Terry Gilliam on Letterman, 1982

[breedlove94]

My, how Letterman and Gilliam have aged

[zkxb]

In the first half Terry was out of control, but after the commercial break he calmed down quite a bit. Dave must have given him a verbal smackdown during the break.

[CCNuck]

I'm a Canadian, can I be a neutral observer? He does sound American, but with the oddest hints of British - a certain roundness to some of the words. Words like "actors", "really", even his "uh"s, "who", etc. Interesting. (Man I adore Gilliam)

[twooffour]

They both look like Dexter!!

[cleanhomer]

Damn! Letterman looks so young here!

[DeepEye1994]

HAIL TO THE DIRECTOR OF BRAZIL

[mcprankster]

Thanks mate. it's efforts like yours that keep youtube worth coming back to.

[lordtufty]

Green Onions... classic tune

[cluedo1]

I really like the way he laughs :D

[VillemarMxO]

I actually remember seeing this originally aired...I was 13 and remembered Letterman from his crazy morning show and was thrilled that he was getting a late nite show. But being 13, I had to take a nap to stay up. I don't remember the specifics but remember seeing the clip of Time Bandits and that sparking my interest. Happy you uploaded this! Haven't seen it in almost 30 years (wow!!)

[rvhawkeye]

the guests seems coked up, no shit

[alidasher]

maybe its just me but his laugh and goofiness seem a lot like chris farley.

[Dragonstorm787]

uh...was Gilliam's intro in the chair scripted there or was that really an accident?

[thegodi]

@Dragonstorm787 He did it on purpose... he's pretty crazy.

[carlsetzer]

I like the dim (low budget?) lighting from early Late Night. It looks like it was done in someone's basement.

[pretorious700]

Nigel Tufnel?

[BlockBillionaireTV]

Can we say COCAINE!

[deelbe]

Wow. Terry Gilliam plugging Time Bandits on the 3rd episode of Letterman? Thanks for posting this! Pretty historical. I like how he kept the "skyline through the windows" element on all of the sets throughout his career.

[stevesattlerfilms]

Warren Sattler from National Lampoon Cartoonist drew on this issue with Harvey , and Gilliiam.

[GamingMill]

Thanks for uploading this - Gilliam, in my view, is one of the greatest film directors ever.

[MsSarjen]

@GamingMill I agree! He will always be my favorite.

[meirelles94]

I waited 2 minutes into the intro to hear what accent he'd speak with on Letterman.

[yaywhewclips242]

The doc of his about the making and debacle of his "Don Quiote" film is wonderful. No MP or TG fan should miss it!

[castaway1982]

Did Letterman say "Mighty Python?"

[ilovepanslabyrinth]

@givemefudge

That is why we love Terry

[brozeiy]

I need help as an independent filmmaker, if anyone would care to help in a small way please search "Brozeiy's activist flick"

[famousmermaid]

HAHAHAHA. Funny. Is that really David Letterman?? :D I mean you can see it's him. But his look is soo funny! Hahaha. :D

[GD29]

Second episode i've seen where Dave is wearing a sweater.....anybody have any idea why? (was it part of a running gag)

[ezmereldagreen]

i had an erotic dream about terry gilliam last night. hes pretty cute here.

[PaulMichaels78]

@ezmereldagreen

Yeah he was very attractive at that age. I would have slept with him in a heart beat back then, only then I was 11 years old.

[SpottedSharks]

How long have you been a robber?

[freqazoidiac]

i begged my parents to go see time bandits in the theatre (i was 8 years old) and we got there, sat there for 10 minutes, and they could not STAND the film, so we had to LEAVE! then they did the same thing at the Dark Crystal. LAME. Great film and Director!

[jerryhello100]

@freqazoidiac What awful people, no offense.

[freqazoidiac]

@jerryhello100 IT IS RATHER AWFUL ISN'T IT!!

It's exactly the type of thing Terry was pointing to in Time Bandits..LAME PARENTS..too bad they didn't stick around to get THAT part of the plot..hahah suckers.

[spuzzum888]

guess this explains why TG has never been on the Letterman show again

[tmanxxxx]

@spuzzum888 he showed up three years later to letterman for another appearance.

[freqazoidiac]

@spuzzum888 he showed up A few times after this. One notable appearance was when he was promoting 12 Monkeys.

[inrwizards]

@spuzzum888 he went back 2 promote 12 monkeys, do some fucking research, it takes a sec. 4 thumbs up, wtf?

[amaxamon]

This is great. Terry thought the film was being promoted wrong, as a Python spin-off. He was right. You can see how uncomfortable he is here rehashing the Python story (yet again).

[infinitefathom]

great footage awesome upload thanks

[AOAWHATSUP]

who the hell would think he sounds british

[LifeJuice90]

His accent is 100% American. His way of speaking is just faster than American. It is the influence of living in the UK for so long. I lived in Louisiana for about 5 years, and found my self speaking like them without bearing their accent. Mel Gibson completely shed his Australian accent when he moved back to America but you still catch it once a while like a pinch of pepper in food.

[cpmkw]

His actual pronunciation of words is completely American. However he seems to subtly make vocabulary choices, and adopt a rhythm and tone, that (to an American ear) veer toward "British English" speech.

I think in this clip he sounds just slightly, vaguely affected to an American ear. However he definitely sounds much more American than British.

BTW--When was it that Letterman turned from the self-affacing goofball to the snarky, irritable ass (mid 90s?)

[cwegers1]

Geat entrance

[freekicking85]

Does he really sound British to Americans. To me (Brit), he has an American accent.

[starprincess66]

i'm american and he sounds american......

[akanathan]

Must be an inbetween accent haha.

He only sounds British once in a while to me. You can tell he isn't tho.

[someone6878]

@freekicking85 to me he sounds american with the tiniest bit of british (i'm canadian)

[shurite]

@freekicking85 To me (American), you can slightly here an English accent but it's very, very subtle.Gilliam mostly sounds American–he grew up in the United States and it's hard to shake off one's native accent completely.

[fishinwithguns]

@freekicking85 I'm American, and to me he sounds more American than British...but still a strange mix of the two. If I heard someone talk like that in person I'd definitely ask where they were from. He doesn't sound British necessarily, but you definitely don't hear many people who sound like that around here.

[freekicking85]

@fishinwithguns yeah, I have to agree. He says some words in a southern english accent and others with an american accent. Definately a strange mix of the two.

[hmdwgf]

@freekicking85 he is American, he has lived in Britain since 1968.

[lijluvr356]

@freekicking85 he sounds like an American to me, too. (I'm American.)

[ben9dot9]

@freekicking85 He is the only american in Pythons

[salasam75]

@freekicking85 Sounds like a felch.



[TheAdamewing]

@freekicking85 It is not like he sounds like a Briton but his speech has certain British-sounding inflections that I am sure anyone would develop after living in Britain for a long enough time.

[edmund184]

Thankyou for posting all of this.

[rongravy]

I loved that movie when I was a kid. Awesome early Dave action.

[dedbusted]

Wow--can you post more old shows. This when late night was good.

[TheCastellan]

I wanna see the Jerry Lawler and Andy Kaufman one. :3

[gruelin1]

He looks like he plays for Spinal Tap

[EllaJeann]

Who wants to guess what he threw into the audience when he first came out?

[vokshumana]

Here he looks like a member of Black Sabbath.

[diefortacos]

that was a really random question to end the interview on...

[ks43593]

Is he drunk or on something?!

[MoltenPlastic]

Don't worry, he's always that way.

[monosound81]

hahahah priceless!!!!

[staunchestjam91]

jesus christ, can you possibly get any more patronizing.

[hunyghan]

This is the third episode of Late Night. It aired on february 3 1982. Other guests were Hank Aaron and Irving Caesar.

[Dantemadison]

Wow - third episode! That's kinda cool. Thanks, I change the video title again.

[simonjeste]

@hunyghan watching Dave in the sweater, and the set around him... it feels like a Tom Green type of vibe, very intimate and real and down to earth, not "network" at all. Not like the grumpy old grandpa that Letterman has turned into now. :(

[slap1328]

this must be late 82, early 83. Lettermans late night show didnt start until early in 82.

[Dantemadison]

Ah, thanks for the info. I wasn't really sure of the date - I just put 1981 'cause he was promoting Time Bandits, and I thought it was released in '81. I'll change the title.

[hansxxxx666]

I like how Letterman puts him in his place in the beginning. It's pretty smooth and subtle, without appearing all too angry.

Thanks for uploading!