cue card pictured in that article doesn't even make sense!

 

I can't believe he has a Harvard degree and then started a career in cue cards.

Tony isn't the Harvard grad; the victim, writer Bill Scheft, is. It is interesting to learn of Tony's background in classical ballet!

Edited by dcalley
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Grommet

Grommet

I just finished reading And Now, an oral history of the NBC show.  It was an interesting take on the show, told mostly by the writers and producers (nothing from Dave himself). I learned the origin of Pea Boy!

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opus

opus

I just finished reading And Now, an oral history of the NBC show.  It was an interesting take on the show, told mostly by the writers and producers (nothing from Dave himself). I learned the origin of Pea Boy!

That looks like it could be interesting. Do those things ever become "real books"?

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SanDiegoInExile

SanDiegoInExile

.....then started a career in cue cards.

 

There is a great TimeOut NY article (http://www.timeout.com/newyork/dance/right-on-cue)from 2008 in which Tony tells his story

 

 

...My mom got me the job doing cue cards originally. She was teaching at UCLA and she talked to the theater-arts department and the chairman knew Barney McNulty, who invented cue cards. He was an NBC page and Ed Wynn—he couldn’t remember his lines, so he asked Barney to write some stuff on a card and all of a sudden he had an incredible business. We worked everywhere. The soaps. We went from show to show. The only one I did regularly was The Hollywood Palace, which I loved. Dean Martin was a really great guy. His fingers were tan and short and chubby just like my grandmother’s. Carol Burnett was amazing. One time in rehearsal, they had to pour water over this actress Jackie Joseph, and I heard Carol say, “Make sure the water is warm.” What a nice lady. The bigger the stars, the nicer they were. The ones on their way up were a little more…nervous. I did cue cards for Laugh-In.

 

Tony's partner was the cue card person for Letterman at NBC.  When Marty died, Dave hired Tony.

 

 

I had gotten Marty working for SNL. He was an actor and he didn’t have that much work, so he started doing the second person on Letterman and then he moved up, and whenever I wasn’t doing SNL I would do the second guy on Letterman. When Marty started getting sick, I took over for him and started working for Dave [at NBC]. Then, the season ended and Dave decided to move to CBS. I went to work with Letterman two days after Marty died. It actually saved my life because I had a reason to get out of bed.

 

Tony may be gone, but as the NYPost screed noted:  Worldwide Pants is paying him and his insurance until the Dave leaves the Late Show in 2015.

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alynch

alynch

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(edited)

I feel bad I don't know what you're talking about. Can you elaborate?

 

Here's the short version. Bill Cosby has been accused of rape/sexual assault by 14 different women. The initial accusations came to light in a civil lawsuit filed back in 2005. The lawsuit only had one plaintiff, but it contained 13 Jane Doe witnesses who would testify to being assaulted by Cosby over a decades-long period. The lawsuit was settled out of court and the plaintiff agreed to not discuss the case, but several of the witnesses ended up telling their stories to the press. The allegations then basically disappeared from the public consciousness for most of the next decade, but they've been getting a lot more attention over the past couple months due to a new biography that leaves the accusations conspicuously unmentioned and a stand-up set by Hannibal Buress where he called Cosby a rapist going viral. Things reached an even higher pitch this past Monday when Cosby (or his social media guy, more likely) made a very ill-advised Twitter post and now today one of the alleged victims wrote an editorial for the Washington Post.

Edited by alynch
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kib

kib

It gets more tawdry:

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/confidential/cbs-women-curry-favor-article-1.2020179

 

If it's someone on the staff that went to (tympani drums please..)"Confidential" with this story I can't imagine Dave being too happy with them given his ethic about 'team'.  I suspect "a source close to the show" ain't.

In any event, at the end of the day I'm guessin' Dave is more than ready to pack it up and go fly fishing at his place in Montana.

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kib

kib

BTW - I hope y'all don't construe that I believe the Late Show staff should bury facts if there's some sort of illegal activity going on backstage 'for the team'. It's just that running to the press (if the Daily News even qualifies) to report what or what may not appear to be aberrant behavior by a guest doesn't do the company any favors.  I have to believe over the 30-some year run there's been a fair amount of weird shit that's gone on behind the scenes with guests.

 

This simply seems like bandwagoning by someone not very close to the company.  I really don't remember this kind of idol gossip being spread by the staff even when the boss had his issues.

 

Just thought I needed to say that... 

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opus

opus

 I have to believe over the 30-some year run there's been a fair amount of weird shit that's gone on behind the scenes with guests.

 

There's definitely a good book waiting to be written by someone.

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alynch

alynch

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(edited)

I'm also not entirely convinced of that story's veracity. The sheer strangeness of it makes it seem a bit too much like something someone would make up just to troll a gossip columnist. Plus, Cosby's been a regular guest for decades and considering how many former staffers there must be over that period, it doesn't seem like something that would be too hard to confirm.

Edited by alynch
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opus

opus

(edited)

Dave will be guesting on the The Late Late Show next Tuesday. Guest-hosted by Regis.

So is it taped before Monday, or is he not in NYC next Tuesday?

Edited by GaryE
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