Late Show with David Letterman - "Please Stop Calling Me Chief" 06-26-2001

Please stop calling me chief!
Via WIVB-TV Channel 4, Buffalo NY.

[@andreaudet]

I went to a Letterman taping in 2011. Just before the taping, I bought a sandwich from Rupert. Nice guy, took a photo with us and everything! While there, I also bought a Late Show t-shirt. Then, while in the studio audience in the Ed Sullivan theatre, Dave noticed my shirt. He asked me where I got it, and I told him I got it at the deli. He made a self-deprecating joke à-la-Letterman about how their show is so bad they have to sell t-shirts out of a deli (hahaha)... then he asked me how much I paid for the shirt. I said “twenty bucks” and then he took $20 out of his pocket and gave it to me. Crowd went nuts. I will never forget that... my little Letterman moment!

[@vinnycarrocia7511]

Do you still have the $20 or did you go buy another shirt? How were the sandwiches?

[@andreaudet]

@@vinnycarrocia7511 Sandwich was good. Twenty bucks was spent at the bar later that day. :)

[@asmodeusasteroth7137]

Awesome I wish i could go. Very good 👍

[@scottarivett496]

Cool story. Dave was one of a kind. The only one of the bunch that was ever in Carson’s league.

[@why-even-try-brotendo]

@@andreaudet 20 dollars for one drink I bet

[@Airplane_Willy]

I absolutely MISS television like this. No one did it better than Dave in Late Night.

[@dwaynesbadchemicals]

Hell yes. Nobody included their neighborhood in the show like Dave did.

[@the6ig6adwolf]

Dave: do you know how we play Please stop calling me Chief? Rupert: yeah you just keep calling them Chief.

[@alexandermacdougall7873]

Ruperts face when they were going to disqualify him. 😂😂😂😂

[@kristinemunholland8980]

I so agree. Priceless...

[@FerdinandCesarano]

Thanks for posting this, Chief.

[@joycampi7233]

Lololololol!!!

[@johnhorn3344]

Dave was soooo good. Every night was an event. Even the the bad shows were good. I was lucky enough to be in the audience for a show in June of 2008. Jack Black was the main guest.

[@4seeableTV]

Jack never disappoints.

[@seeharvester]

Not for me. CZJ would be the main guest for me.

[@ProfessionalDad]

Fun to explain to your kids : I used to set up our VCR to record Letterman when I had to go to sleep as a kid, then watched it the next day after school!

[@charlenemack7040]

I’m 71 years old. I wish I knew how to set up the VCR in order to record it like you did. No, I was stupid, I stayed up and was sleep deprived in school because I had to watch Letterman. Don’t tell anyone but I have been secretly in love with David Letterman for 40+ years. 😮 😊❤😂😂😂

[@JonathanHudgins]

So did I!

[@tolerants231]

My dad did the same thing but he watched it as he taped it

[@YouTube-tied]

I started watching Dave in 1984, I was 18 and had just moved out and also gotten my first vcr. I still have Letterman bits on tape from the mid-80's. Those were some of his funniest and most offbeat years, perfect for late night carousing.

[@munefresh]

"Wow, audience making up their own joke." - brilliant

[@jimicmore1895]

I once stopped by and talked with Rupert, he came out, we spoke for bout 20 min, he was a big OU fan & was interested in Oklahoma history, cool in person as on tv. Next time I was in NY, I gave him a SOONER ball cap. Rupert was so unassuming & perfect for Dave's sketches

[@fart7505]

Who cares

[@jimicmore1895]

@@fart7505 hi dumbass, I guess you do by responding your rudeness

[@krazykevin4225]

Well you obviously do since you replied 🤡​@@fart7505

[@Frankincensedjb123]

I liked it when Dave would send Rupert out with an earpiece and Dave would tell him what to say. HILARIOUS!

[@nobasementinthealamo3859]

That was the best. Once I started laughing I couldn't stop.

[@SJReid82]

RAMONA.

[@Urbex42]

Laughing so hard. Absolutely hilarious

[@jimicmore1895]

Now that was real comedy, Dave liked his ppl to be very nonchalant & made for him being funnier w his skits

[@ActuallySanFrancisco]

i love how dave sticks it to those greedy ass landlords at the pizza place. imagine seeing someone do that on corporate bootlicker TV in this day in age.

[@Maya_Pinion]

Yea! Yes.

[@RoxStar1968]

I think the pencil gag at 2:50 is to sort of soften his legitimate anger at the whole situation.

[@blt4life112]

Don't have to imagine, it still happens if you watch the right shows.

[@ActuallySanFrancisco]

@@blt4life112 absolutely nothing like this happens on late night TV anymore. that's for sure. it's all saccharine, heavily narrative controlled BS.

[@craigcampbell1843]

I love how you could be doing anything anywhere in the world and all of a sudden be on the Letterman show.

[@ODUBlue]

This was my absolute, all-time favorite segment 🤣 It never seemed to kill, but Dave sure as hell loved it. That was the best part.

[@my0p1n10nst1nks]

Whatever makes you happy, chief

[@zenseed75]

This and beat the clock lolol

[@CF0RD]

@@zenseed75 I liked "Know your cuts of meat"

[@gregorykrug8034]

1. Letterman, 2. Conan. No one else even compares.

[@ticnatz]

I had totally forgotten how funny the Rupert Gee stuff was all those years ago. Classic.....

[@wannabe4668]

Most laid back person on television. Rupert Gee

[@Lovethemusic385]

Rupert nailed this stuff. Kept it real down home.

[@defaultusername123]

michael rud someone just gave him that shirt can you believe it?

[@Sakja]

I remember when Dave had a daytime show. I loved him from the beginning and knew he was going places.

[@KenRobert]

That morning show was every bit as funny as his late night show. Was just the wrong time slot to reach his audience.

[@williamfriley]

Stuff like this is why Dave was so great.

[@sethdankinvsgtwfs977]

Rupert is the best part of this whole bit.

[@barneyba]

Other late night hosts try to act crazy. Dave IS crazy. That’s the difference. 😉

[@clancykobane9102]

The Jim Morrison of late night tv.

[@CanadianAmerican]

That's why Dave is the KING of Late Night T.V. - He influenced most if not all of today's late night talk show hosts, and many of them have stated that themselves.

[@Maya_Pinion]

Biff lugnut....hahaha,nice.

[@wills242]

💯. The fake giggly Fallon, Kimmel and Colbert stuff is just painful

[@yourgameisstupid]

Dave's reaction to the song kills me

[@johnnyfelcher8156]

This dude used to be on all the time back in the day. I remember one time they just went in there to buy gum.

[@jdderm9217]

Johnny Felcher I liked the one when he was a waiter and he would carry the glasses of water to patrons with his thumb in them. When they complained he said” who are you the queen of England?”

[@chado3000]

You mean Rupert? Ya, he was on the show as much as Dave for a while.

[@tinnitusthenight5545]

I saw that one!

[@gregpeller1499]

@@jdderm9217 "That was the David Letterman special 1996 and that was the greatest thing I ever saw from David's show and I still have a VHS tape of it.... That was the same one where they had 'Moe: the badass meat slicing man' segment....best Dave EVER!"

[@johnnoecker8471]

Wow. I didn't realize just how much I missed Dave. But then, I'm an old fart. Will it float ?

[@theinsaneshecklador6598]

Always loved will it float.

[@jm5732]

Dave was good at offbeat things like will it float. I always enjoyed stuff being thrown off roofs...super balls...TV's...etc.

[@theinsaneshecklador6598]

@@jm5732 My housekeepers son was the world champion pumpkin grower many years ago. Dave actually contacted him about throwing it off the roof. He declined because the seeds were too valuable to him. Would have been really cool to watch.

[@kaithongsavanh3649]

Will it float...in the Dancing Waters? Er, I mean “Prancing Fluids”? Filmed with the Thrill-Cam 360.

[@michaelwertzy9808]

@@kaithongsavanh3649, "Grinder Girl", "Hula-hoop Girl" in unison! "Velcro Suit", "Alka-Seltzer Suit"! I can't stop remembering all the crazy & hilariously gut-busting "Schtuff" he and his crew came up with!

[@paulbongard1589]

Yes Minnesota state fair on his shirt love it

[@deanrane1961]

7:57 Aww, man that was probably one of the best memories of this guys teenage years!

[@frankbeans5921]

I miss these Rupert Gee skits. I wonder if he still works there. Might grab a T-shirt and a sandwich when I'm in town.

[@nickiminjaaj6435]

frank beans he does I saw him two weeks ago

[@josephhymel8075]

Did you order some frank and beans there? LOL

[@moreygloss9248]

commenters making up their own jokes

[@senorfish2503]

Frank and beans!! Chief!!

[@PAKiller1]

My wife and I met Rupert back in 2007.. he was great and let us take a picture of him.. he seemed to enjoy it as much as we did

[@smoothpoon86]

Rupert’s face when he said “gift card to Rupert’s Deli” hahahahhaaha

[@d.aardent9382]

Rupert's segments were almost always funny. He always just said stuff in such a dry way that it was funny, and they always had some situation or ironic gag going on also.

[@wayneburgess2885]

The dark rings under his eyes are from working long hours in the deli, not from "other substances ". I admire that.

[@chas218]

FYI, the theme song is "Big Chief" by Professor Longhair. Get it, chief?

[@Teeveepicksures]

Paul was the best

[@xxxx85]

Hahahaha, just the first 25 seconds alone so clearly point out why Late Show with David Letterman was such a damn good show. Hahahahaha! It's just funny. It doesn't TRY so damn hard to be funny, it just IS funny.

[@lindaarnold8321]

Amanda thank you so much for posting such a treasure

[@the99thtimelord16]

I miss you 90's. I will never, ever forget you.

[@dupperskeez]

I miss when you turned on the tv for some entertainment.

[@asmodeusasteroth7137]

Right, wtf happened? I watched Leno headlines, and Ellen photos came up, it was so painful, dry and dark behind it...not fun or good Carson, letterman Leno others, Sit coms and fun shows every thing is banned unless it's hateful I think it started when the EU formed.....

[@protahgonist]

Okay dad. We kept the whole cabinet full of VHS tapes for you. But seriously, TV killed the radio star, and the internet killed TV. All that's on TV now is shit designed to make old folks think the Democrats are trying to vaccinate them so that they'll stay too scared to notice who's robbing them blind. It's basically Facebook for the elderly.

[@DennisMoore664]

This was when Late Night television was awesome!

[@grosolo]

someone just gave me this t-shirt -- that element of minor oddity and surprise may not even be possible in today's TV world, alas

[@tma2290]

I miss it dearly

[@fart7505]

Have another Werther’s Original, old man

[@DennisMoore664]

@@fart7505 Get off my lawn, punk! 🤣✌

[@fawltyborstals]

thanks for posting

[@michaelangelos5117]

I went into a bar and ordered a beer. Was sitting next to a guy and I said "what's up dude?" He looked at me kind of pissed and said "don't call me dude". I said, "okay dude". So, I'm laughing in my beer and just sensing the guy simmering next to me. Hilarious.

[@ianwashburn2012]

It's actually a good looking sandwich.

[@narvul]

For an American perhaps. The girl on the right with the cheque though......

[@randymagnum143]

Damn it, that's what I was going to say!

[@chado3000]

Except for the kid in the middle. I would just eat the two red slices of bred, er bread.

[@kjoliver4125]

Yes but where are the chips?

[@sbhamba]

The sandwich the gift certificate and standing between two beautiful ladies is called the heavenly sandwich. Condiments not needed.

[@danabaker596]

When Dave says, "Gonna have to disqualify you", Rupert looks STUNNED. I mean FUNNY!

[@HardRockMiner]

Dave at his best. There will never be another one of him. Kimmel tries but he fails. Miss ya Dave.

[@mitchellcumsteen9220]

HardRockMiner Kimmel sucks. Carolla is way funnier. Kimmel couldn't hold a candle to Letterman.

[@musicman76enator]

Amen

[@SuiGenerisAbbie]

Kimmel's a fucking joke! Not funny by One one-thousandth! :( :(

[@MerkinMuffly]

He's funny when he's making fun of Deranged Donald, which is all the time, so yeah, he's pretty funny.

[@zelqam7305]

carolla has literally never once been funny. He just whines in his Bert from Sesame Street voice.

[@KristinWaites]

His shirt means "Corn Dog Eternal"

[@billphipps453]

I miss Dave..and rupert..they were so good together... those were the days !😊

[@rafaelmadrigal1534]

Good old times. I still remember it.

[@randymichel459]

I remember my first time getting called Chief by a much taller and senior co-worker… I kinda had the look of Michael Scott getting awarded a “Dundee.”

[@ericmagee9054]

Oh nice I was in 9th grade when this aired. I also don’t think I would have figured it out lol.

[@marknapiorkowski]

Surprised that after finding out Mike's parents were in the studio enjoying the show,Dave didn't go on a rant "Enjoying the show in air conditioned comfort while leaving your minor child alone on the hot dangerous NYC streets,hmmm folks"

[@carrrexx7190]

Ya sure, missed opportunity for comedy gold.......security

[@NotPaulAvery]

Id kill for that Corndogus Eternus shirt

[@ScratchGlass9]

Man O man, how we miss Dave every night..!

[@matthewfarmer2520]

Since David Letterman show is no more, i miss the hello deli place.😔

[@markwindow5865]

Rupert is a legend!

[@SonicDeeHedgehog]

Letterman and Conan were the best

[@sk8terboi10003]

2:50 classic Dave I love when he would do something random like that

[@FunkSoulBubby]

"People from New Mexico." Damn. This was one of my favorite bits.

[@mikewatte4478]

im from uk and i went in that deli and bought the hello deli tshirt when i was in ny. i met the owner.

[@HipsterDoofus100]

Who gives a shit

[@zelqam7305]

Cosmo Kramer wouldn't say that-he'd be fascinated by that story! I like it too! That's cool you went there and met him and got a souvenir. It would be fun!

[@mattk1631]

How'd you like New York, chief?

[@zelqam7305]

Matt, try calling everyone Chief for a day. Maybe it'll even stick as a lifetime habit. Ok, Chief?

[@hippa2dahoppa2]

rupert was always a good sport lol. letterman was the best. i remember one show he kept talking about how a lightning bolt shot through the studio and almost killed him. yet it never happened. just randomly through the entire show he kept mentioning this lightning bolt that wasnt real hahahah.

[@leorickt.9604]

I never got to see the show :( from the clips ive seen on youtube its apparent he had some real comedy chops though

[@FlamingKarrotopProductionsFKP]

Damn. I cant believe i didnt watch Norm McDonald or Dave Letterman until they were both gone. Fucking legends.

[@loganflatt]

Dave’s still here Chief!

[@brucebudka]

👍thanks Amanda.

[@glendale6]

NowFallon has puppy quiz. Jeez

[@defaultusername123]

Idk who was smoking what when they hired Fallon to do that show.

[@asmodeusasteroth7137]

Don't even watch, I stopped watching, I watched Leno head lines, and then Ellen photos pop up I watch, It's dry, it's dark and tense, you feel something hateful behind it.... Comedy is dead, so are good old sit coms and other shows. I just think something changed when the EU formed, a strange shift I don't like it

[@SuperC888]

Hello Deli just celebrated their 30th anniversary of being in business. There was a little ceremony outside the deli. Paul Shaffer was there & made a speech. Rupert was also there, of course!

[@kontrabidangungguy]

Does anybody know the title of the music played when they handed the big cheque?

[@1800allyoucaneat]

Josh Ashcroft, "Let the Eagle Soar"

[@natepike6147]

Place looks pretty much the same as when I visited in 2018. :)

[@4seeableTV]

Looking at the banner of Hello Deli in the video from 2001 ( 1:27 ) and then at Google Maps today. It's the exact same banner, complete with patch job in the upper right. That thing has stayed together for over 20 years.

[@0okamino]

Did they ever release a home version of _Please, Stop Calling Me Chief?_ If not, they should have.

[@ilovemycat333]

Pairing him up with jack hannah is awesome. I was lmao

[@MerkinMuffly]

4:39 Wow, Tom Brady was only 15 here.

[@zaq55]

He'd only won like 2 or 3 rings at this point

[@navyguyinva]

An innocent day. 10 weeks later, the world would change forever.

[@KingDecahedron]

And it all came tumbling down.

[@robocock475]

Yeah, Michael Jordan announces his return to the NBA

[@those__1880]

One million dollars .... worth of hello deli gift certificates! lol

[@timprescott4634]

Those __ Today, that would generate a lawsuit!

[@carpballet]

I was never at the show. But I dreamt that Dave and I were buddies. He’d visit me and then bring me to NY to hang around backstage and we’d talk about stuff after the show.

[@aaronreeder5753]

Rupert made that sandwich in 60 seconds!

[@tbx59]

Spent a week in New York when it was cheap after 9/11 and the best part was going to the Hello Deli.

[@onpsxmember]

Is there an an episode of Please Stop Calling me Chief with a native american?

[@presence5426]

I once kept calling a bartender 'chief.' He didn't think it was amusing.

[@scottpiper213]

Somebody needs to upload “Please Stop Calling Me Debbie” as well.

[@nathanbabiuk6286]

Stop calling me Chief and Catherine Zeta Jones wow what a show

[@knickandchester]

Miss nice kids like this. We'll mannered, confident, not glued to cell phone

[@Ralph_Sandwich]

You typed this on your phone you troglodyte

[@fromulus]

I just got my 6 year old daughter to say please stop calling me chief, then I showed her this video after I stopped laughing.

[@nicholassterling8483]

I cringe that this was taped just slightly over two months before 9/11, and no one knew what was about to happen. Nick :-)

[@omniknowguy8543]

Was thinking the same thing…

[@randyw.9916]

Dave made the simplest, everyday occurrence funny.

[@marksoprano007]

Does anyone know the name of the song they started playing when the girls presented the check to the kid???? Is it Michael Bolton, A love so beautiful??

[@HomerMcPoT101]

Johnny left some pretty big boots to fill and boy did letterman rocked those puppies like nobody’s business. Anyone on air now isn’t even in the right department ....

[@SharkMinnow]

Conan doesn't really have a show anymore just a chat show....next to that has to be Kimmel.

[@loganflatt]

@@SharkMinnowKimmel is awful.

[@Scrapla1]

I miss this era of the show.

[@BennyDABEATA]

That sandwich looks so good

[@dead_yellow]

Anyone know the song that plays when they bring out the giant gift certificate?

[@Teeveepicksures]

Rupert never GAF and that's what made him so funny.

[@dallastrujillo7540]

How is Rupert? Is he still there? Anyone know if he was on ant of Dave’s last shows?

[@CorinneH-ug3mu]

Rupert’s innocent replies are too cute!

[@MrMice...]

5:49 the face 😂

[@roycoots7233]

I'm surprised his corn dog didn't bust through that check 🐣

[@NoellaScott]

Even after years at CBS, this still had the genuine, off the rails, could go somewhere nuts feeling to it. Not as much as what I've seen from the old NBC Dave, but more than anything made now. It's all too manufactured and refined. The hilarity is always in the awkwardness and the errors.

[@adamsmashups4839]

Do you have the "She's already gone,Chief"clip?

[@tonycantu3491]

Please don’t call me Shirley

[@bhikkhu]

That kid seems like such a nice guy.

[@napoleonbonerfart278]

Dave - Do you know how to play? Rupert - Yeah, you just keep calling em chief. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@herbjergens6350]

Where csn I get that soundtrack!!!!!!!! "STOP CAAAALIN ME CHIIEF da da da."

[@markcornish2519]

I worked with a guy that called everyone "slick" it was annoying, figured he saw his mother and called her slick

[@jonathanrojas1246]

What's the song at 7:17 ?

[@flyjarrett]

Were there any other times where Dave played “Please Stop Calling Me Chief?” My boys and I have fun calling each other Chief as a result of this bit.

[@hankigoe829]

Rupert G, so many memories

[@saxonwax]

stop calling me chief tune is "professor longhair's big chief" a NOLA classic

[@Luke-qz3wu]

This is it chief