George Miller Collection on Letterman, Part 6 of 6: 1994-2002

Late Show:
48. January 14, 1994. Stand-up only. For the first and only time, George performs in a suit and tie. And groomed hair.
49. June 8, 1994. Stand-up only.
50. February 26, 1996. The True Stupid Stuff Comedian gimmick.
51. July 8, 1996. The Getting Older Comedian gimmick.
52. August 22, 1997.
53. December 30, 1997. The Guy Who Doesn't Know What's Going On gimmick.
54. April 21, 1998. The Presumptuous Comedian gimmick.
55. June 19, 1998.
56. October 8, 1998. Stand-up and short chat.
57. March 4, 1999. The Investigative Comic gimmick.
58. January 18, 2001. The Impersonation Comic gimmick.
59. July 12, 2001.
60. November 28, 2001.
61. April 8, 2002.
62. September 4, 2002.
George died March 5, 2003 of leukemia at 61.
63. March 18, 2015. Norm Macdonald and Dave talk about George.

[@theccoswo]

Thank you for this impactful walk down memories of George. A man I cherished. George was a brilliant, caring and complicated man & David respected every ounce of the man-Including his ability to construct very intelligent, clean jokes & never relied or antics, cussing, fart jokes or physical musing (see “Funny Business with George Miller”, to hear about their relationship). Further, his brilliant comedy impacted Johnny Carson the same way. Had George not been so darn honest & bitingly sardonic, he’d have been as big as them…and they knew it!!

[@janiebobanie72]

My favorite thing about George is his smile 😊

[@nerkymusselman8843]

loved george miller from his very first appearance that i saw of him on the tonight show. thanks for the great george anthology!

[@senselessbabble1996]

Thank you for this! My brother and I were in the audience for one of these episodes. We didn't see it televised that night, and I never caught it as a rerun. --- Here's the thing that stands out to me after having been there... Miller really bombed with the audience when we were there. They weren't giving him any love! We were in the second row in front of Dave's desk. I, being a fan of Miller's, and my brother who will laugh loudly at anything, were really giving out the biggest belly laughs we could to make up for the crowd. Miller looked our way a few times, and I noticed it on this video too. BUT, what stands out to me is that in the sound editing of the episode, you wouldn't know the crowd had been dead! I'm not saying they dropped in a laugh track, but they did turn up the volume on the light laughs he was getting. --- Now, you probably thinking "This was decades ago, maybe your memory is foggy?" I don't think so, because my brother and I discussed how dead the audience was that night afterwards (we blamed the rubes in the seats, not Miller!), and to this day when we talk about our time at the show, we talk about how we were stuck with a crappy audience. --- Anyway, that's my little story. Thanks for reading, and thanks to Don for sharing!

[@adianthony7626]

Thanks for sharing and I am glad you guys supported him. Which set are you referring to?

[@senselessbabble1996]

@@adianthony7626 July 8, 1996 - I swear that the deep chuckle you hear after "gossip and scuttlebutt" and "good, I'll wait!" and "oh, it's not good" is my brother.

[@abdulrahmanabdullah57]

I 99ب ت

[@mshef140]

@@adianthony7626 17:35

[@asiawalkerextra]

Bombing is built into his act like no other comic

[@leonardstilwell1894]

"Thanks! I enjoyed talkin' to ya!" is the best signoff ever. Miss you, George; and thank you for all the great memories.

[@thegrimyeaper]

I liked "I'm gonna sit over there cause I'm tired" the best.

[@leonardstilwell1894]

@@thegrimyeaper Who said it? I like it, too :)

[@thegrimyeaper]

@@leonardstilwell1894 59:28

[@leonardstilwell1894]

@@thegrimyeaper Oh, ok :) I haven't quite gotten there.

[@a_real_nowhere_man]

At least two people were laughing throughout this clip--Dave and me. It's great when you can get Dave laughing. It has been a long time since I've seen George Miller and hate to hear he passed away. Watching his delivery, you can see some Norm MacDonald and his style had some Jay Leno. Read on George's wikipedia page that Dave paid for his medical expenses due to the cancer, and subsequent funeral. Really amazing gesture. Thanks for the clips Don, nice trip down memory lane for me.

[@charleswinokoor6023]

One of the funny and I guess endearing things about Miller was the fact that he knew that a lot of his sarcastic jokes wouldn’t get big laughs. It was funny just hearing him throw them out there. I think that’s one of the things Lettermen liked about him.

[@drrobert8678]

Anyone with a casual interest in George Miller should just view this video out of the six (and the first Carson appearances). All six videos though completely capture the evolution of George Miller from the really painful part 1 through the extremely funny part 6. The bond between Dave and George shows through strongest here. And gone (mostly) are the (likely) intentionally bad jokes. More acerbic, but those over the line jokes mostly worked. The recycling involves jokes that worked before. It's hard to pin down whether Norm MacDonald loved his pushing the boundaries or being not afraid to throw out really awful unfunny (to everyone but him) jokes. The brief tribute clip with Norm suggests both. Anyway, this is a gem and much thanks.

[@therealshaft9768]

I wish George could have seen how much he ment to comedy and how loved he was from people like Carlson, letterman, and Norm Mcdonald

[@ventisale1]

Thanks to this upload, i can witness what appears to be genuine love and friendship between these two comedians.

[@makeadifference4all]

George Miller was the only guy watching "Dumb and Dumber" in 1994 and thinking, "I've got to get that haircut."

[@sammosammy]

Glad you included the Norm clip, it's the reason I sat here and watched all 6 parts over 2 days. He truly was just purely about telling jokes. One of the greatest of all time.

[@mshef140]

"I'm not much for jokes, I tell ya."

[@spartanx5806]

i love george miller one of the best ever....entertainers...

[@rafaelfernandeslopesdeoliv1700]

Once again, thank you very much for this, Don.

[@CircuitRider]

I’d never seen George’s work before this compilation now, but man was that guy funny. I get why Norm and Dave both loved the guy so much. He’s one of the few guests, along with Don Rickles, who’s as captivatingly funny as Norm.

[@robclarkson5356]

Thanks so much for all the Miller compilations. So many laughs!

[@hutprancer]

Thank you, Don! How much fun it was to watch these! I had never heard of George Miller until Dave talked about him with Norm. It was fun to watch the history!

[@futurelove1632]

Same

[@bobbiewallace4008]

I loved his weird sense of humor. Both of them actually. Strange sense of humors that I enjoy. Sad he died.

[@chasetower6773]

Seeing Miller was worth the drive.

[@2jacobunger]

Never heard of little Georgie Miller but this was the first time I watch one of your videos in one sitting.

[@2jacobunger]

So sad, rest easy thanks for the laughs

[@spartanx5806]

again we love you george miller...rest in peace..

[@spartanx5806]

one of the best ever..

[@asiawalkerextra]

No doubt about it

[@Bill_Woo]

Like Fred Willard you can see that he thinks SO fast that sometimes it comes out outrunning his ability to process them - which like Fred sometimes sounds naive. Yet are some home runs, who knows if by accident! (Re-re-rerunning) the Bruno Kirby's brother bit, he sped right over "yes, my name was actually George Kirby but that name was taken." Youngsters now won't get it, but that is utter comedy genius IMO!

[@Bill_Woo]

Dave has the fastest comedic mind since maybe Steve Allen and Cavett so his fascination with George makes sense. My sense is that George mind is running so fast and he's jonesing to get all his thoughts out that it would explain why he is so [lovably, I say] wretched at (pre-) identifying what works. I sense it's like a mind on full hyper, and he puts all his energy into blasting it out, although at the expense of not being tactically selective. But I don't mind! I treasure guys like this. And Abe Polin !!

[@TGoat123]

That was thoroughly enjoyable...

[@Brettrc]

Thanks so much for these! I will be returning to these videos for years to come

[@terencebrady4990]

George also appeared on August 5, 1999. You missed that appearance.

[@dongiller]

Damn. You’re right. I’d put it up separately, but it looks like someone else already had. Thanks for catching it.

[@katiezee2]

Love the Dave prison time joke...one that made me laugh hard - the first time he told it. The 3rd time, not so much

[@fragmanialains]

I can see how this dude inspired norm! Funny man

[@redshiftexperiment]

The first clip on this video would have been the first time George performed for Dave in the Ed Sullivan theatre. That's probably why he got a suit and tie I'm guessing.

[@GooseOD]

Great to see all the old Late Show Bumpers, pre 9/11 nyc was something special.

[@meons]

Thanks

[@johndalton3180]

I laughed myself silly at the Mac Davis joke.

[@cisium1184]

Yeah and I am not sure why but that was hilarious. Right up there with "OK Gertrude, that oughta hold ya for awhile."

[@Bill_Woo]

I don't care, I like him. Dave has good taste. Poor guy, even if he pilfered some too. A bonus, he has a kind of naive Fred Willard air going on somewhat.

[@leonardstilwell1894]

I don't know for sure, but I think when he was 'bombing' it was all part of the act. Not only did he work cleanly, he also tried to sound unpolished. In interviews, however (I'm thinking especially of one with Robert Klein), you can tell he was as calculating about his act and knowledgeable about what makes for great stand-up comedy as any other great comic.

[@Bill_Woo]

@@leonardstilwell1894 I unhesitantly believe George was smart and very quick thinking, although part of that came across from his "hyper" state. The same goes for Fred Willard, who I consider a comedy giant, who definitely worked the dimwit persona. Likely the same for Norm McDonald on each count. I think Dave was very big on all of those, because they had genuinely fast, sharp wits. The very opposite of Leno :) The only downside of him, towards the later career particularly, was using material that had no chance of scoring. I think that's just because his thing was the hyper rapidfire and he spit it out faster than he could pre-process :)

[@pauljimenez2799]

He's like David Lynch's comic younger brother.

[@retrovhsvault9315]

Hey Don I saw in a second hand shop the other day Larry Bud Melman's Couch Potato Workout tape and immediately thought of you!! I need to go back and grab it, do you have that. one in your collection?

[@dongiller]

I don’t honestly know if I have it or not. I’ll assume I don’t. Grab it! :)

[@retrovhsvault9315]

@@dongiller I think I might have to go do that tomorrow :) Btw while I have you thanks for all the work you do, I've been watching your channel for years and appreciate your work! Heck, your channel and a couple others inspired me to start my own. Thanks man, take care!!

[@dongiller]

@@retrovhsvault9315 Hey, thanks! I really appreciate that.

[@Solidftz]

"But the guy don't say nuthin."

[@alevine1951]

Because of how often he appeared despite many of his jokes seeming less than laugh-out-loud funny to me, I always thought there had to be something about George's act that I wasn't "getting." He had a good-natured neighborly quality and the band always played Sleepwalk at his entrance - is there a story behind that, and a clue to what I was missing? Were he and Dave truly friends? Despite my not being a huge fan of his comedy at the time, I recall being very touched by sadness at his early demise.

[@Targemq8]

If you watch the very first one of these compilations, it actually begins with a Late Night clip of Dave announcing George’s death, and he describes George as his “closest friend”.

[@dongiller]

“Sleepwalk” addressed in the Part 1 description. Yes, they were friends. Dave paid for both George’s medical bills and funeral.

[@alevine1951]

@@dongiller Well there you go, I'll check it out. For the reasons I expressed in my comment, I hadn't watched any episode other than this final one.

[@stevenbatke2447]

Get her “out of the mood” 😅😅

[@mayormc]

"Why are Americans drinking diet Coke? Because they are fat and thirsty."-George Miller.

[@barakfalkovitz900]

Dave doing a bit of impersonation of Johnny's intros at 54:40?

[@s4ckm4n]

What is the song playing at 1:00:00?

[@s4ckm4n]

Ah, now I remember where I know the melody from: Westside Connection - The Gangsta, The Killa And The Dope Dealer

[@dongiller]

Nine Inch Nails - “Hurt.” The original recording here - kzbin.info/www/bejne/hpOrq2ymbL9nhbc

[@s4ckm4n]

@@dongiller Thank you!

[@johnlittle3430]

If you're into impressions, I feel like it'd be easy to do old George if you could just figure out the G thing he does with his L's.