The David Letterman Show, October 24, 1980 (final, full)

[@burnettl.jacksoniii1040]

Seems like a good show. I was a big Letterman fan, and I NEVER knew he had a morning show! Wow!! Live and learn, and I’m 61!

[@bmwloco]

Oh the memories. When I was a freshman in college, Letterman came on during the day. I tried to never miss it; and then he moved to after Carson. It was tough, but as a punk 17 year old, I could stay up late and sleep the day away.

[@longlivebytor]

So glad to finally see this final episode. He even gave a shout out to a kind letter he received from our local NBC affiliate in Portland, Oregon, KGW. Very cool! Dave was well loved in the Pacific Northwest.

[@StandUpVHS]

Incredible. I never thought I'd see this or many of the other treasures you've uploaded. Thank you, Don.

[@ryangettig274]

That Chris Eliott-Marlon Brando joint is an effin' Goldmine!!:)

[@CharlestonHestons]

I was about 17, he was so refreshing and absolutely different for the time. No one ever seems to recall his morning show, thanks for posting!

[@hankkingsley9300]

Oh that was an incredible summer I watched this every morning it was always like what the hell is this this is incredible I mean it was like nothing on television in 1980

[@kenrondo2-og9vz]

Amazing show! Surprised to see the great singer/songwriter Harve Mann playing the lounge singer at the conclusion. What a finale!

[@louied2613]

My brother n I watched this show , didnt know anyone else that did . We were so pissed when they took it off the air. Thanks so much for putting this on you tube !!!

[@jgboys1]

I remember watching this show during the summer of 1980. Loved it! I was 17 years old. Hung out during the night and woke up to this show every morning!

[@JiveDadson]

I was 33. I got drunk at night and worked in the morning.

[@jgboys1]

@@JiveDadsonI started doing that the following year in 1981 when I started working full time !

[@SuperLoveandfaith]

Dave is the best! My favorite singer/songwriter Harve Mann does an awesome job here as "The Lounge Singer Character," although I think his best one was when he sang the various situation comedy themes a few years later on Late Night. Kudos to Merrill Markoe and the great writing staff and to Don Giller for keeping this great stuff out there.

[@chrisschoenfeld4414]

I was 13 and my middle school started at 1PM due to construction, so we’d watch morning tv. I was at first very confused, then obsessed, with this show. One day I asked my friend “Have you watched David Letterman?” And his face lit up “He’s the funniest guy on TV!” My middle school are the oldest Letterman fans on earth.

[@ozmond]

That’s insane

[@bobabooey285]

I would skip as much school as I could to watch the show, I was 13 too

[@hankkingsley9300]

I remember that summer of 80 watching that show before I had to go back to school...like what the hell is this!

[@LeahElisheva]

Love this!! What a great memory! Thanks for sharing 😊

[@hankkingsley9300]

You could not do this today we're so structured so regimented so controlled this is unstructured fun and it's a shame we're not allowed to do that anymore

[@damoontroll2118]

I thought all the episodes of his first show, the morning show, were lost to the void. This KZbin channel has given me so much content to watch at home after I’ve exhausted all the Norm MacDonald clips.

[@markbrown7913]

I remember watching this, the musical tribute to the game show replacing them is something that stays with you.

[@genecawley]

I can't believe I've never seen this before. This is amazing!

[@CinemaDemocratica]

"Well, I thought we had some footage of Mondale saying all of that; I guess we don't. In any case, that's what he said."

[@zonarama-vj9dq]

Terrific show! Thanks Don. Always great to see the multi-talented Harve Mann.

[@MusicOverMyHead]

Thank you so much for posting! I never knew about him having a morning show. I have so many happy memories of staying up late watching Letterman during summer vacation growing up. This makes me miss Dave.

[@jimlaforte1755]

The Ending was hillarious on am epic level! Thanks Don!

[@robertabrams8562]

My god, I so remember this show, but never saw the finale episode! This brought back a lot of memories of my teens

[@encinobalboa]

Three worst cancellations in TV network history are original Star Trek, Police Squad!, and The David Letterman Show.

[@hankkingsley9300]

Damn you now I have Police Squad in color in my mind the theme is running through my head and now I have to go look at the police squad intro thank you for nothing

[@HarloffGoes2GalaxysEdge]

No.... Letterman morning show was a blessing. He shouldn't of been in that time slot. He was meant to be a late night host. This show....While had the beginnings of the creative, ground breaking nature of what would become, Letterman Late night... Wasn't working, wasn't right and was bad for his career. Why they but Letterman...Someone who was weird and wacky, different...who showed his comedy skills on Carson and guest hosting the tonight.. Into a morning slot...where at the time was just houses wife's and the elderly....In a weird programming decision. Star Trek could of continued making great episodes. However....Lettermans morning show was doomed from the start. It wasn't meant to be...and it worked out. Letterman sat out the next year....NBC paid him 20K a week to not go to another network...And he came back in 82...with a New show...In the Same studio...but an more appropriate time of 12:30 after Carson...and the rest is history. It's good the morning show was cancelled....Letterman and late night talk shows would be...what the they were without the morning show being cancelled.

[@acedenison]

So true ❤

[@brooke8567]

The Night Stalker 1974 and Planet Of the Apes 1974 . Friday night classics

[@MetFansince]

I loved that daytime show when I was a kid. Those Rich Hall bits were great.

[@avidodd26]

i was born in 1984 but i appreciate what you are doing here more than words can express

[@derekgiesbrecht1554]

Pure gold! Thanks, Don

[@winninggambler]

those commercials are great glad you left them in ;)

[@hankkingsley9300]

Is that Brent Spiner in Doublemint looks and sounds like him...and he can juggle...

[@seanwelch71]

Don, After binge watching some of these "BCE" clips, it really is astonishing that Letterman developed his basic show style on a daytime variety show. He's so chill and fun, none of the big league anxieties he'd exhibit later.

[@EllisFeaster]

I loved letterman's morning show! It was just aired the wrong time of day.

[@winninggambler]

Letterman in the 80's was great really didn't care that much for it after, especially after the move to CBS

[@paulmor2023]

Good shows come and get cancelled, future stars can be completely overlooked and have been. The key is finding the right network and time slot and the right formula for your hit show!

[@mikemiles728]

Thank you for uploading! The commercials are a bonus - a real time capsule!

[@erestube]

I love the way he never signed off. He just let the absurdity of the situation wash over the place. The seeds of bigger things to come.

[@ApartmentKing66]

I just (reluctantly) got out of a time machine. For the last hour, I've been in the Fall of 1980, catching up on the last episode of a show I never missed until I had no choice because of the school year starting. While it's no one's fault, I missed the Simmons Beautyrest and Smuckers commercials, as well as those of Honey Wheats and Raisins, three sponsors whose spots have stuck in my mind these 38 years since. 'Twas indeed disappointing, but I guess they'd pulled between June and the time this show aired in late October. The Summer of 1980...a very memorable one for me. Thanks for the memories, Don...even taped from the very same TV station on which I watched it all.

[@zefallafez]

What station and location?

[@ApartmentKing66]

@@zefallafez KCRA-TV in Sacramento.

[@MarkAhrens-HeritageFilms]

Thanks for leaving in the commercials!

[@thomaspintion5931]

Thanks for your effort. These shows are gold.

[@scottnewbury4045]

Dave is all class. Thanks for uploading this gem! :-)

[@winonafrog]

Having the bizarre contemporary experience of watching 1980’s television commercials interrupted by this year’s double ‘pop-up ad’ commercials. 😅

[@joshuad8326]

Because Dave was a great interviewer I applaud him beyond his current place TV history.

[@mikeavguy]

This is GREAT, Don - thank you. Did anyone notice Letter #2 at 5:32 is from Barbara Gaines?! Barbara Gaines became the Executive Producer of the Late Show on CBS, right up until the end. From Wikipedia: [Barbara Gaines, a 1975 graduate of George W. Hewlett High School and 1979 graduate of Ithaca College with a BA in educational television,[1] was Executive Producer of the Late Show with David Letterman. She held that position from May 2000 through the show's finale in 2015. She began her association with David Letterman in 1980 as a production assistant on The David Letterman Show and rose through the ranks. She held such positions as production coordinator and assistant producer. In fifteen years as a producer on the show, she gained eleven Emmy nominations and won 5 consecutive awards for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Program. She also worked on production for the Orange Bowl Parade; One of the Boys, a comedy series starring Mickey Rooney, Nathan Lane and Dana Carvey, and The $50,000 Pyramid.[1]

[@dongiller]

As pointed out in the description beneath the video.

[@mikeavguy]

Ha - right you are. Too many indentations after the first line of description. Overlooked!

[@finnibertlunchiken7792]

Don Giller Ha ha ha. Those pesky descriptions. So painstakingly produced and so consistently ignored. I'm starting to read them all now just in case my comment gets the reprimand.

[@ApartmentKing66]

So, I guess Viewer Mail wasn't really "viewer" mail. I always thought they were real letters from people who watched the show around America. In fact, I wrote David a letter in the Summer of 1980, mailed it to 30 Rock, and looked for him to read it on the air. That's what I get for being a naive 13-year-old.

[@TheSteveBoyd]

Just an amazing piece of TV history!

[@matthughesrocks]

This is great, love the commercials too, takes me back.

[@claudecat]

I never got to see these at the time, but I really wish I had. The absurdist, just plain weird stuff was much more apparent in the very early years, no doubt due to Merrill Markoe. And kudos to whoever it was that decided to keep the commercials - nothing makes you feel older than those daytime commercials featuring housewives with headaches.

[@dbwindhorst1]

I was really depressed when this was canceled. It felt like the 80's were already failing to live up to expectations.

[@jrh11254]

Like when Lennon died later that year.

[@hankkingsley9300]

Actually they turned out pretty damn good

[@hankkingsley9300]

Squirrely Dan this was an ending! Hal Gurtner!

[@therainmakerinsider]

Show was better suited for late night. Daytime is more for stay at home mothers and college students.

[@September2004]

And then what happened?

[@MrSean03839]

Now if only we had some uploads of the Last Vegas Gambit show, we would really have something! Thanks for the memories Dave, you are the best! Special Thank You to Carson who saw Dave's true potential and got him setup on late night, the rest is history!

[@dongiller]

There are a number of Las Vegas Gambit episodes up on You Tube. Just type "Las Vegas Gambit" in the search box.

[@MrSean03839]

Don Giller It was a joke in Letterman fashion...He was making fun of Las Vegas Gambit at the end of this show. ;)

[@dongiller]

Sorry -- didn't see the tail wagging.

[@whatchootalkinboutwillis3011]

I never knew Dave Letterman had a MORNING SHOW. Never knew it at all until this moment.

[@elektrosoundwave]

Wow, Stem NC, is basically a wide spot in the road north of Durham. I'm impressed it's had it's spotlight

[@KiddBloo86]

I wish a copy of this closing theme was available!

[@brooke8567]

It is. Youre watching it

[@jonortiz9002]

Wow. What a treasure. An incredible piece of TV history.

[@evanrotellamusic]

Epic!! thanks for the awesome memory

[@paulmor2023]

I honestly have never seen a morning show quite like this!

[@nedwart]

Funny how the eventual first episode of Late Night would do the exact same bit with the dancers in the open as they do here.

[@OMGWTFLOLSMH]

Same group, different time slot.

[@kevinnelson66]

@@OMGWTFLOLSMH Same studio, too.

[@GeorgiaOverdrive]

Kevin Nelson Biff Henderson was also there. He was with Dave for 35 years! Crazy!

[@thezenitsufan1249]

Same music too

[@brianl9579]

I watched this every day in the summer of 1980. The summer before i started the 7th grade. I didn’t understand all the humor, but pretended like i did. Looking back it was such a carefree easy time in the country. People were friendlier…more patient with each other..not as guarded and less easily offended. I think we all had a sense of optimism then..that good things were coming for the country. Now,..i’m not so sure.

[@MichaelLasotaMusic]

I LOVE the resume/CV bits.. that was cute.

[@chrisbauer7855]

I like that the commercials are included. I wonder if anyone besides me noticed that actor Jason Alexander (obviously way before he hit it big as George on "Seinfeld") appears briefly in the SOS commercial (at about 9:30 time mark). Don't blink or you'll miss him.

[@StumpyJoeTV]

Bill Wendall's hair was almost life-like

[@RM-ed1if]

Man, that was a long time ago! I remember the show at 14:48 when those sparklers caused the fire on the stage floor. Thanks for posting.

[@dongiller]

Here's the full Sam and Betty Cotenoff fire segment, preceded by a clip aired on The Tonight Show when Dave was a guest -- description beneath the video -- kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3SufGeqn7Sses0

[@DavidBerlinguette]

It made the national news that night.

[@kevinnelson66]

That clip was shown on Dave's final Late Show.

[@terryswick7393]

In response to Michaels' comment on the shoutout to Toledo at 11:45, here is the story.. I had watched the Letterman show from day 1 of it's 6 month run all summer and when I went back to college at the University of Toledo for my senior year, I assembled a group of flunkies like myself to watch the show in the student union every morning at 10am. When we heard that this was to be the last show, we decided to celebrate it with a party (hard to believe) and a girl who worked with me on the student union board (Lori) called the local NBC affiliate to tell them of our group. They told us that it would not be shown at 10am but would be tape delayed. we decided to hold a picket at the station to protest. The ABC and CBS stations in town filmed us picketing and after the show was "in the can" NBC came out to show us the tapes to which we booed of course. After we left, the picket, we went drinking. those were the days.......

[@MarceloRomero360]

Thanks for sharing! Great story!

[@loyeruckman120]

No question about it, I love that man.

[@CapnCavMan]

Bill Wendell's toupee won six emmys that season.

[@adamdavid1]

Letterman is a genius. 44 years old and still fresh

[@magnificentfailure2390]

God, I loved this show so much. It was so bizarre and unlike anything on TV at the time. Especially in the 10:30 a.m. time slot

[@DavidBerlinguette]

as kids we loved it! My dad would come home for lunch each day that summer and said we kids would always report what had happened on the show that morning. Good memories!

[@irvinkiblerjr972]

It was somewhat patterned after the Paul Dixon show from Cincinnati in the 70s. Dave admired his style and yes the show was ahead of it's time. Highbrow/witty comedy at it's best. Compared to today's shows Dave was a God!

[@mhmrules]

@@irvinkiblerjr972 I just found Paul Dixon thanks to this comment, and I'm glad I did. :D

[@spuzzlightyeartoo]

That "Kill Wink" sign someone had! Ah well, such a more innocent time.

[@TheGuyMullins]

Remember when there was NOTHING on television and you skipped school to watch it?

[@mrchopsticks3]

The opening of this episode is the exact same opening as the first episode of Late Night. It all makes sense now.

[@toddanthony6664]

You can almost see the sadness on Dave's face. If only he knew what was to come. Also (heavenly) shout out to Edwin Newman for being the consumate professional during the NBC News update at the end as well as being quite funny.

[@tkia1979]

simplu GENIUS. Still.

[@wiedep]

Blowin' out the show budget with all those NABET and IATSE appearance fees

[@timfurnier7061]

I loved this show. I watched it every morning that i could. However, I changed the channel to CBS for the last ten minutes of the show to see the Price Is Right in hopes of seeing Dian Parkinson in a bikini in the showdowns. One of the things I loved the most about it was the appearances of Rich Hall. I thought he was so funny. I remember he did some kind of thing where was showing what a tornado was like by putting little plastic people on a turntable and then turning it on. Then he did his "snigglets" segment. That was always very clever and funny.

[@jrh11254]

In the spirit of over-caffeination I watched this at 2x normal speed. Really freed up my morning.

[@Longshot_NYC]

Bill Wendle was great at warming up the crowd. I saw the show live many times that summer, 1980.

[@dongiller]

Wendell; Bill Wendell.

[@FrancisPatrickPerron]

I saw this live. There was a small onstage fire during the closing sequence which actually made the news.

[@dongiller]

The fire was on an earlier morning show - two months earlier - kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3SufGeqn7Sses0

[@markdavies9117]

The production staff was funny, too. What a classy way to go out to show the staff. Now, I need to run out and get some Milk of Magnesia.

[@johnberry8367]

The David Letterman Show seemed a little out of place for daytime television

[@greatmcluhansghost7134]

part of the charm-- a little awkward

[@KiddBloo86]

True; however, do you think we would have had as many years of Letterman late show that we've had if this didn't happen?

[@amandaarkebauer3791]

I was 14 years old and I would watch it before school I LOVED it!!

[@ApartmentKing66]

I didn't find it out of place at all. I loved the show, but couldn't watch the whole 4 months because the 1980-81 school year started. Until then, I NEVER missed a show.

[@jcampton1]

Do you think it would've done well syndicated? Maybe at 3 or 4pm?

[@Studeb]

Damn, a young Rich Hall. Also that ad for smoking sections, such happy smokers. :)

[@KungEMuller]

Wow! This is pretty interesting. David Letterman was pretending to be happy about not trying to do a morning show anymore, but inside, he was upset because he thought that it was the end of the world for him. Of course, when NBC signed him to a holding contract and when Carson Productions and NBC gave him the "Late Night" show that would replace "The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder" about a year or so later, he started to feel a lot better. Now, what's odd about Tom Snyder leaving NBC after NBC offered him the 1:30am timeslot is that that timeslot is technically the same timeslot (give or take 30 minutes) that Tom Snyder had before he moved to the 12:30am timeslot because Johnny Carson wanted The Tonight Show to be an hour long.

[@KungEMuller]

Why do your comments always start with a question? It doesn't do anything to a comment, either.

[@finnibertlunchiken7792]

Why are there so many Wow's and questions? That's what I want to know,

[@KungEMuller]

I'm sorry, but I was very excited to see this because this made me realize that if Dave can bounce back from that huge failure, then maybe there's still hope for me. I'm an aspiring late night talk show host, you know, and whenever I see something that reminds me of the good old days of late night TV, I go insane.

[@KungEMuller]

By the way, I do not have a low IQ.

[@finnibertlunchiken7792]

Kung-E Muller I was kidding. I say Wow all the time and my IQ is around 145. I'm not likely to stop after reading this either. I think it has its place as an expression even if not being really descriptive or informative.

[@lucascaylor597]

Shame it seems I'll never be able to find the recording of Tchiakovsky One here. Catchy stuff.

[@LeeKav]

Are you referring to the music that opened the first episode of Late Night? It might have been the same music here, I didn't notice.

[@makeadifference4all]

Audience signs like "Kill Wink" at 53:42 were harsh. Wink Martindale was the host of 'Las Vegas Gambit,' which was replacing Letterman's show.

[@glennmarshall4693]

the show didn't last too long, but you could tell how really funny Dave was

[@myoungk]

At 10:45, Dave says hi to folks in Toledo, where it was being shown at 1 a.m. I'm wondering, did that station always show The DL Show at this time slot? If so, interesting, and prescient.

[@glennmarshall4693]

after this show, Barry went to work on SCTV, you saw him on the show too

[@fossostv]

1:19 the guy with the tie looks like a young conan o'brien

[@willneubauer21]

Best thing to happen to late night television

[@sloburnjo]

thanks Don. was his show filmed at Rockefeller? man, I did see episodes that summer & was entering 8th grade.

[@dongiller]

His morning show aired live in Studio 6A, the same studio as his Late Night two years later.

[@modernretroradio993]

Perhaps I contradict myself, but -- most likely -- this show was clearly too hip for daytime while, the audience -- despite appearing to be "middle America" -- grasped the nuances of Letterman's comedic style and dug it.

[@hankkingsley9300]

Well all I know is my little hole in Southeast Georgia at the time summer break in high school it was like what the hell is this I love it...and then you tried to talk about it and nobody knew what the f it was. I worked at night most of my friends worked during the day. Course I worked year round they only had summer jobs. This comment is one of those this one time at band camp comments

[@spuzzlightyeartoo]

Interestiing to see that deer head again at the end of the show. It also made a cameo appearance in the Iowa roadtrip show. I thought it was a joke done by the Iowans, but I guess it was actually Letterman's staff doing it. Was that a running joke?

[@deputay]

Yes, it would appear here and there, often with Rich Hall's segments

[@LeeKav]

I wonder if the complete series still exists anywhere? I'd truly love to watch it

[@lmsxxaaa]

Even commercials were better back then.

[@thomaspintion5931]

Is there a more gracious host than David Letterman? I don't think so. How did this not become the longest running show in TV history? Please, save us from meghan and kathie lee!

[@dongiller]

Well, the morning show here crashed and burned after 18 weeks, but Dave's late night television career (both Late Night and Late Show) did indeed become the longest running cumulative late night talk shows in TV history.

[@tnawcwvictoria]

TODAY show is way overrated these days when they made the show 4 hours

[@jrh11254]

@@tnawcwvictoria - what saves it is George Bush’s cross-eyed daughter.

[@friedchickenicedtea]

It was all cash on Blockbusters, Harve. No trips to Rome or vacuum cleaners. As for the "Kill Wink" sign, yo mama.

[@SammyReed-cd4cu]

56:20 - A little bit of the theme still playing before they got to Edwin Newman!

[@erik_griswold]

Kathleen Anchers (sp?) was the NBC Bookmobile lady too, yes?

[@dongiller]

Ankers; yes. Also Peggy the Foul-Mouthed Chambermaid. She, along with her co-designer at the time, Jeremy Conway, were profiled here in 1987 -- kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZqGkp4iCo6lmhMk

[@supernautistaken]

i was pretty excited to see rich hall

[@crlaw75]

I'm surprised that NBC would allow those anti-network signs on the air.

[@MrDuds1984]

crlaw75 so much they gave him a late night show two years later

[@GeorgiaOverdrive]

MrDuds1984 Well, that was Carson’s power at NBC.

[@sandy3482]

so many people came with Dave to his Late Night Show

[@finnibertlunchiken7792]

Well this was a great discovery to find today. Amazing to see how much of the morning show was replicated in the Late Night show. Can't believe he retained the intellectual property rights. I love the addition of the commercials too. It's amazing how they don't come across as awful or as hokey as many commercials became in the mid 80's. Some of those are not even watchable. These all seem still quite relatable today. Whatever happened to Wil Shriner? I liked that guy. He seems to have faded into relative obscurity.

[@dongiller]

Dave owned (and still owns) the morning shows.

[@finnibertlunchiken7792]

Don Giller would you be currently working on a morning show retrospective thing Don? Or this already the sum total?

[@dongiller]

Nothing current. I have all but five of the morning shows, but for reasons I can't get into, most aren't yet shareable. All in time.

[@1davidmac1]

@@dongiller I wonder how he was able to get ownership for his first network show, as I suspect he was a fairly unknown individual at this time. Was it the Jack Rollins connection?

[@dongiller]

David MacDonald Don’t know, but that sounds likely.

[@RobertEllis-e7p]

That show , I never watched it because it was in the morning and I had to go to school. What a low production value, it really was no frills. Funny, when he went to late night, the shows production value was much more refined and polished. I think it attracted better guests and a higher viewership, in general.

[@simonrees9441]

Hell of a funky band on this show

[@sstrick500]

OH wow...I didn't know Hal Gertner-Grenwall was there from the start.

[@dongiller]

Around six weeks in.

[@syferdet]

47:23 I miss the days when families bickered over fabric softeners. It was also the time when they fought over toothpastes, too.

[@thezenitsufan1249]

The same peacock girls and opening music would be used at the beginning of David Letterman's Late Night in 1982

[@hankkingsley9300]

Just looked at this again that is commander data in the Doublemint commercial

[@cactusjackNV]

Watched it a couple of times and did a google search. Don't think that's Bret Spiner.

[@marktatum2592]

Way to go Dave. 👏

[@tomloft2000]

All good things must come to an end.... for a while anyway.

[@PIXPromosMore]

25:51 - Still a better movie than that Other "Suicide Squad" 36 years later.

[@jamesmiller5331]

Wow I really liked the band here lol