NBC Network - Late Night with David Letterman - "Michael Keaton" (First 45 Minutes, 10/20/1982) 🥡

Here's the first 45 minutes of the broadcast of a fairly an early episode (that is, from within its first months on the air) of Late Night with David Letterman, as shown over WMAQ Channel 5.
Dave's guest is Michael Keaton (the next guest, Emily Prager, appeared in the last segments which are not on here). Featuring bandleader Paul Shaffer and announcer Bill Wendell.
(This was broadcast after the rain-delayed Game 6 of the World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers, which play resumed after a Bill Cosby-guest hosted edition of The Tonight Show, posted here: • NBC Network - The Toni... )
Includes:
Last few seconds of Cardinals-Brewers game (voiceover by Joe Garagiola) notifying of Late Night coming next, with plugs for United Airlines and Hilton Hotels
NBC Sports logo bumper (voiceover by Les Marshak)
Promo for Cheers and Taxi (voiceover by Danny Dark)
Commercials for:
Nissan - 9.9% APR on all new Datsun trucks
Michelob beer (voiceover by John Forsythe)
American Airlines - "I Love New York" (with Lena Horne, the Rockettes, Lauren Bacall, the cast of "The Pirates of Penzance," and Elizabeth Taylor) (voiceover by ??)
Station ID / promo for Channel 5 Sports with Chet Coppock
Show open, followed by Dave's monologue and a few words with Paul, then Dave presiding over Chinese food delivery race and previewing College Bowl between Hunan Wok University and Szechuan State
Commercials for:
Pillsbury Chocolate Chip Cookies (with Paul Frees as Poppin' Fresh)
Baker's Secret pans
Lipton Herbal Tea (with no caffeine)
New Grandma's Swirl Cookies
Segment 2: Dave profiles each team, then gets to the game with Gloria, Bob and Rosa from Szechuan State, and Peter, Andrea and Jim from Hunan Wok University
Commercials for:
New Freedom Anyday Pantyliners (with testimonials from tennis player Rosemary and traffic cop Maxine)
Myadec High Potency Vitamin Supplement
Ruffino Orvieto white wine
AAMCO Transmissions - "The Real Transmission Experts" (featuring Bill Callaway)
Segment 3, with continuation of the Hunan Wok-Szechuan College Bowl
Commercials for:
People magazine (promo for October 25th issue - "Why the Famous Date the Famous")
Tender Vittles cat food (featuring Michael Vale and Estelle Harris) (voiceover by Joe Sirola)
Patio Enclosures, Inc. - by Feldco
Marshall Field's Housewares Sale
Bumper
Promo for NBC Nightly News (voiceover by Howard Reig)
Promo for Little Gloria: Happy at Last (voiceover by Danny Dark)
Commercials for:
1983 Toyota Corolla (with Popeye and Olive Oyl - needless to say, not played by Robin Williams or Shelley Duvall though clearly inspired by the 1980 film versions) (voiceover by Orson Bean?)
McDonald's - "Free Chicken McNugget" (ending voiceover tag by Jim Hill)
Augsburger Beer (with David Stare, President of Dry Creek Vineyard)
Station ID / promo for Fantasy
Segment 4, with guest Michael Keaton (doing a lot of his stand-up material in the guise of an interview), and the winner of the food delivery race arrives at 30 Rock midway (named Leu) (after signaling for a break, but before the bumper, look for the RCA TK-44A/B camera in the background)
Commercials for:
CarX Muffler Shop
Carson Pirie Scott - 128th Anniversary Sale (ends October 24th)
Political ad for George Dunne for President of Cook County Board
PSA for Foundation for Exceptional Children - "Yes, I Can!"
Segment 5, and runner-up in food delivery race shows up and Dave introduces the two delivery men to each other; after they leave, he and Michael resume their discussion in which the latter speaks about cars
(Note: At about 43:11, the original tape recording had ended, so I edited in the last few minutes of the interview from another source to complete the segment (my thanks to the great Letterman archivist Don Giller)
After they finish, Dave previews next guest, Emily Prager, as he signals for a break, whereby the segment ends after bumper fades out
This aired on local Chicago TV early Wednesday, October 20th 1982 during the (approximately) 12:30am to 1:17am timeframe.
About The Museum of Classic Chicago Television:
The MCCTv (FuzzyMemoriesTV) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose primary mission is the preservation and display of off-air, early home videotape recordings (70s to early 80s, mostly) recorded off of TV (in Chicago or other cities now too); things which would likely be lost if not sought out and preserved digitally. If you have any old 1970s videotapes recorded off of TV please email: [e-mail] Even though (mostly) short clips are displayed here, we preserve the entire broadcasts in our archives - the complete programs with breaks (or however much is present on the tape), for historical preservation. For information on how to help in our mission, to donate or lend tapes to be converted to digital, please e-mail [e-mail] Thank you for your help!

[@phantom6226]

For those viewers that missed this episode because of the late start time that night, the program was rerun Tuesday January 18th 1983.

[@fletchkeilman2205]

had to forward this to my mother asap.. she loves both Keaton and Letterman, so this was a blast. As always, thanks for doing what you do. Me and the family intend on donating again come august. This channel is too awesome not to have on youtube

[@curiositykilledthebattery]

The College Bowl Chinese food bit is genius, I love the detail of the background music during the part where they introduce the schools

[@jasettereddix2856]

I like watching the early 80's New Grandma's swirl cookies from 1982. I wish I tried these cookies in the early 80's, but I wasn't born until 1985. 11:09

[@MichelleBab-gy2yx]

I loved those cookies! They should bring them back. 🍪🥰

[@andyrose5616]

Voices: 1:33 John Forsythe - Michelob 25:02 Joe Sirola - Tender Vittles 27:07 Orson Bean(?) - Toyota On camera: 20:03 Bill Callaway(?) - AAMCO 25:14 Estelle Harris - Tender Vittles

[@bobwalton4630]

George Costanza's mother was in the cat food ad

[@mage189]

Letterman has a great channel with a lot of these old bits but it's really cool to see it as broadcast too!!

[@anothermonday5664]

If Keaton had kept at his stand up he could've been one of the best, always a great storyteller.

[@jimwerther]

Thanks for posting! Letterman was brilliant in his day.

[@paulkitt-er9dr]

Letterman and Keaton have a long history both Stand ups and both appeared on Mary Tyler Moore variety hour

[@jeenkzk5919]

I loved Late Night when I was old enough to watch it around 90. Late Night was hilarious! It wasn’t the same when he got a bigger budget on CBS. Definitely went down the tubes after Letterman retired.

[@RageTVHTX]

Dave knew he couldn’t do the late night show at an earlier hour while trying to complete with Leno. The Late Show was geared for an earlier audience.

[@JenMistress]

Oh, OK, this was 1982, two years before Elm Street. Was wondering why Michael Keaton was wearing a Freddy jumper, but wasn't a thing yet. 😉

[@sdne1959]

. Oddly, it was seeing the Cheers and Taxi (final season, on NBC !!) promos (0:29) that really hit me as to just how long ago this really was..........never mind the fact that both Dave and Michael Keaton still looked like YOUNG MEN back then !! 😉 .

[@byrd56]

0:01 - Since they asked, I know what Joe Garagiola sounded like back then, and that was Joe Garagiola himself doing the World Series close.

[@RusstheTroubadour]

100% Joe Garagiola

[@SteveAustin.]

Yep,sure was...82 World Series, Cards vs Brewers

[@KkatsPhotos]

9.9 % percent financing on all new Datsuns … the lowest in 10 years…. And you thought interest rates are high today.

[@oliviaT928]

I thought the same thing! I won’t complain about my 6% rate

[@toddg9609]

It’s time travel, without the jet lag

[@untexan]

More world class broadcasting from Joe Garagiola. “Now stay tuned for late night show… David Letterman” (NBC immediately cuts to a commercial)

[@andyrose5616]

At least he didn’t call him “Don LaHerman.”

[@RageTVHTX]

Dave and Michael Keaton acting like they don’t know each other but they worked together at CBS on Mary Tyler Moore’s variety show back in the late 70s

[@misstee101]

I was seven months old at the time 😮 how time flies

[@theylied1776]

9.9% financing? And that was in 1982. What I bought my last toyota, my rate was 5.6%.

[@mhmrules]

Cool! One of the first Ye Olde Letterman clips I remember watching on YT was Chinese Food College Bowl.

[@NickintheATL]

I am guessing that the local news in the East and Central time zones were preempted that night. Wonder how all those newsrooms felt about this. Probably a mixed bag of reactions on that front lol.

[@SigHawk04]

Most of a local station's revenue comes from their own newscasts, so it wouldn't have gone over well.

[@phantom6226]

On the contrary, NBC stopped World Series rain delay coverage to allow local news in the EST & CST areas.

[@NickintheATL]

@@phantom6226 Where do see evidence of that happening? I skimmed all the recordings I could find and any mention of that isn't apparent.

[@phantom6226]

@@NickintheATL Unless Fuzzy finds WMAQ's news broadcast that night, there is no video evidence. In researching what time The Tonight Show aired on October 19th 1982, I found an article on the World Series by sportswriter Dick Young that stated that NBC broke away from World Series rain delay coverage at 11 PM EDT/10 PM EDT to allow local stations to air their nightly news broadcasts at their usual times.

[@arrowguy173]

34:00 imagine not knowing you just shook Batman’s hand.

[@arrowguy173]

13:20 we Hoosiers recognize that theme! #goirish

[@nicksimon7364]

Damn I miss Michelob - why did you take it from me God, WHY?

[@bryanloveseighties]

Never mind that. I wonder why the Dr Pepper/7 Up Company stopped making Like Cola before I had a chance to drink it.

[@OrangeBubblesTheBird2024]

Do You Have The Complete VHS Or Betamax Recording Of The Unedited Version Of The 1955 Popeye Cartoon: Penny Antics?

[@johnurban7333]

Before Dave became Elite

[@RobHart1980]

I can finance a Datsun for the low, low interest rate of 9.9%. Whatta deal!

[@jimwerther]

Interest rates in Oct 1982 were falling quickly, but still around 11%.

[@Springbok295]

I was in 9th grade.

[@rofflesvanwagon]

I really thought that was chris chan for a second.

[@525Lines]

David did NOT want his shows rerun. I like seeing this stuff but I also see his point.

[@darwinblinks]

These are the truly good Letterman shows.

[@bryanloveseighties]

You know, Fuzzy guy, I am willing to bet you make those thumbnail images using the Gallery app on your phone. There's a feature where you would alter many images and put them all into one picture. Am I right?

[@FuzzyMemoriesTV]

Phone? Nah - I do these on my PC - using good, old-fashioned MS Paint.

[@bryanloveseighties]

Ok

[@wmbrown6]

@@FuzzyMemoriesTV - Funny, if I were doing such thumbnails I would've done 'em in Photoshop.

[@antony716]

Who thought the kid in the chocolate chip cookie commercial was a child Christopher Moltisanti? I did.

[@markcornish2519]

A child who?

[@toddg.1198]

Yep I did too!

[@darwinblinks]

When Letterman mattered. By 1985 I was over him.

[@michaelewing4515]

BTW, Here's a fun fact: Szechuan State and Hunan Wok University are not real colleges

[@AI.Absurdity]

That interview was cringe.

[@brianarbenz1329]

This Chinese food bit was lame.

[@rustyshackleford1114]

David Letterman, the most unfunny guy in late night.

[@FuzzyMemoriesTV]

Boo...

[@nedwart]

Found Jay Leno's burner account

[@wmbrown6]

He had his own brand of funny when he was at NBC. Once he left for CBS, he progressively lost his edge.

[@markcornish2519]

@@rustyshackleford1114 why are you here then? Watch those unfunny late night hosts like Fallon, Kimmel, and colbert

[@RusstheTroubadour]

2:32 Dave's longtime and NBC staff announcer Bill Wendell who retired in August of 1995 . Alan Kalter replaced him and stayed w/ the show until Dave's retirement in 2015.

[@andyrose5616]

You can briefly see Bill in the lower-left corner of the screen clapping at 33:38. You can also see Merrill Markoe just before that waving the delivery man in.

[@sdne1959]

@@andyrose5616 . Merrill Markoe..........the unsung genius behind A LOT of Dave's best bits !! When she eventually left, the show took a HUGE hit !! .