CBS's Late Show with David Letterman regularly features different sketches that follow the monologue and precede interviews with guests. Often these are repeated absurdist segments, involving various cast members, Dave's friends, audience participation, edited or contrived news or promotional videos, or competitions or stunts staged outside the Ed Sullivan Theater.
Currently, the show's regularly scheduled segments consist of "Small Town News" on Mondays and "Fun Facts" on Fridays. Thursdays often feature a rotating set of three audience participation segments: "Know Your Current Events," "Stump the Band," and "Audience Show and Tell."
"Stupid Pet Tricks" and "Stupid Human Tricks," two of Letterman's trademark bits from Late Night , continue to be presented on the Late Show, though much less frequently.
There are also running gags, which may continue for about a month, such as playing "José Feliciano's Old Turkey Buzzard" or other sound effects when a card "crashes through the window" or telephone calls from "Len Easton, California Highway Patrol" or Joe McCain on a telephone that Dave acknowledges is a prop that is not connected. Dave expresses amusement or annoyance when these recur.
This article focuses on sketches that have been featured on the Late Show, past and present.
Kalter introduction
Announcer Alan Kalter's introduction of Letterman, while technically not a skit, assigns a bizarre modification to Letterman's name and appears at the beginning of every show. (" And now: Microscopic Sea Creature, David Letterman! ") Letterman's title changes every night and often makes reference to a current event. (" And now: Disenfranchised French Youth, David Letterman! ") Prior to September 11, 2001, the first line of Kalter's introductions contained humorous descriptions of New York City (" From New York! Where the rats hate the subways, too! "). Once the Late Show returned to air on September 17, 2001, the introduction changed simply to, " From New York! The greatest city in the world! " It has not changed since; however, "The greatest city in the world!" is omitted from episodes with guest hosts, as is the host 'title'.
Sketch participants
While Letterman himself often participated in many of the show's non-"desk comedy" routines in its earlier years (as well as on Late Night ), over time he has increasingly preferred to have others star in them instead. Letterman is now rarely featured in any of the show's frequent pre-taped bits.
Kalter, bandleader and sidekick Paul Shaffer, and Hello Deli proprietor Rupert Jee are often utilized instead in comedy routines, as are stage manager Biff Henderson, stagehands Pat Farmer and Kenny Sheehan, handyman George Clarke, "cue card boy" Tony Mendez, head carpenter Harold Larkin, cameraman Dave Dorsett, assistant Stephanie Birkitt, former writers Gerard Mulligan and Chris Elliott (who almost always appear together), and Johnny Dark (a personal comedy friend of Letterman's).
Letterman's mother, Dorothy, also makes appearances (via satellite from Indianapolis) from time to time, including each Thanksgiving. She perhaps rose to fame mostly as a result of her nightly reporting from the 1994 Winter Olympics.
Former recurring players from the show include Sirajul Islam and Mujibur Rahman (employees of a nearby gift store which has since relocated), Calvert DeForest, and scenic designer Kathleen Ankers (reprising her Late Night role of "Peggy, the Foulmouthed Chambermaid"; on CBS, she was the equally censored "Helen, the Ill-tempered Ticket Lady").
Countless random cameo appearances had been made during the span of the show, most notably in the earlier years by the late Tony Randall, with Regis Philbin filling that void in recent years.
For a while, Letterman took great delight in making fun of his employer, continuing a tradition established at NBC, with senior CBS Corporation executive Les Moonves often serving as the target of his abuse. In time, Letterman's relationship with Moonves has improved; a segment titled " More with Les " features jocular phone calls between Letterman and Moonves.
Alan Kalter
Announcer Alan Kalter is frequently used in comedy bits, often with Kalter as the butt of the joke:
Regular sketches
When Letterman left NBC and moved to CBS to begin the Late Show in the summer of 1993, several of Late Night's long-running comedy bits made the move with him, including perhaps his best known, the Top Ten List. Letterman renamed a few of his regular bits to avoid legal problems over trademark infringement (NBC cited that what he did on Late Night was "intellectual property" of the network). For example, "Viewer Mail" on NBC became the "CBS Mailbag", and Larry "Bud" Melman began to use his real name, Calvert DeForest.
One recurring sketch on both the NBC and CBS shows has been the destruction of household items by various methods including explosives, steamrollers, and - most often - throwing them off the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater. While popular with fans, Letterman has gradually lessened the frequency of such segments in recent years.
Letterman also has a knack for consuming food products and drinks that appear on his show. Among the items that he has consumed are: wine from a bottle used for a cooking demonstration; various kinds of liquor (while quipping " We're gonna lose our liquor license "); Popeye's " Full Flavor Green Beans ;" " motor oil " (actually chocolate syrup) from a bottle that bore a "Quaker State" label; Red Bull; liquid from a bottle that supposedly contained Wite-Out; pills from boxes labeled "Lipitor" and "Cialis" (obviously not really the drugs); and even cosmetic products. On one occasion, Dave took a healthy swig of "low-carb suntan lotion" and immediately spit it out, having discovered that it actually was suntan lotion.
The Late Show is well known for its repeated absurdist segments, often taking the form of competitions or audience participation. The charm of such segments is often that they are completely pointless, yet are taken seriously by Letterman and all involved.
Top Ten List
The Top Ten List appears almost daily on the Late Show, and remains one of the few regular segments carried over from Late Night. It is often the last comedic segment presented prior to the show's first guest. List topics are often inspired by current news and pop cultural events, with typical lists bearing titles such as "Top Ten Signs..." and "Top Ten Reasons..." The Top Ten List is compiled by the show's writing staff, and is usually read by Letterman, although the show occasionally uses guest presenters. Some Top Ten List themes reappear seasonally, such as the carolers singing "Top Ten Least Popular Holiday Songs."
For a long time, the Top Ten Lists were said to have been written in a so-called "Home Office". There were various Home Offices before the part was dropped, but the list included Sioux City, Iowa; Grand Rapids, Michigan; and Wahoo, Nebraska - all actual, extant towns. ( Late Show staffer Mike McIntee's nightly online recap of the show, the "Wahoo Gazette" is named after the Nebraska town.)
Recently, the Top Ten List has often become a casualty of time constraints, often being pulled from the show at the last minute. Dave will often announce that the Top Ten List is coming up, or Kalter will promote it before the first commercial, when, in fact, it is not delivered on that night's show and is instead held until the next morning, when it is broadcast across Westwood One/CBS Radio Network.
Great Moments in Presidential Speeches
Great Moments in Presidential Speeches was a near-daily segment presented a series of three video excerpts. Originally, the first two come from actual famous moments, Franklin D. Roosevelt's inaugural speech ("The only thing we have to fear is fear itself") and John F. Kennedy's inaugural speech ("Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country").
The third excerpt featured President George W. Bush in an unintentionally comical moment, often during press conferences or town hall gatherings. These moments frequently focused on the vacuous Bush stuttering, finding himself at a loss for words, or uttering a nonsensical Bushism. The excerpts were also often taken out of context for humorous effect, such as when Bush declared, "My kids can't read!", "My lawyer's a Latino" or "Why should I care about Africa?"
The "Great Moments" presentation also featured Dwight Eisenhower, Harry S. Truman, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and even President Bush's father, followed by Bush himself. One adaptation was of President Kennedy's Berlin speech, with the words "Ich bin ein Berliner," followed by President Reagan's Berlin speech ("Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall") in 1987 (Reagan was also featured in another Letterman skit "The Reagan Diaries"), and as always, an excerpt from President Bush's recent speeches. An Abraham Lincoln impostor (Johnny Dark) has also given the "Tear down this wall" speech. President Lyndon Johnson made his debut on "Great Moments" with his declaration not to seek reelection in 1968. George Washington's, Abraham Lincoln's, Roosevelt's, and Kennedy's portraits were shown in the graphic at the beginning and end of "Great Moments."
After a few months into the segment's inception,