The 4th Anniversary/Airplane Special on Letterman, February 1, 1986

[@squinkque]

Thanks, Don for all you do. You're the best! This is IMHO the best anniversary special and I so appreciate you posting this w/all the extras for free on youtube.

[@MikeSmith-en5lu]

Thanks Don! I’ve been wanting to see this for years! You’re hard work and dedication for all of us Late Night fans is so very appreciated! 🙏

[@bobrobert319]

Thanks Don. ✈

[@JakeMabe1]

Just when I think, "Well, I'm not sure Donz can top this one...," you go and do it. Excellent, Mr. Giller!

[@edmusco5125]

I was a member of the TWA flight attendant crew on this flight! It was a lot of fun and I look at this trip as the highlight of my TWA career. Unfortunately, it wasn't too long after that the TWA flight attendants went on strike during the takeover by Carl Icahn and that was the end of my TWA career. Very sad.

[@dongiller]

Not great that you lost your jobs but great that you were there during the trip. Any particular memory stand out?

[@claudecat]

Great show, as they all were back then, but what struck me here is the interview with Dave post-flight. He's really sincere and insightful, explaining some of the behind the scenes work that goes into making the show what it was.

[@JKerr-iy2jr]

It was great to not only see Dave’s 4th Anniversary Show, but also other excerpts that I originally saw on Armed Forces TV in Seoul Korea in 1986. I remember the bit about the chairs! Thanks, Don!

[@cameramanzoomit]

What a memorable show this was. Besides the one I attended (6th Anniversary) this one was my favorite. Great to see all the accompanying clips and segments along with the show. Thanks, Don!

[@ELMS]

That was excellent, Don. Special thanks for the bonus material. It really added an extra dimension to the show. 👍

[@DJRitty]

always does.

[@andyrafchannel]

I really love this episode. Kinda unique. Watching from Manila on feb 6, 2023

[@maynardsmoreland]

I remember watching this when it aired. It was taped only a few days before the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.

[@plaws0]

Thank you, Don. The total package. Amazing. Thanks.

[@roblutter]

I remember watching this as a rerun on Comedy Central as a kid. Loved all these Late Nite specials. Thanks for uploading!

[@dongiller]

You may be confusing Comedy Central with E!, which aired all but one of the anniversary shows on two July 4 marathons in the mid-‘90s.

[@roblutter]

@@dongiller Ah Don I think you’re right on. Honestly it’s been so long since E! had something worth watching I forgot they existed :)

[@nsdiehl]

You know you're too big of a Late Night fan when the anthem gives you goosebumps. Haunting.

[@sandy3482]

loved the post trip shows

[@merlinsclaw]

"It's A Late Night World of Love" - Truly an anthem of a generation.

[@tosderg]

any fool can record 30 years of television, with the non-broadcast clips in these comps you remind us all who is for real and who is simply playing games.

[@voicetube]

Don, you have many many amazing videos appear; I will say that this is 1 of your finest!

[@josephmagil1149]

Nobody would do something like this today. They couldn't even think of it.

[@johnnyballenatl]

Joseph Magil Um, Conan O’Brien did his show on a ferry one time; Jimmy Kimmel, on a Metro (formerly RTD if you’ve in L.A.) Bus.

[@tdward23]

Cannot imagine the insurance for this today

[@alevine1951]

Outstanding labor of love Don! Wow I hadn't seen Connie Chung in a long time - she was really really pretty in that clip near the end. Why Maury Povitch??!! It looked like she went in for the cheek-kiss at the end of the segment and Dave didn't notice. And the Late Night Anthem! It sort of encapsulates all the endearing elements of the show - think about starting every post with it, like My Country 'Tis of Thee in homeroom! :)

[@johnvanzandt198]

Shooting this was a disaster. Most of the footage from the B roll cameras on board the aircraft was destroyed after landing in Miami and they ended up with a lot less footage to use when editing it together.

[@dongiller]

How do you know this?

[@johnvanzandt198]

interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/hal-gurnee?clip=106307#interview-clips

[@dongiller]

Excellent. Thank you so much.

[@pika23]

I always wanted to put my hamster the show! She would get in her ball, then follow my hand to a tower of disposable cups and knock them down

[@yohei72]

9:11 - That bit with 3 year old deity Hal is so much weirder than anything they would do in the later CBS years.

[@FlockOfHawks]

Nice timestamp for a show on a plane too :o)

[@yohei72]

@@FlockOfHawks Too soon! We can tell some Lincoln assassination jokes, though.

[@FlockOfHawks]

@@yohei72 best cure for trauma is mockery though :o) but i get your point 👍

[@yohei72]

@@FlockOfHawks No no, I was joking too. PAY ATTENTION.

[@FlockOfHawks]

@@yohei72 i'm too poor to pay anytink ☺

[@99slaya99]

In your Earth years, I guess I was born around the time of Socrates. Ha ha ha ha ha!

[@QuantumBraced]

I loved how much the passengers didn't care for Dave LOL.

[@dongiller]

Every passenger in that plane was a Late Night staffer.

[@QuantumBraced]

@@dongiller Ahh. Makes sense.

[@i.p.knightly149]

"How ya doin', Grant?" "Fine, Tom"

[@duderudy]

I'm commenting before I watch this, but I will always remember "Captain Billy."

[@katoffeevhs9798]

@45:28 dave teasing hal for not drinking

[@ericdoe2318]

27:55 lol that’s funny that look

[@petercdowney]

Ten years later...

[@JustFunandGames]

So, why doesn't Dave wear a letterman jacket?

[@fritzpoppenberg3921]

What’s the music leading out of the segment at 54:00?

[@dongiller]

“Soul Finger” by the Bar-Kays.

[@fritzpoppenberg3921]

Don Giller Thank you very much!

[@229BlackHat]

It’s great to see the one recording in history where it’s acceptable to clap on an airplane

[@billyfouronesix]

What was being muted on the Feb 3rd clip? Was he saying motel instead of hotel?

[@dongiller]

"Mayfair" was occasionally muted.

[@rjonzun5828]

Did Letterman do an anniversary special every year?

[@dongiller]

Every year but not 1991 and 1993.

[@wiedep]

@ 44:35 ...well have you? The only other interesting thing about New Rochelle is that Mariano Rivera lives there. Taking the audience to the commissary, did they have to sign litigation wavers? Of course this was before GE. @ 52:28 No amount of camera shading can fix this. Beware of producers with dark glasses and a mustache.

[@lawrenceflail3164]

You forget how great the show was before he broke up with Merrill Markoe. It was all her.

[@yohei72]

Is there a full version of the "bootleg" show available online? That looked fascinating.

[@dongiller]

Uploaded last June - kzbin.info/www/bejne/mIDWnoJ4nJ5rq6M

[@yohei72]

@@dongiller Are you a regular human, or are you an angel?

[@Crystalpoodleblack]

I hope that they gave the woman with the balancing dog a room at the hotel in payment for all the footage the used of her on the show

[@formula6444]

Could you post this Chris Elliott in The Long Hot Summer sketch?

[@dongiller]

I posted it last November: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l5OrZ4uVbdGne68

[@spuzzlightyeartoo]

LOL Entertainment Tonight opener. Mannnnnn.

[@johnnyballenatl]

spuzzlightyeartoo And that was Al Owens subbing for Robb Weller (who would later be replaced by John Tesh) with Mary Hart.

[@KingsFanForever]

Back when late night TV was actually funny. Today's late night shows are a joke and not worth watching.