First Old Late Night - Part 1 of 7

[TitWarlord]

1:48

"And nownonow! at a man who..."

LOL. clearly should have been rehearsed at least once

[alienhuman]

I bet he nailed each one of the peacock girls.

[TitWarlord]

@alienhuman they had no tits. dam, life was hard back then

[uriah768ok]

This isn't a spoof of Plan 9, it is almost word for word from the Edward Van Sloan intro of the 1931 version of Frankenstein.

[censoredd]

good times for the west, human relations are disgusting now, humans are disgusting

[MrDukemeister]

The opening with Larry was a spoof on Plan Nine From Outer Space. Brillian!

[noahf67]

One of the most irresistable and distinct features of that original show was that kickass fusion band...Bullock, Jordan, Lee and Shaffer. As a kid I finagled my way into every taping I could just to be front & center to hear those guys.

[Hotshotter3000]

I watched David Letterman last night. Damn, he looks so young here and has so much hair. It's hard to believe this guy's been on the air for almost 30 years.

[jeansbass]

That show was so cool...the New York vibe..the band..thanks for posting.

[hbkdx47]

his monologue was so short back then

[MegaObserver1]

@hbkdx47 It had to be. One of Johnny Carson's rules was that there be no real monologue, just an opening greeting.  And the band have no more than 5 pieces. Carson didn't want Dave's show to look like the Tonight Show. Carson's company co-owned and co-produced Late Night until 1992.

[morath11]

I'm glad someone has this. I hope i can find them all

[radiodj1520]

In This Clip, From 0:00 To 3:31, It Was Late Night With David Letterman Video Open From February 1, 1982.

[TheRayRogersShow]

From what I understand, Carson hand-picked and was grooming David Letterman to host The Tonight Show. Carson's plan was to let Dave gain an audience on his own show and therefore have him be established going into the job. For some reason that escapes me, the execs at NBC went with Jay Leno. Thus, the beginning of the end really.

[hgates101]

Ripping on NBC on his first day on the job!!!

[pnull]

I was in the studio audience that night....his first Late Show on NBC

[GD29]

@pnull were you really?? what was it like??

[pnull]

@GD29 It was fun. Who knew that it would be the beginning of something big?

[GD29]

@pnull how did you get a ticket for the show? stand by? mail? internet was far from popular back then....what was going during the commercial breaks? what was going on before the show? cuz i went to a late show taping during the recent christmas week and they have stand-up and dave coming out to talk to the audience and such...

[HGbunny]

3:20...I guess things never change!

[joe007ofrock]

Who is Rosie

[unicronrocks]

LARRY BUD !!!!

[SternSuperManiac]

Early Letterman leaves early Conan in the dust!! Letterman was way more cutting edge for his time, super intelligent, and a lot more irreverant than Conan. Conan came on the scene more like a college freshman than a seasoned comedy professional. I preferred Conan's comedy style on Late Night. Same with Letterman. They both lost their edge when they moved to the 11:30 time slot.

[colpetne]

@SternSuperManiac i disagree i think they are both still hilarious

[uebergeek]

Love the late-70's/early-80's NYC-hip sensibility + the disco beat.... he should do a show that way today for no reason...

[NESherv]

@uebergeek They called 'em yuppies.

[3pac2pac]

hate letterman connan its way smater!

[aurex73]

Thats to bad you hate Letterman, the rest of us will enjoy seeing him on TV next season.

You will have to wait till Conan comes to a Yuck Yucks near you for your Conan fix! :-)

[niksiz]

Talk about speaking too soon!

[penguinhunter]

Guess you were wrong, eh?

[PoliticalJunkie2036]

Guess you were wrong about that one...

[BatmanSnowcone]

So much for that.

[Denvernate]

@SuperCoCoLuv You probably feel pretty dumb right about now don't you

[SuperCoCoLuv]

@Denvernate So sorry to disappoint you and the others here who can't seem to read my post below but no, I don't feel dumb at all.

[bigbosscentral90]

Letterman is the sharpest late night host of all time.

[GD29]

definitely a rip-off of the alfred hitchcock show openings.....still good though

[JasonFuqua]

Conan all the way

[No1pearljamfan]

conan's the best

[spinners123]

Larry Bud melman awesome!

[TheVeer]

it looks like they used to not use cue cards, has anyone else noticed that.

[iiNDiTC]

When asked how he'd like to be remembered, DeForest responded "Just being able to make people laugh and knowing people enjoyed my humor. I also hope I haven't offended anyone through the years.

[andylyboy31]

WOW!!! He used to look like Today's Connan O' brien but without the red hair.

[funkyfuhrer]

Connan kicks ass!

[west7productions]

We miss you BEar

[manuelbergher]

truman capote?

[markoshop]

Does anyone remember when Dave did a weekday talk show that was prior to this on NBC ? I remember it..But it dident last long..Was to compete against the game shows that were on at that daytime period...Does anybody have it here on youtube??

[djbattman]

The Great Calvert Deforest....

[texasflood93]

Could someone tell me who the older man with the glasses in the beginning is? Thanks.

[balddanny72]

Bud Melman R.I.P.

[UmpireGuy]

Does anyone know who's rendition of Tchiakovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Minor that's playing in the intro?

[megawhoosits]

it's the same tune that opens the radio play of "War of the Worlds" with Orson Welles, by the Mercury Theater. Which, ironically, included a similar monologue to the one that opens this clip.

Coincidence? Maybe. Who knows.

[djmarkcotter]

did anyone notice the "liberace" rendition tune at the beginning? (liberace being popular at the time)

[juanmejca]

i saw this first show when i was younger in 82

since then i watchim every nigth,when i have time of course.

thanks for the memories

best regards from Mexico

Juan

[arafathcoolguy]

David Look like the Kid From the (tHAT 70s show) remember Eric The same kid was in Spiderman 3 as venom

[jjm1965]

I remember watching this broadcast in 1982. I became a fan of Letterman when he had his morning show in 1980. I also enjoyed his guest hosting "The Tonight Show," and when I heard he landed the "Late Night" gig I made sure to tune in. Thanks for posting these historic clips.

[climbingtheladder]

Great historic footage here!

[mrtelevision]

Could you upload the closing credits?

[WileyCoyote69]

So fitting that it all started with Larry "Bud".

RIP - Calvert.

[ePhilosopher]

you ever wonder if larry bud melman had died... wouldn't have IN THE YEAr TWO THOUSAND...

david bowie will also be david byrne, brother theodore, david lettermen, crispin glover, and the band's most dangerous world. tyvl&germs boyse flew into fabio and boy ws he disturbed as Peacock ornication

[rodog123]

R.I.P. Larry Bud