David Letterman on Late Late Show, May 24, 1995

[@NoelComiX]

I miss these days. Never stop living in the 80s and 90s people.

[@sonnyblack0870]

I hear ya, but sometimes I question myself if it’s healthy hanging on so strongly as I do to those two decades.

[@thomaslarcher9955]

I’m french, I’m 26 and I truly beleive that letterman is the best thing that ever happened in television. Thank you for all the clip, your work is astonishing, I just can’t get enough of it.

[@bobbiewallace4008]

I'm with you. For some reason I've always had a crush on him.

[@davidallen346]

Best talk show host ever next to Johnny Carson

[@glennhoddle10]

*Tom Snyder was the ultimate conversationalist interviewer. An irreplaceable legend of broadcasting.*

[@Rob_Kates]

So true, he was outstanding.

[@1TexasTV]

They'll never be another broadcaster and interviewer than the late, great Tom Snyder. Fire up the colortini, and watch the pictures... and the angels in heaven as they fly through the air. RIP Tom Snyder, and Godspeed.

[@SuiGenerisAbbie]

I loved Snyder. I miss him so!

[@ElbertDaniel-dw7oe]

It would be nice if the late night talk shows came up to par with these guys. I miss it.

[@satchelconnor995]

I loved his jazz music in the beginning. So classical. I am happy to of got to watch both late shows back in the 90s. I feel so old but feel so grateful to be able to go back and watch these lovely classics

[@youbetcha6880]

I miss Tom Snyder! His late-'90s talk show was brilliant. So few tv hosts can talk to the audience and guests like Snyder could. He gave me many a comforted nights in during my 20s.

[@alexepena]

34:15 is sooooooooo david letterman. Absolutely love his type of comedy

[@fasteddie9529]

This is so cool to see. I was too young to stay up and watch TS on the Tomorrow Show (except for the Charles Manson interview) but I really became a fan during the CBS run. TS is truly one of the greats in broadcasting...just like Dave.

[@darincox6202]

You can tell Dave really enjoys talking to Tom

[@hestergreen2031]

I was unable to watch late night TV when it was on, when I was a teenager going through school. I was stuck doing my homework. So, now l love listening to this.

[@arkyandy9612]

Don these are the best. All the best. Great work!

[@dongiller]

Thanks!

[@thealaskan1635]

this is great! I wish you could do ALL of Dave&Tom's shows.

[@feggyduss6463]

Dave and TS were the very best in Late Night Television during the Mid-1990's. Thanks for sharing.

[@MastersOfAudiovisuality]

Thank you for this and all your other uploads! Big fan of both Snyder and Letterman and it's a pleasure to be able to enjoy the compilations and in this case full episodes for someone who's not from the US. My question though is slightly off-topic from the main video event, that 5-second snippet the band plays between 0:10-0:15 sounds absolutely lovely. Do you or anyone else reading this comment have an idea what song this is or whether there is an instance of the band playing this song at another occasion for a bit longer?

[@dongiller]

The Spinners - “I’ll Be Around” (1973) And thanks!

[@piesusan17]

Happy 86th Birthday, Tom. Wish you were still here.

[@cityhawk]

At this time, as a kid, I watched Conan of course and missed this kind of programming. I’d still prefer Conan, but listening to Tom and Dave’s interaction was in its way, educational. There’s a lot to learn here about crafting your own identity as an entertainer and the art of conversation. It’s great to see, and I took a lot away from this.

[@singlesideman]

The brilliance in Dave's performance here, and it is a performance, is so subtle and reverential. His whole snarky and hilarious persona (which he basically invented, at least in the modern age) is a mask. It hid his awe of Tom, and the painfully awkward realization that he felt like he took over Tom's 'Tomorrow' show/slot years before on NBC, from a man he admired so much, and then used the opportunity to launch his own, substitute late night empire, in lieu of inheriting Johnny's. And now he was the boss of his hero who was now interviewing him on a show that he owned. It was all too much... Dave is actually a shy and modest man, who also knew that his shadow side had something to prove - and to contribute to the canon of the broadcasting greats who spoke to him when he was young, in an adult way, when he got it from no one and nowhere else. But I think that his brilliance - already demonstrated as a child - made some of the grown-ups in his early life take notice, and they engaged him, and gave him encouragement, in ways that they didn't do with other kids his age.... There's more than a solid essay in this interview - maybe even a thin book surviving at least a week on the New York Times' Bestseller List. Dave spoke to the bashful gods in all of us - and still does...

[@dongiller]

There was some discussion of the obvious irony in their press conference launching Tom's new show -- kzbin.info/www/bejne/n4fSmXptqd98aLM

[@NoelComiX]

I miss Dave’s old look with the white socks and sneakers.

[@hollygarnish2925]

This is so cool, Greensburg the Tree City is a real landmark. Love the square. Sushi Spot. They are just adorable and down to earth guys who really like eachother. I am so interested.

[@mggailitis7231]

I always loved listening to the banter between Snider and Letterman. Snider was smart enough to know he couldn't match wits with Letterman, but he knew how to keep him on his toes; and clearly Letterman respected that. Sort of like Letterman's interviews with Bob Costas. Does anyone remember the Costas one-on-one interview show with the likes of Letterman, Chris Elliott and other predominant figures from all walks of life? I love how the likes of Snider and Costas had the smarts to listen and ask good questions rather than trying to insert themselves in the bit.

[@dongiller]

Here’s the unedited Dave with Costas - kzbin.info/www/bejne/bqq2h5SGjpupeLM And here’s Chris with Costas - kzbin.info/www/bejne/rJ_ZZpSradeSgdk

[@mggailitis7231]

@@dongiller And the Giller Prize goes to....!

[@dongiller]

@@mggailitis7231 Ha! If only there were a relation. :)

[@drummeralbertrivera9577]

I think it was called “On The Record with Bob Costas”.

[@ronwade5646]

1984, KNAU Flagstaff, 100, 000 watts of NPR Classical music news and public affairs on your FM Dial.

[@Tracks777]

Good! Keep it up!

[@crispinh1]

I'm guessing the "technical reasons" for the phone line being down is that they taped it earlier in the evening. Also, Tom said this was a disaster in the LA Times, "Letterman decided that night that he was going to play comedian and not interview."

[@JSYBen]

I'm surprised he said that. Yes he goofs off a little, but he does seem to be giving genuine answers to this questions. Also, can't imagine this wasn't live, as the tech problems I'm sure they would have edited out otherwise.

[@TeachAManToAngle]

Toll free line down, huh? Convenient considering Dave didn't like taking calls.

[@CIoseyourmouth]

2 busy with the interns

[@edkalegi6504]

Letterman did quite a few full length interviews during this time (95 and 96) with Snyder, Larry King, and Charlie Rose. Wonder if it was because this was when the show slipped behind Leno in the ratings and they were trying to stir up a renewed interest in the still relatively new CBS show.

[@barrettus]

They used Tom as a joke/plot device on the Larry Sanders' episode which featured Dave. (edit Featured .. appeared would be better)

[@matthaze]

Hey Don! Did Dave do a tribute to Tom when he passed away in 2007?

[@dongiller]

He did, on July 30, 2007.

[@erichaynes7502]

I never liked it when Dave was "CBS Corporate Dave" like he is here.

[@mrmike743]

Don giller my friend can I ask how do you get these? I mean did you record everything of Dave all those years or do you know someone who worked for him and has all of these tapes? I'm very interested my friend

[@dongiller]

I began taping Dave on audio cassette in 1981, when he guested on Carson, and I was on a Carson kick then. When Late Night premiered in 1982, I'd sporadically audio cassette the show for the first 15 months or so, but then in the Spring of 1983 it became nonstop. In mid-February I bought my first VCR, and from that point forward I recorded every show until Dave's retirement in 2015. I'd also collect either by trade or acquisition shows I either didn't have (pre-2/85, not counting the reruns) or had but in poor quality (the cable would go out or my VCR was dying before I realized it and bought a new one). I've also since gotten ahold of superior-quality Late Nights and Late Shows from sources I can't yet divulge, but I'm sharing them as much as possible. But the bulk of the collection is my own.

[@dongiller]

That is, "In mid-February 1985 I bought my first VCR..." (left out the year).

[@mrmike743]

Don Giller now do you mind me asking how old you are sir? I'm 38 and came upon Dave in 86-87 myself and that was a young age.

[@dongiller]

I have the body of a 67-year-old with the mental maturity of a teen.

[@mrmike743]

Don Giller ahh i see,a bit like Dave I guess hahahaha.

[@danimart3374]

Carson, Letterman, and O'Brien. They're like the Godfather Trilogy of late night, with money, power, and too many tragedies to count. (And, yes, Godfather 3 was a quality picture, arguably, the best of the trilogy.)

[@jonathanaaronnunez796]

I bet the toll free number worked fine.

[@singlesideman]

They hate YOU! Ha ha ha ha ha!!!

[@RaginRonic]

Helen Kushnick was the one who drove the wedge between Dave and Jay, and NBC should've fired her for that. She was the sole instigator of the 1991-1993 Late Night War, and had no business being in show business. To her, she basically wanted everything related to Carson Productions purged from The Peacock Network when Johnny announced his retirement. That included Dave, due to his professional association with Johnny. I think and believe that she wanted to try to use the Executive Producer position on The Tonight Show as a springboard to jump to the spot of President of NBC Entertainment, where she likely would've cancelled Seinfeld & Frasier, and to not allow Friends to be on NBC. She didn't like NBC being a network that aired that kind of comedy, and had she become the boss, would have probably had all the comedy series NBC aired returned exclusively to family sitcoms. Jay should have also stepped down as host of Tonight when he found out Helen's duplicity, and surrendered Tonight to Dave. Just my thoughts on that matter. o.o

[@beavacuda]

Love Letterman (hence here) but his affinity for Snyder proved to be TOTAL flop. Snyder was painfully out of touch before taking the reigns of the newly christened Late Late Show and it just got more apparent with each and every passing day. I'm sure he was a nice guy, but Dave and CBS totally misread the world by installing him. Also, baggage aside from any of these...Larry King, Charlie Rose and Dick Cavett were superior interviewers to him (cause again, Snyder was PAINFULLY out of touch)...and he lent nothing else. Sorry, but the guy made bundle being a waste of space and time for years. Deal with it

[@richardn6768]

Very amusing. So, you didn't like Tom and you have a very self-important rationalization as to why. Larry King was okay. Charlie Rose was good. Try as I might, I never really *got* Cavett. I don't have a puffed up explanation, it's just what I liked and didn't like. Pontification is nothing more than self-serving gas. Deal with it.

[@morbidmanmusic]

Bozo. Deal with it.