Did anyone see David Letterman roll a GE missile across the stage in 1986?

[Melodybe]

back when GE bought NBC. I was a little girl but one fateful summer night, Dave had on Bruce Willis. I was about 8 and Moonlighting was my favorite show. David Addison was one of my first TV crushes and I begged to get to stay up and watch him on Letterman.

It was the first time Bruce and Dave ever meet, they have friends since. Tom Waits was the guest, and even though I was too young to appreciate Tom, Dave I liked instantly.

That summer and every summer afterwords I made a point to try and stay up to watch Letterman. At one point, I literally thought that his multiple choice quizzes were real. What can I say I was a kid.

Well one of the things I remember not really getting all the jokes for, was Dave ragging on GE for buying NBC. Dave hated the idea that a light bulb maker/weapons maker would be buying a network. He objected so much he made a sketch devoted to him leaving the studio (you've seen those before) and delivering a fruit basket to the GE offices. He made a real stink and made the GE folks in the office look like asses.

At the end of the segment, a giant GE missile rolled out on to the stage, Dave said something to the effect of, this moment was brought to you by the folks at GE.

It was so great, although I didn't really get it, I understood that Dave did not like it. I may have been young, but I liked Dave and I trusted him. 20 years later, I see how prophetic he was.

Dave hating George Bush, isn't new. Dave mentioning the DSM is not a surprise.

One thing you should know about Dave is that he respects and loves the military. He is as conservative as a liberal can get, I wouldn't call him a prude but he gets WAY too nervous around gay or naked men, other than that though he is a balls to the wall liberal, but he really does honor and respect the military. He doesn't like it when shit heads like Bush put our soldiers in harms way for greed and power. He hates Bush and this war, but he still takes the time to do USO tours.

I love Letterman, I have since the moment I saw him, and let me be the first to say that in almost 20 years he has never let me down. Dave has alway been on our side, and we should thank him for it.

Here is a link for emailing a response:

http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/#

click on show info at the top of the page and hit feedback.

With all the BS Dave will get from the freepers counter it with some love from the DUers.

Thanks Dave, I still love ya.

[evlbstrd]

1. Did you see the GE Corporate Handshake?

Dave reaches to shake the hand of the functionary sent to greet him, said functionary automatically puts his hand out and suddenly pulls it back.
Hilarious! And he played it in slo-mo, over and over.

[Melodybe]

3. I don't remember that part just the fruit basket, lots of light bulb jokes

and the big GE missile at the end. I was only 8 at the time.

I must say I have good tastse when it comes to picking people I'm going to love for the rest of my life.

My best friend of 17 years and my husband the only man I've ever dated are the only two people I can remember meeting. I remember everything about meeting them, our first words and what they had on.

The two comedians I love the most are Letterman and Jon Stewart, both of which I instantly liked the first time I saw them: Dave when I was eight and Jon when I was about 16.

Oddly enough I married a Dave and the first guy I ever had a crush on was named John, coincidence, yep, but weird none the less.

[evlbstrd]

9. I watched his old daytime show.

When my daughter was a baby, I was a freelancer and househusband. He was hilarious. And he introduced Edie McClurg to America.

[Logansquare]

13. I remember he had Dodie Goodman from Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

on frequently, as a kookie housewife type character. His girlfriend Meryl Markoe was chief writer at the time, and I think the show was much weirder and funnier. But, I'm an old fogey from the 80s--what do I know?

[evlbstrd]

17. Mary Hartman! Mary Hartman!

(wipes teeth with finger)
That was a great show. We'd watch on lunch break on our ship when we were in port.
And Dave's show was wierd and very funny. I think he even had Chris Eliot at the time.

[LilKim]

15. GE Corporate Handshake Video

http://www.k-statecats.com/dl_GE_4-08-86.mov

Other Letterman video:

http://www.ddy.com/dl29.html

[Melodybe]

16. Awesome, but not the one with the missile.

When was that? I vividly remember a GE missile going across the stage.

Well, it was a LOOONG time ago.

GE was a running gag on Letterman for years, so I guess I'm just confusing more than one episode.

Hey did you know, "GE SUX!!!!"

[KharmaTrain]

2. Dave Was Great Tonight...Old NBC Reruns On Trio

If you want to see him tweak GE...those old shows are classics.

My favorite still is when he went to welcome the new GE bosses when they purchased NBC. He went to their corporate headquarters with a fruit basket and a camera crew. BTW...this was before Michael Moore. The video is hillarious as he never makes it past the front desk...and for weeks afterwards would find ways to say or get the words "GE Sucks" into the show.

Dave's never been overtly political. While he does his bits in the monologue, it wasn't until last year that I really saw him show any of his own political expressions. I think that crap when the White House tried to say a bit he ran on his show featuring a kid falling asleep at a Bunnypants rally was faked...that really pissed Dave off.

The man's charm has been...and this comes from a viewer since his NBC morning show in 1980...is his distrust of the corporate world...something I could and still relate to. He's even better now since he overcame the game and mastered it. While he's wearing the nice suits and the hair is slowing fading to nothing, he's still the rebel and iconoclast.

Best of all, Dave now doesn't give a rat's ass. He knows he's the best thing CBS has got. He makes them tons of money and should he decide to walk, ABC has already shown they'd roll over backwards to get him.

Letterman carries on the tradition of Fred Allen, Jack Benny, Johnny Carson and Steve Allen...and with his own style has influenced a generation along the way.

[Melodybe]

4. I remember GE sucks!

Wow odd how those neurons never really die.

What a nice post, KharmaTrain, I agree completely.

I love his More with Les segments, where he is always a total dick to Les Moonves the CEO of Viacom. Dave does know he can do whatever he wants, he is a national treasure.

[Neshanic]

5. He is hysterically unrelenting on Moonvies....

When the war was just starting, on Saddam's top ten list of thing to do today, one was "lunch with Les Moonvies."

He also finds the CBS eye "creepy".

I love that guy.

[KharmaTrain]

6. Thank-you, Melodybe

I give Moonves credit...he lets Dave really take some wicked shots at him. A far bigger contrast to a Bob Welch.

Of course, there's the great movie Night Shift that nails dead-on the Letterman/Leno/NBC/CBS fiasco.

The Trio Cable Network is re-runing the NBC Dave shows (for years they haven't been shown) at 10:00PM Eastern...it's replace Aaron Brownose here every evening.

Dave's real charm is how he spans generations. My mother was a big Dave fan...I turned her on to the show and she'd always run Top 10 lists past me...and now my son and I watch both the old and new shows...and he's totally into Dave and the music.

Cheers!

[Melodybe]

7. Dave has the greatest taste in Music!

Sure he has to have on a lot of stupid poppy crap bands but his favorite bands totally rock.

He loves Tom Waits, they have been friends for a long time and right before the election he let Pearl Jam perform Masters of War, I was blown away.

At the end of it Eddie Vedder says, "thanks Dave." For letting them perform that song, I thanked Dave too.

It was a great performance, here is a link:

http://www.michaelmoore.com/_media/pearljam.mov

[KharmaTrain]

8. I Saw The Show

Dave also was close friend with Warren Zevon.

The band has always been solid, since it's the same 4 guys since the show started. Plus Paul goes back to SNL and the National Lampoon. I have some early bits with him and Gilda Radner...doing a take-off of "I Am Woman" in 1973 from the National Lampoon Radio hour that's a classic.

They're all from a products of the "counter-culture"...the progressive rock and comedy of the late 60s and early 70s. Paul and the band carries it on with all the new bands and all that great R & B and Soul tunes...and Dave carries on with his friends (Robin Williams, Steve Martin, Al Franken and so on) as well as giving a break to newer performers.

We hear the term Progressive Talk these days, but I come from the days of Progressive Rock and Comedy...and what fun times those were. Dave keeps me young. LOL.

Cheers!

[Melodybe]

10. Cheers to you and Dave!

[Melodybe]

11. Kick for David Letterman, since I posted this in the early AM hours

[Johonny]

12. I just remember

Sonic Youth coming on Dave. They sucked big time. They ended their horrible song and just before they cut to commerical Dave sunk in the review with the dry phrase "Lady's and gentlemen Sonic Youth". Just the way he said it you knew he disliked them. Sure enough after commerical and for the next week you got "Sonic Youth Paul, Sonic Youth." Dave's one of those people that can express like and dislike without ever really telling you how he feels.

[Melodybe]

14. I like Sonic Youth, Dirty is one of my all time favorite Albums