Steve Allen on The David Letterman Show, October 23, 1980

Steve Allen guests on Dave's penultimate morning show. Then a short segment on new Halloween merchandise, which includes an impromptu cocaine reference, and then the close, followed by a network promo for the game shows that would debut in the show's time slot four days later.

[@photomanwilliams4147]

I grew up in LA and went to many talk shows and sitcom tapings. By far Steve Allen treated his studio audience the best. Off camera, he spent time talking and answering questions. One time at his show, a problem stopped the taping for 30 min. or so. he went to his piano and filled the time entertaining us. Many of the others such as Johnny Carson who I love only interacts with his studio audience when the camera is on, forgetting about the audience off camera. Steve Allen, is not only an entertainer but was a wonderful human being.

[@tested123]

cool story

[@josettes8892]

Steve was the best!

[@benkleschinsky]

Steve was a surprisingly very open person. Almost the opposite of Johnny.

[@davidsanderson5918]

I don't doubt this at all. Doesn't surprise me. He lights up the show when he's on What's My Line, has such a sharp intelligent mind and always has a personability that is transparently sincere. I like him an awful lot.

[@akrenwinkle]

Merv Griffin didn't interact during breaks either, and it might be better that way... both performer and audience get a break, come back refreshed.

[@aslanonthego]

Steve Allen is my all-time favorite, and rewatching him with David Letterman makes my day! Dave is a close second ♥️

[@rlevitta]

When I was a kid, I used to pretend to go to bed and instead turn on Steve Allen with the sound turned down low. Watching him was for me part of my introduction to counter culture - sort of like reading Mad Magazine. The “man on the street” routine is still fresh in my mind. The perpetually nervous Don Knotts, Louis Nye’s “hi-ho Stevarino”, Dayton Allen’s “why not?” and Tom Poston, who could never remember his name. They are all in the pantheon of comedy gods.

[@Anasyub]

Sitting on a talk show with the man that started the tonight show This is a pinacle in the tonight shows history honestly

[@sr633]

41 years ago Wow ! Steve was a non stop composer of songs an so much more ! He always gave his guests a wonderful time on the air.

[@zuzuspetals2003]

I love this guy, Steve Allen. Not just Dave Letterman, so many great bits done by many other comedians can all be traced back to Allen. He was truly the most innovative comedian ever.

[@tomservo56954]

"The fax machine was just a waffle iron with a phone attached!"

[@44032]

Dave was obviously heavily influenced by Steve's shows and I always felt that is you wanted a taste of what the Tonight Show in the beginning, watching Letterman was as close as you could get to it. He obviously had great respect for Steve. I pity the people who thought it all began with Johnny.

[@rjlwis]

You can tell Mr. Allen was patient and encouraging to the young man.

[@Camop-iz9kt]

I got to meet Mr. Allen at a book signing in OKC, just 9 months before he died. A happy memory.

[@dj33036]

I saw him riding in a convertible in the Rose Bowl Parade and as he passed by I shouted out "Steve-a-Rreno" , he heard me and turned in my direction and waved to me. That made my whole day, I loved that man.

[@boblozaintherealworld3577]

"I was struck....by a stage hand on my way out here.". CLASSIC Steve line.

[@kamelhaj6850]

Also: "Imagine... a grown man! That's when I started groaning".

[@4seeableTV]

Hands down, Allen had the quickest wit in show biz.

[@Bill_Woo]

Dave is up there, and you're correct. Cavett also had the gift. (Wow, just checked, Cavett is still alive) Carlin, Marx, Woody Allen - all would have to salute Steve as the king.

[@shawnhughes4192]

Dave is a hack! He's garbage compared to the rest

[@-danR]

I don't agree; he was _equal_ to many of them but much of his inventory of witticisms came from one-liners having being pre-loaded by a previous remark for the very purpose. This show gives at least one example: "I was struck, as we say... I was struck by a stagehand..." Now, had David said offhandedly, "Does anything about these days strike you..." "Yes, I was struck... by a stagehand..." _That_ sort of wit would be level: Groucho.

[@DesiluTrek]

This is awesome proof of how much he inspired Dave, discussing Allen's old bits like the tea bag suit, which led to Dave's suits on Late Night.

[@User2718218]

I loved Steve Allen, he was so great.

[@dingorex]

Thank you for posting the Letterman Morning show. I was introduced to this show by my neighbor when I was just 12. It was so unpredictable and just funny as heck for that time period. I've only read one of Allen's books, an autobio written in the 90s concerning one of his children's family's life in a commune and his own religious experiences. Great read.

[@ApartmentKing66]

Letterman HAD to enjoy doing this particular show, with his idol as a guest.

[@tunesmith7437]

Mr. Steve Allen was a RENAISSANCE MAN.

[@jenmorricone4014]

My Dad always used to say, "Smock, Smockkk," as a nod to Allen. Miss you Dad ❤️ Miss you Steve Allen.

[@kanealson5200]

Steve Allen's naturalness and quick wit comes across at any age. I don't remember anything he did in the sixties because I wasn't around but the guy still had an instant appeal with any audience. Every time I ever saw him on television he seemed current. I guess he was timeless or ahead of his time. When people invent things and then you see them on those things they're always going to be exactly where they belong. Sounds like something Allen would've maybe said actually come to think of it.

[@putter3643]

Robin Willams has Jonathan Winters and Letterman has Steve Allen. Both are great models for different kinds of comedy.

[@paulwardle4761]

great quality...and even grainy clips of Letterman's morning show are welcome...they should be all collected on DVD

[@ApartmentKing66]

I LOVED Letterman's morning show. I watched EVERY show until the 1980-81 school year started in September. Little did I know the show would only last another month and a half. The David Letterman Show Weekday mornings 9-10 on NBC June 23, 1980-October 24, 1980 RIP

[@robertsprouse9282]

@@ApartmentKing66, his shows ended in 2013. His Sigmund Freud appearance show now is about him convincing himself he is a world class historian and philosopher. He is neither.

[@ignorecorporatenews]

Steve Allen: The original David Lettermann. Steve was also a first rate musician.

[@djf750]

I think that Ernie Kovacs inspired Steverino who inspired Letterman. Leno tried this type of humor and was HORRIBLE at it.

[@ApartmentKing66]

You got it backward. Letterman was in grade school when Steve Allen started "Tonight" in 1953.

[@robertsprouse9282]

@@ApartmentKing66, Allen's syndicated Westinghouse show was in the early to mid '60's.

[@ignorecorporatenews]

@@ApartmentKing66 What's backwards? My statement basically means that Lettermann stole his act from Allen. get it now?

[@kamelhaj6850]

@@ApartmentKing66 For his last 20 years, Letterman's humor reverted to grade school level.

[@christophergerety3318]

Looooved Steve Allen. A terrific entertainer. Seemed like a nice man.

[@photomanwilliams4147]

Steve was a nice man, as I wrote in another place, I went to many talk show tapings, Carson, Letterman, Merv., and others, Steve treated his studio audience off camera with so much respect. He spent time off camera making his studio laugh. Most, even Carson hardly acknowledged the studio people existed when the camera was off.

[@donnamariedemaio]

Wow! What a gem this is! A treasure!

[@robertsmith1860]

The early 1960’s Westinghouse Steve Allen shows we’re great not only for watching Steve & hilarious opening skits, but I enjoyed the talented Guests he presented that one didn’t see much on any other shows. I recall Frank Zappa / Jose Feliciano performing with his guide dog by his side the entire song / Jerry Lee Lewis going wild with piano stools flying / Professor Irwin Cory / Cliff Arquette / Jim Kweskin Jug Band.

[@jamesmarshall1905]

You hit it right - Steve’s Westinghouse shows were terrific and influenced Dave.

[@Banks-gd1in]

I love Steve Allen's laugh

[@shawnhughes4192]

When Steve threw the book!!! That was underrated genius

[@b.walter6646]

At the age of 12, my mom and I visited LA and we went to two of his Westinghouse Shows. I did get Steve's autograph and met Gypsy Boots while shopping in The Hollywood Ranch Market.

[@NoOne-kr4jc]

He had a lot of charm in the morning show.

[@YourTVFriend]

Awesome segment, awesome show

[@stevewilson7857]

Having video keeps these memories alive. The only video of myself in the public is when I broke into a convenience store in 1987 :)

[@KaneRobot]

Post it!

[@geoffjoffy]

Love Steve Allen. So intelligent.

[@rubengreenberg2253]

Steve Allen was such a wit and SO (!!) articulate.

[@Nonduality]

1980 was still the 70s.

[@m.e.d.7997]

Miss 1980

[@benkleschinsky]

I couldn't agree more. Early 80's were way different from the late 80's.

[@TheBigMclargehuge]

Yeah it's almost as though a lot of things can change in 10 years

[@itstheburnz]

Loved him.. He was hysterical... MR WIT! So affable..

[@Jack-yw7bq]

The great...intelligent Steve Allen

[@sunglassshinpan1352]

I was nine when this was on (and off!) the air. I was so glad when Dave first came to Late Night!

[@goodteacup]

Started watching in Sept 80 never stopped!

[@amtrakatsfnyc]

The Westinghouse Show that Steve and Dave made reference to ran as a syndicated late night show from July 1962 to November 1964. It is most unfortunate that the tapes have never been released for public sale. The comedy skits and unusual out of studio routines that were devised served as an example of creative and most entertaining television. A few of these programs have been released on KZbin, but subsequently have been deleted.

[@tomservo56954]

The story is the very pious president of Westinghouse Broadcasting told Steve to quit the show voluntarily or he would go public with proof of his extra-marital affairs.

[@Bill_Woo]

2 high geniuses. Steve Allen and Ernie Kovacs are the most underrated comedy geniuses ever. Frankly, Dave is also horribly underrecognized for his genius. I dare say that I am not overusing the word "genius".

[@Lampshade51]

Smart. Funny. They don't always go together, but they do with Steve Allen. Who else would bring Jack Kerouac and Lenny Bruce to network television in the 1950s?

[@bishopaz]

Love the random guy in snow shoes stomping by

[@terrywright8731]

Wow Don Giller! Keep posting the great Letterman clips.

[@m.e.d.7997]

People were so nice nd civil back then

[@skylershank9309]

I'm dating myself, but I grew up watching all the Steve Allen shows. He was so good natured and genuine it put me in a good mood watching his creative antics. Guys like Kimmel, Colbert and Meyers gnarly putdown 'humor' and one dimensional personalities are a major reason their viewership is so anemic. .

[@goodmessengerjennifer2.0ma49]

Thank you.

[@TH-nf1eo]

I’ve never figured out why NBC put this on as a morning show.

[@KiddBloo86]

Beats me, then again- look what it led to.

[@ApartmentKing66]

Fred Silverman thought it would work as a housewives' replacement to the "geriatric," as he described them, game shows that were on at the time. Hollywood Squares and 2 other game shows were canceled to make room for Dave, who was originally on for 90 minutes, then shortened to 60 when August 1980 rolled around. Too little too late, though. Group W's NBC affiliates were the first to drop the show. The writing was on the wall, and by late October (the day after this show aired), the show was gone.

[@jacksonmorganfroghin4815]

I loved it. It was so eclectic and esoteric and I'm from Indiana and the only celebrity we had was James Dean and he died. Poor Dave had to set the show on fire literally to get ratings. I think the morning show ended with firefighters axing there way thru the set. It was funny and scary unless I was dreaming that part.

[@newstarcadefan]

This is a nice post. You had two legends of television on the same set. First Steve Allen who not only hosted the original Tonight Show, but was also a well-known game show panelist, and host (Like I've Got a Secret) and author, and musician. David Letterman was no lightweight either. Being a comedian, and bit actor, and perennial game show panelist (Even hosting the pilot to the Riddlers). Oh I shouldn't forget he was a weatherman back in his Native Indiana.

[@photomanwilliams4147]

In the 70's Steve hosted a syndicated talk show called the Allen show. Never a big hit, but ran 4 or 5 years.

[@lindagnat-mullin8108]

David was funny even as a weatherman:. "hail the size of canned hams."

[@ardalla535]

I like the guy being blocked by the blue truck. "Hey, pal, you can walk around, you know."

[@jacksonmorganfroghin4815]

This show took place on Johnny Carson's 55th birthday. Just a side note. I believe when Dave began his show he said to himself I will do everything opposite of the way Carson did it and so went back to Steve Allen's way of doing it. Unless that was Merrill Markoes idea. Her main idea was Stupid Pet Tricks. Steve wrote some great short stories.

[@ApartmentKing66]

The show was exactly 4 months on the air this day, having premiered June 23. Didn't know until today when the last day was.

[@joesmith-jb4ls]

Steve was very witty and funny. My favorite

[@Tunz909]

Read somewhere, that he slept on average about 11 hours per day.

[@johnsimmons4232]

Steve lived in an exciting time, and enjoyed living. You could tell by how he interacted with both the brilliant and the looney. I remember one show when he described the LSD trip he had taken. He talked about staring at a lightbulb for, like, twenty minutes. At the time, I had no idea what he was talking about, but I still remember the show.

[@ApartmentKing66]

Steve Allen dropped acid?!!?

[@robertsprouse9282]

@@ApartmentKing66, yep, ate a hole in his shoe, too.

[@danielpoitras1858]

excellent uploads don!

[@alansmith9814]

Best laugh ever.

[@JaQuicker]

14:53 Really wish Conan would bring back that surreal spontaneity, every talk show is so mind-numbingly formatted

[@paxwallacejazz]

I love what a proponent of Jazz e.g. Bill Evans. Steve Allen was.

[@organicmatter1348]

He predicted reality TV lol

[@sfmc98]

Everyone missed: "A grown man...that's when I started groaning as a matter of fact."

[@gaymichaelis7581]

Love Steve Allen!!!

[@Bill_Woo]

I stridently urge anyone who thinks Jay Leno or Stephen Colbert is greater than 4% funny to watch this, and seriously reevaluate their sense of hack vs. greatness. And greatness is far too limp a word for it. And Good Lord, it's crazily massive when a guest is so incomparably witty that Dave essentially plays the straight man. Rare, and massive.

[@7007matthew]

Most people don't know this but Steve Allen invented the pog.

[@AfterwardDeified]

Great stuff. Shame that the kinescopes are lost 😔

[@Viperplayer187]

How ducks makeout LOL

[@katiezee2]

I used to work with a guy with the same name - Steve Allen - and once, just goofing around, I called him Steverino. He didn't even know what that was.. .sad

[@sergiolobato1798]

The Letterman Show is a direct descendant of the Steve Allen show motre than the Carson Show.

[@paxwallacejazz]

I was hitchhiking across America in 1980

[@johnpersechini4951]

6:30 Steve Allen was ahead of his time with reality tv.

[@Unfamous_Buddha]

I loved Dave's afternoon show. There weren't many of us.

[@dongiller]

I’m curious. It had aired live here in NYC from 10 am until 11:30 am for the first six weeks, then reduced to an hour (10 to 11 am) for the last twelve. I’m wondering if it were tape-delayed in other markets so that it did actually air later in the afternoon.

[@Unfamous_Buddha]

@@dongiller -- Oh, since I was never about getting up early, I think that (in the general Philadelphia, PA area) it aired in the afternoon or after 1pm, EST. But I can't say for sure.

[@dongiller]

@@Unfamous_Buddha Sounds good to me. Thanks.

[@tomtanaka841]

Too bad they destroyed so many classic footage!

[@sunglassshinpan1352]

Haha! Las Vegas Gambit was a joke! Letterman was a Legend!

[@anthonyworden1273]

What studio was the morning show broadcast from?

[@dongiller]

Same as Dave's Late Night -- 6A.

[@ginnyade6041]

Two very funny guys.

[@krisscanlon4051]

the morning show...wow so long ago

[@zyxquark]

I actually read his China book. I thought he was a little hard on Buddhism. Other than that it was interesting. His wife Jane was born in China to missionaries.

[@ComedyJakob]

It was going along normally and then "What the fuck?" With the Eskimo and snow fall. Pretty good television as far as I'm concerned.

[@grimtt]

SA and Jack Paar were contemporaries, and both came on Letterman in their older years, but to me Steve was actually funny!

[@afinteresting8817]

2:33 What is Steve referring to here exactly, networks used to burn film?

[@kevinwachs5905]

A guy who worked at NBC decided to destroy old archived film (during the early days of live TV, before video tape, shows were preserved by shooting a television monitor on 16mm film, called kinescope) to make room to store newer stuff. Not only were the old "Tonight" kinescopes burned, so were kinescopes of news broadcasts, primetime shows, etc.

[@billlakecomedy]

The human teabag was the precursor to Dave being lowered into a vat of water covered in Alka-Seltzer

[@dongiller]

As Dave has consistently acknowledged, and Steve has appreciated.

[@billlakecomedy]

@@dongiller I took a writing class from Joe Toplyn, who was a writer on the show at the time and was the guy who pitched the Alka-Selzter bit. He said that when they rehearsed it during the day, they had an intern in Dave's place. Just before they dropped him in, Joe asked whether the carbon dioxide released by the tablets was going to displace the oxygen in the tank. The crew just sort of shrugged and dropped the guy in. Within 30 seconds the intern started turning blue and sucking for air like a fish out of water. If you remember, when they did the bit with Dave, they adjusted accordingly and had him wearing scuba gear.

[@dongiller]

@@billlakecomedy That was no intern; it was Head Writer Steve O’Donnell.

[@npxmnpxm]

What was the Liz Taylor joke?

[@MrJoeybabe25]

Who was the musical director on this show?

[@dongiller]

Frank Owens.

[@MrJoeybabe25]

Thanks!

[@blackhawkswincup2010]

Allen was a master of the deadpan throwaway line. 11:10 "All seriousness aside..." Nobody got it, least of all Letterman.

[@bboooobbyy]

What exactly was there to get? seemed like a natural conversational segue

[@MagicSamaritan]

@@bboooobbyy The usual thing is "all kidding aside." So substituting seriousness is a joke.

[@ryanellis4474]

Steve Allen was “struck” all right Steve Allen was hit by a car and died from the internal injuries hours later after not complaining Evidently, he told the errant driver that that was a lot to go through to get an autograph Steve Allen might be alive today if he were more careful about his health and safety

[@SouthOCmixdown]

So basically Allen had the atypical prototype of "TTS", then later the Westinghouse show, which studio execs want to expunge from existence. Sort of like how Dave started on NBC with this show then "LNWDL", which NBC execs also would rather not have viewed, despite its and Dave's innovations. Of course in the 'modern age', Dave was rewarded with the CBS show, and YT takes care of the rest for posterity. Ironically and sort of against accepted history, Carson was actually more like Leno(who was seen as more safe and sanitary), in replacing Allen who was a real Renaissance man, and a risk taker ahead of his time. Dave wanted to replace Johnny, but NBC went with the safer choice in Leno. Akin to replacing Allen with Carson. Personally, I'm glad they did. Dave's NBC shows were basically legendary in the same vein of Allen's shows, and "TTS" post-Allen was basically sort of vacuous and sterile by comparison. And Dave was sterile and safe enough with his CBS show. I can't imagine how much more creatively castrated Dave would have become if he had actually got his wish in Johnny's seat. Sometimes near incompetence by studio execs, can actually be ironically beneficial in the end for the entirety of sustained quality in television.

[@dongiller]

Speaking fully selfishly, I'm glad Dave stayed in NYC. Otherwise I would not have had the opportunity to cultivate a 20+-year relationship with the staff and crew.

[@SouthOCmixdown]

Wow. That would have been my dream as a kid. I basically saw NYC through the lense of Late Night w/DL growing up in California. Honestly, I really couldn't see Dave doing "TTS" either. I have my qualms about the perceived and real dropoff in quality in Dave's CBS show. But you can't stay edgy and irreverent forever. Although, it seems that in his older age, Allen did a better job of it than Dave has thus far. But then again, Dave doesn't possess nor celebrate the type of generational social graces that Allen did.

[@leverage1976]

pretty sure many of those same nbc execs would love to take credit for 'late night' now in its reborn yt hipness among astute youngsters. if the book and movie 'late shift' is to be believed at all, towards the end bob wright and the nbc brass knew what they were letting get away with dl going to cbs. but as you said, it all worked out for the best. at least until around 2010, which is when i personally tired of dave's cbs show and format. he was too old to still be doing classically witty, irreverent comedy in the internet age, and i was too old to still be watching it.

[@gallery7596]

Yes, and had Dave replaced Johnny, it's unlikely NBC would've let him stay that long if he'd run second place to Jay (whom CBS originally wanted) for as many years as he did while hosting "Late Show With David Letterman". So, not getting "TTS" actually helped Dave have a much longer career in late night tv.

[@geekay1349]

Mr. Television - Steverino

[@JokerThaToker]

He died almost 20 years later, less a week and a day.

[@TheSmurfboard]

19:05 Was Dave wearing a toga ?

[@dongiller]

No.

[@Robertbrucelockhart]

Who was the black gentleman on the piano? He looks like Lionel Ritchie.

[@dongiller]

Frank Owens.

[@synthvault]

Who in the &^%$ downvotes Steve Allen and David Letterman?

[@jonnyvassvag]

6.45 : Looks like a young Meryl Streep

[@joecerniglia9906]

Is that John Lennon waving right of frame at 7:03 - 7:06?

[@dongiller]

No.

[@fluffiiesnutz]

Seriously though. At the end of that clip of the people walking through 6th avenue the last guy wearing looks like the white jacket looks just like Krieger from Archer but in real life. At 7 minutes and 9 seconds

[@mannysanguena7900]

Fortunately many kinescopes have turned up in technician's garages.

[@MoeGreensRightEye]

When was 1980?

[@dongiller]

Between 1979 and 1981.

[@mushmorant9253]

Art Linkletter did the first man-in-the-street interviews on radio in 1933.

[@robertsprouse9282]

Steve's mom, Belle Montrose did fake ordinary people conversing with a comedian on stage..back in the 1920's..in Vaudeville.

[@preven2296]

Did anyone notice the cameo by Bernie Sanders???

[@atwaterkent911]

John Lennon at 7:03 ??

[@dongiller]

atwaterkent911 Nope. John had no mustache then.

[@petermaxwell2965]

Why did the network burn film ? Recycle ! But burn ? Thats idiocy !

[@kevinwachs5905]

Film can't be recycled. You are thinking of video tape. That would have been equally stupid, though, even if possible. The value of the old footage outweighs the value of either blank tape or storage space.

[@Bill_Woo]

6:51 W T F? I mean, literally.

[@karlsonkab51]

Steve composed thousands of songs, could play many instruments and had a fabulous show with Louie Nye, Pat Harrington Jr., Don Knotts, Tom Poston, Gabe Dell, and Dayton Allen plus wonderful musical guests.

[@dongiller]

Don't forget Bill Dana! :) Bill Dana on Late Night, June 24, 1986: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3fLdnZnbdp-jNE

[@karlsonkab51]

OMG - a serious omission - I'm gettin' senile - funny guy he was and writer !! - - are there any clips of the Beatnik band with Poston, Harrigton, Nye and Steve online? - or have those been hogged up to copyright owners? - Louie playing the "ice tongs" killed me !!!!!!!!!!!

[@assignmentearth2899]

Human tea bag!