What do you guys think? when I was younger and in middle school, I actually used to stay up late and watch Dave. This was around the time when he made the move to CBS. Since I was far too young to stay up during the days he was on NBC after Johnny (also I never knew who he was), I would watch him at 11:30. I've since seen many clips and full episodes from his older Late Night show too.
I used to think Dave was utterly hysterical. I loved his bits - especially when Larry Melman would show up at the strangest times. Nowadays, Dave doesn't seem to be enjoying his show anymore. Granted, he has been in the late night game for a lot of years, so he may feel some burnout, but I can't even recall the last time I watched and had a really good laugh.
One of my all-time favorite moments was from his older show - dated back sometime in 1983 - where Dave had Larry Melman standing by at the Port Authority Bus Depot in New York to hand out hot towels to the people getting off of the buses. Dave couldn't even keep it together as he watched Larry talk to the people around by asking them a question and sticking the microphone in the person's face, seemingly cutting off the audio. So we only heard about half of the question he'd be asking people.
"Where are you --- ?!"
"Ohhh, do you have any questions about New --- ?"
"Did you have a snack on the --- ?"
Among other moments are when Dave interrupted the Today Show with a bullhorn and exclaimed that he wasn't wearing any pants. Also, when he visited the GE building (shortly after NBC was bought) with a basket of fruit, but is confronted by building security.
There was also a time when Dave visited Conan very VERY early on when Conan took over the show. Dave told one of the funniest stories I've heard.
Conan was telling Dave how hwe visited Dave's old office and wanted to know why the windows were covered with plexiglass. Dave went on to tell a story about how in the afternoons he and his crew would play football, baseball, soccer, any kind of sport in his office.
"So one day, during batting practice, I lost control of the bat and it shot right through one of the windows. Now we were on the fourteenth floor above the intersection of 51st and 6th avenue. So the bat wedges in and is sort of hanging on the ledge and I say to myself, 'Now this is a sign, maybe us kids better quit screwing around in the office.' So I didn't learn anything from that and a couple years later I was playing catch with my assistant and the ball gets away from me. And I had wound up pretty good and it goes into the venitian blinds of the window, shatters the glass, and drops fourteen floors to the sidewalk below. Now so you think to yourself, 'Well, folks are dead!' And it was the single worst moment of my life in this building so I got the courage up and I said, 'You know it's situations like this where a person has to be responsible for their own actions. You have to answer for your behavior. You have to know what is the right thing and you have to do it.' And it was then that I sent an intern down to see who dead."
I really wish I could've been old enough to stay up late and watch, not only Johnny at 11:30, but stay up even later to watch Dave! That's amazing. How lucky you guys were in those days.
I do stay up every night and catch Conan and I think for my generation, he's going to be the late night host to remember - especially when he steps in to take over the Tonight Show.
But in regards to the point of the post, do you think Dave's as good as he used to be?
I used to think Dave was utterly hysterical. I loved his bits - especially when Larry Melman would show up at the strangest times. Nowadays, Dave doesn't seem to be enjoying his show anymore. Granted, he has been in the late night game for a lot of years, so he may feel some burnout, but I can't even recall the last time I watched and had a really good laugh.
One of my all-time favorite moments was from his older show - dated back sometime in 1983 - where Dave had Larry Melman standing by at the Port Authority Bus Depot in New York to hand out hot towels to the people getting off of the buses. Dave couldn't even keep it together as he watched Larry talk to the people around by asking them a question and sticking the microphone in the person's face, seemingly cutting off the audio. So we only heard about half of the question he'd be asking people.
"Where are you --- ?!"
"Ohhh, do you have any questions about New --- ?"
"Did you have a snack on the --- ?"
Among other moments are when Dave interrupted the Today Show with a bullhorn and exclaimed that he wasn't wearing any pants. Also, when he visited the GE building (shortly after NBC was bought) with a basket of fruit, but is confronted by building security.
There was also a time when Dave visited Conan very VERY early on when Conan took over the show. Dave told one of the funniest stories I've heard.
Conan was telling Dave how hwe visited Dave's old office and wanted to know why the windows were covered with plexiglass. Dave went on to tell a story about how in the afternoons he and his crew would play football, baseball, soccer, any kind of sport in his office.
"So one day, during batting practice, I lost control of the bat and it shot right through one of the windows. Now we were on the fourteenth floor above the intersection of 51st and 6th avenue. So the bat wedges in and is sort of hanging on the ledge and I say to myself, 'Now this is a sign, maybe us kids better quit screwing around in the office.' So I didn't learn anything from that and a couple years later I was playing catch with my assistant and the ball gets away from me. And I had wound up pretty good and it goes into the venitian blinds of the window, shatters the glass, and drops fourteen floors to the sidewalk below. Now so you think to yourself, 'Well, folks are dead!' And it was the single worst moment of my life in this building so I got the courage up and I said, 'You know it's situations like this where a person has to be responsible for their own actions. You have to answer for your behavior. You have to know what is the right thing and you have to do it.' And it was then that I sent an intern down to see who dead."
I really wish I could've been old enough to stay up late and watch, not only Johnny at 11:30, but stay up even later to watch Dave! That's amazing. How lucky you guys were in those days.
I do stay up every night and catch Conan and I think for my generation, he's going to be the late night host to remember - especially when he steps in to take over the Tonight Show.
But in regards to the point of the post, do you think Dave's as good as he used to be?
