Late Night with David Letterman Premiered 40 Years Ago on February 1, 1982 - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TJ · 02-01-2022, 05:52 PM

The show premiered 40 years ago tonight with Bill Murray and Don Herbert (Mr. Wizard) as the first guests. I was too young to regularly watch and appreciate the early years. It's fun to watch the videos on Don Giller's great YouTube channel.

Bill Murray remembers being David Letterman's first guest on the 40th anniversary of 'Late Night'
https://www.yahoo.com/now/bill-murra...212652819.html

Did anyone watch him since day one?

David Letterman will be on Late Night with Seth Meyers tonight to celebrate the 40th anniversary.

TMC · 02-02-2022, 02:44 AM

Paul Shaffer looks back at Night 1 of Late Night with David Letterman

David Letterman's former band leader recalled Bill Murray singing. "This was the first show ever; we didn’t know what was going to happen," Shaffer tells Vulture in commemorating Late Night's 40th anniversary. "Billy came to the office in the early afternoon to kick some ideas around with the writers for what he might do on the show. When I saw him, he had finished this meeting and said, 'I want to do "Let’s Get Physical" and get into some kind of aerobics routine. Not sure how yet.' I said, 'Do you want to try to work it out?' 'No, I gotta go feed my dog.' And he left. He didn’t get back until the taping had already started. With the band — my brand-new personal quartet — we learn 'Let’s Get Physical' and don’t really know what we’re doing. And he really just improvised that whole scene — had never sung it before, never sung it with the band. That was our first show. I said, 'My God, you’ve really got to be loose with this show.' That never changed." As for how Late Night differed from Late Show, Shaffer says: "There was a lot of experimentation. Sometimes it bombed, sometimes successful. But the feeling was: We have license here to try anything. Who is watching?When we moved to 11:30, in line with that, the feeling was: People are watching. The show may have gotten a little bit safer. You didn’t want to get involved with something that wasn’t going to be successful or funny. I was expected to keep up with the change, too: get a bigger band, look like more of a presentation. The four-piece just wasn’t going to cut it anymore." ALSO: David Letterman learned of Late Night's 40th anniversary when he was invited on tonight's Late Night with Seth Meyers.

AMackII · 02-04-2022, 09:35 AM

Happy 40th Anniversary this week to NBC’s Late Night

1960'sTVfan · 02-04-2022, 10:21 PM

One of my favorite parts of Letterman's show is when he dropped stuff from the top of a 5 story tower.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfYb-svzvDk

And the steamroller segments too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJehtHmkARM

02-01-2022, 05:52 PM	#1
TJ Site Owner Administrator Forum Star Join Date: Feb 03, 2000 Location: Marietta, GA Posts: 10,708	Late Night with David Letterman Premiered 40 Years Ago on February 1, 1982 The show premiered 40 years ago tonight with Bill Murray and Don Herbert (Mr. Wizard) as the first guests. I was too young to regularly watch and appreciate the early years. It's fun to watch the videos on Don Giller's great YouTube channel. Bill Murray remembers being David Letterman's first guest on the 40th anniversary of 'Late Night' https://www.yahoo.com/now/bill-murra...212652819.html Did anyone watch him since day one? David Letterman will be on Late Night with Seth Meyers tonight to celebrate the 40th anniversary.
	Last edited by TJ; 02-01-2022 at 07:00 PM.

02-04-2022, 10:21 PM	#4
1960'sTVfan Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Sep 30, 2009 Posts: 6,128	One of my favorite parts of Letterman's show is when he dropped stuff from the top of a 5 story tower. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfYb-svzvDk And the steamroller segments too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJehtHmkARM
	Last edited by 1960'sTVfan; 02-04-2022 at 11:40 PM.

02-02-2022, 02:44 AM	#2
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 126,743	Paul Shaffer looks back at Night 1 of Late Night with David Letterman David Letterman's former band leader recalled Bill Murray singing. "This was the first show ever; we didn’t know what was going to happen," Shaffer tells Vulture in commemorating Late Night's 40th anniversary. "Billy came to the office in the early afternoon to kick some ideas around with the writers for what he might do on the show. When I saw him, he had finished this meeting and said, 'I want to do "Let’s Get Physical" and get into some kind of aerobics routine. Not sure how yet.' I said, 'Do you want to try to work it out?' 'No, I gotta go feed my dog.' And he left. He didn’t get back until the taping had already started. With the band — my brand-new personal quartet — we learn 'Let’s Get Physical' and don’t really know what we’re doing. And he really just improvised that whole scene — had never sung it before, never sung it with the band. That was our first show. I said, 'My God, you’ve really got to be loose with this show.' That never changed." As for how Late Night differed from Late Show, Shaffer says: "There was a lot of experimentation. Sometimes it bombed, sometimes successful. But the feeling was: We have license here to try anything. Who is watching?When we moved to 11:30, in line with that, the feeling was: People are watching. The show may have gotten a little bit safer. You didn’t want to get involved with something that wasn’t going to be successful or funny. I was expected to keep up with the change, too: get a bigger band, look like more of a presentation. The four-piece just wasn’t going to cut it anymore." ALSO: David Letterman learned of Late Night's 40th anniversary when he was invited on tonight's Late Night with Seth Meyers.

02-04-2022, 09:35 AM	#3
AMackII Member Forum Star Join Date: Oct 23, 2015 Location: St. Louis Posts: 17,225	Happy 40th Anniversary this week to NBC’s Late Night