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So what are you going to do to avoid spoilers?

 

There will be an 8- to 10-hour difference between when Letterman tapes his final show and when it airs on the West Coast.

 

So there's no way I can avoid Twitter or the Internet during that time. (I will go off Twitter at 8:35 pm, however).

 

The problem is people in the media will be attending tonight's show, and I worry that they're going to give away too much. Hopefully, they won't. Hopefully, they'll show some restraint.

 

I also hope The Late Show doesn't post any preview clips.

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(edited)

I wondered if Rachel Maddow would say something about Dave -- of course she was a newer guest of his, but I thought she was a great guest.

About spoilers -- last night, there was nothing I could find except the official preview before the ET air time, then a stream of articles after 12:36AM, ET. Who knows if that will happen tonight. I agree, no news or these threads until after it airs on the West Coast.

Edited by jjj
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I noticed that someone pulled some clips a fan put together of musical segments from Paul and the band over the years...

That worries me as I don't want the clips to go off You tube...That's all we have left now...

..and I need to hear Paul and the band and hear Dave laugh..just that laugh...

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The Marketplace public radio program did a piece on Dave yesterday. They said NBC owned all of his old material, so when he moved to CBS, he started WWP so that would never happened again. They said his business plans would be revealed only after tonight. Somewhere in there the world "syndication" was mentioned. I'm not sure if that would refer to the Late Show or of his other properties.

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The Marketplace public radio program did a piece on Dave yesterday. They said NBC owned all of his old material, so when he moved to CBS, he started WWP so that would never happened again.

Give Carson some credit on that.  Supposedly Letterman asked Carson for his advise during and after the "Late Shift" skirmishes and Carson's sage words were "Own your own show"  

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This quote from Scheft made me feel better about things:

"I'm very happy that he gets to be the first guy to leave on his own terms. Because none of those other guys got to leave on their own terms."

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They said his business plans would be revealed only after tonight. Somewhere in there the world "syndication" was mentioned. I'm not sure if that would refer to the Late Show or of his other properties.

Oh, I had not heard anything about future ventures or syndication.  I waved my credit card here a week or two ago, asking for paywall or DVD episodes of the show -- that would make this so much easier if it were possible.  And from Dave's perspective, keeping his loyal employees on a payroll would be a priority, based on everything I have heard about him. 

 

I'm avoiding spoilers now, but thanks, and I will come back to read them after the final show! 

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Man, I thought I'd have detailed spoilers handled. I thought media publications wouldn't get too specific in headlines.

 

But one of the publications I follow on Twitter, Variety, is retweeting its reporter who's in the audience tweeting every little thing that's happening.

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I loved the Meg Parsont bits. She was a good sport.

I never much liked the Rupert bits with Dave feeding him lines but it was funny to see him go along with it.

So will Brokaw be on tonight?

I have a love-hate with the Rupert bits.

 

They're difficult to watch.  Then again a LOT of Dave's best bits are.

 

At their heart, most of Dave's best bits are, as Jimmy Kimmel said, about Dave "turning that little tiny screw"--be it on a situation (as in the Taco Bell thing currently on the front page poll) or on a person (as in the Just Shades thing Kimmel cited).  And that second thing is exactly what the Rupert bits were about. But the true genius part of the Rupert bits (and maybe what makes them so uncomfortable to watch) is that the people being harassed by Rupert were only the secondary targets.  RUPERT himself was always the primary target.  His sense of discomfort was always the base of the thing.  Sure, he'd mouth the lines like a good little soldier trying to build up business for his always at risk shitty little hole in the wall (who's rent he only afforded in later years because CBS owns the building and subsidized him with a huge break in his rent).  But you could always feel the nervousness when he did it. The bits were more about Rupert than anyone he encountered--Dave was turning those little screws on him as much or more than the random real world victims.

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... trying to build up business for his always at risk shitty little hole in the wall (who's rent he only afforded in later years because CBS owns the building and subsidized him with a huge break in his rent).  

Oh, *that's* why he did not want to discuss his rent in the article the other day (article about rising rents making the neighborhood much less affordable for little businesses).  I'm glad for Rupert, but wonder if that will continue?  He definitely did what he was told over the years! 

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I have been loving all the artists I follow on FB saying something about Dave but this made me smile the widest...Lake Superior Magazine shared "Visit Thunderbay" photo...

 

  https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/11351205_10152831896645778_3431973474536990618_n.jpg?oh=1cc65d3d1de9bf74778cb796fc103806&oe=5604C75D

 

..and then posted the following:

Tonight is the final night to see Thunder Bay's own Paul Shaffer on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Congrats to Paul and Dave on such a great run. Enjoy retirement boys!

Will you be watching?

Photo courtesy of Thunder Bay Community Auditorium

#letterman #tbay #paulshaffer

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I have been loving all the artists I follow on FB saying something about Dave but this made me smile the widest...Lake Superior Magazine shared "Visit Thunderbay" photo...

 

  https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/11351205_10152831896645778_3431973474536990618_n.jpg?oh=1cc65d3d1de9bf74778cb796fc103806&oe=5604C75D

 

..and then posted the following:

Tonight is the final night to see Thunder Bay's own Paul Shaffer on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Congrats to Paul and Dave on such a great run. Enjoy retirement boys!

Will you be watching?

Photo courtesy of Thunder Bay Community Auditorium

#letterman #tbay #paulshaffer

Letterman may actually retire, but no way Paul does.

 

Worst case, even if he doesn't take another ongoing TV gig, he'll tour instead and do guest appearances.

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Since there's no place for "Unpopular Opinions", I proffer mine here, since it was prompted by a logo sighting on...SportsCenter.  

Jesus!  I thought Mad Men was overkill!

 

Don't let the door hitya in the ass, Dave.  Last time you were funny? some time in the 80s, when you followed Johnny, & Jay was a regular on your couch.

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Saw this posted an hour ago by Darlene Love on Facebook:

 

Just got home from Late Show with David Letterman party at The Museum of Modern Art. Had a lovely time with Paul, Dave & the entire Late Show staff who I will miss dearly. Time to relax in bed & watch the final episode with a box of tissues. frown emoticon

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Not to be that guy, but does anyone remember if Jay Leno got this much attention when he retired? I didn't pay much attention because screw that guy but just wondering.

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Final ratings. The finale drew 13.76 million viewers, making it the fourth most-watched Late Show ever (behind only the premiere and a couple of post-Winter Olympic shows from 94). It's also about 900,000 behind Leno's finale, although Leno did have the Olympic opening ceremonies as a lead-in if you're looking for a good excuse.

 

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/05/21/final-broadcast-of-late-show-with-david-letterman-delivers-largest-audience-since-1994/407030/

 

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2015/05/19/ten-most-watched-letterman-episodes/

 

http://deadline.com/2014/02/jay-lenos-tonight-show-farewell-ratiings-jimmy-fallon-best-ever-result-678957/

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Not to be that guy, but does anyone remember if Jay Leno got this much attention when he retired? I didn't pay much attention because screw that guy but just wondering.

 

He got probably 15 to 20% of the attention Dave got, maybe less.

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Final ratings. The finale drew 13.76 million viewers, making it the fourth most-watched Late Show ever (behind only the premiere and a couple of post-Winter Olympic shows from 94). It's also about 900,000 behind Leno's finale, although Leno did have the Olympic opening ceremonies as a lead-in if you're looking for a good excuse.

Well also total TV viewership has flagged enough that relative to TYPICAL ratings of the time, I bet Dave's showing was more impressive.

 

Also, Leno had two goodbye shows, didn't he?  I suppose even his diehard fans, whoever they are, might have shrugged off "Tonight Show Goodbye #2".

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JohnnyCarson.com has a deal on a special DVD of David Letterman appearances..Apparently, they are three complete shows..releasing in June:

http://johnnycarson.myshopify.com/collections/featured-guests-series/products/featured-guests-series-volume-3

 

 

..and apparently, has started to offer downloads of full episodes...so far there's only three but David Letterman's 1981 appearance is available for $6:

http://johnnycarson.myshopify.com/collections/digital-downloads/products/digital-download-volume-3

Edited by stonehaven
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JohnnyCarson.com has a deal on a special DVD of David Letterman appearances..Apparently, they are three complete shows..releasing in June:

http://johnnycarson.myshopify.com/collections/featured-guests-series/products/featured-guests-series-volume-3

 

 

..and apparently, has started to offer downloads of full episodes...so far there's only three but David Letterman's 1981 appearance is available for $6:

http://johnnycarson.myshopify.com/collections/digital-downloads/products/digital-download-volume-3

I would want the stuff where he fights with Johnny over an old truck.

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I looked through those pictures, and didn't see anything of Merrill directly. There are a few articles floating around in tribute to her. Her response on Twitter has been a restrained "thanks, but I'm not retiring."

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http://www.nbc.com/late-night-with-seth-meyers/blog/four-fun-facts-about-recreating-david-lettermans-late-night-opening

 

Found this in my feed..a behind the scenes take on the recreating the Late Night opening that Seth Meyers did earlier this week...

I really enjoyed watching this -- thank you! 

I looked through those pictures, and didn't see anything of Merrill directly. There are a few articles floating around in tribute to her. Her response on Twitter has been a restrained "thanks, but I'm not retiring."

I know I saw her in an extended interview in the past week -- was it the CNN special?  It was the most I had ever heard her speak. 

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Ebk57, I don't know if you can see it without Facebook. It's just a personal album. I know he has it open to everyone. As of yesterday, the only annotations were just names under pictures, but other people had started to add more detail.

I wouldn't be surprised if one of the fan pages does something more accessible sooner rather than later.

 

Edited for the non-Facebook user link found here.

Edited by LJonEarth
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Was there anything in the montage of Merrill Markoe? I know the main focus was the CBS years, but still.

 

I mean, was she a big presence on camera. I only could find one clip of her on  YouTube. They didn't acknowledge the other head writers. In an interview in 2012 with Charlie Rose (which I linked to yesterday), though, Dave did say how he was doing her show.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXfnQ7gHZZY

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Nice photos, although that guy's amateur reporting also stated "crew members started chucking the entire Letterman set into Dumpsters as per orders from the network", when in fact we know now that Worldwide Pants are the ones behind the dumpster disposal.  Although certainly egged on by the network, since I'm sure the network set a strict deadline for Pants because of their need to get into that space ASAP to start the arduous build they're clearly going to be doing for Colbert (who understandably doesn't want his space to be too reminiscent of Letterman's).

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One thing I totally forgot about was viewer mail. It was my favorite bit when I watched Late Night as a kid.

 

Anyways, Todd Barry (the comedian, and frequent guest on Louie) yesterday posted this video of his letter to Dave when he was 18.

 

(Barry ended up performing standup later on on The Late Show, and I believe he was Dave's guest.)

 

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Not to be that guy, but does anyone remember if Jay Leno got this much attention when he retired? I didn't pay much attention because screw that guy but just wondering.

David Letterman vs. Jay Leno: Why did Dave get the finale love denied Jay?

Leno probably could have gotten a lot of attention the first time, except we knew he wasn't happy about leaving and we already knew he wasn't really leaving at all, and many felt like he lied in 2004 when he spoke about retiring in 5 years. (Side note: sadly funny Conan appearance on Jimmy Fallon's first Late Night.) So, why bother with a big celebratory sendoff for a guy who wasn't really going anywhere? And the second time, there's the feeling of "didn't we already do this?" plus Leno appeared unhappy with leaving again, and he was never the critics' favorite even before the whole mess, so they weren't going to heap tons of praise on him. Jay Leno leaving ‘Tonight,’ again (2013)

 

It really is great that Dave got to leave on his own terms.

 

I know I saw her in an extended interview in the past week -- was it the CNN special?  It was the most I had ever heard her speak. 

Yes, Merrill was on the CNN special. And I don't think this has been linked, though it's so hard to keep up. Celebrating Merrill Markoe, The Woman Who Helped Letterman Shape Late Night

 

Here is a trailer for the Netflix Christmas special with Bill and Paul.

 

This is cool. It's a Google 360 view of the set, pre-destruction. It's pretty thorough.

 

That is cool. What's up with these?

ng9fZ7F.jpg

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David Letterman vs. Jay Leno: Why did Dave get the finale love denied Jay?

Leno probably could have gotten a lot of attention the first time, except we knew he wasn't happy about leaving and we already knew he wasn't really leaving at all, and many felt like he lied in 2004 when he spoke about retiring in 5 years. (Side note: sadly funny Conan appearance on Jimmy Fallon's first Late Night.) So, why bother with a big celebratory sendoff for a guy who wasn't really going anywhere? And the second time, there's the feeling of "didn't we already do this?" plus Leno appeared unhappy with leaving again, and he was never the critics' favorite even before the whole mess, so they weren't going to heap tons of praise on him. Jay Leno leaving ‘Tonight,’ again (2013)

 

It really is great that Dave got to leave on his own terms.

 

I read a behind-the-scenes book from a Leno producer (with a foreward from Leno, who didn't read the book).

 

And he described how Leno told his staff he had just been fired when the 5-year deal was announced.

 

Although a Conan fan, I always took Leno's side in the Conan vs. Leno war. Imagine Leno, at just the age of 54, being told that he only had 5 more years to do the job he loved. Stephen Colbert, at 51, is near that age, and so is Conan himself (age 52). That's why when Conan had the opportunity to produce a late-night show after his, he chose somebody who wouldn't get his job, a nobody named Pete Holmes. I can't imagine Conan or Colbert being anywhere near retirement. Some people like Howard Stern said that Leno should've just bolted out of there and started another show on another network. But even starting his Tonight Show was tough work. Not everybody is Letterman, with the ability to recreate something a little bit different but of great quality nonetheless on another network. Plus, Leno would have to deal with a lot of new people. So he chose to stay the course and, well, got his Tonight Show back.

 

But Letterman is so lucky he got rejected by NBC and ended up on CBS. I don't see any way Letterman makes it into this decade as Tonight Show host. He was lucky to be hooked up with Les Moonves.

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I have thought for a long time, and the past month confirms this: although Dave's longing for the inheritance of the Tonight Show would have been the right and fitting capstone for his career -- instead, he created something separate and arguably greater than the heritage of the Tonight Show -- the heritage of Late Night.  Dave made it, not previous generations, and future generations of performers (we hope!) will build on his vast foundation. 

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