Pretty much everything Lettermann and his writers did they "borrowed" from Steve Allen, who did the same kind of stuff in The 1950's. Lettermann, in the mid 1980's, admitted this. Allen co-invented an was the first host ever of The Tonight Show, etc. + Allen was an excellent musician and composer. Yet the average American doesn't even know who Allen is / was.

Rosemary did a great job lol

Cavett was superb in terms of his guest selection and respectful urbanity during the 60s-70s. He seems really lost from the 80s onward imo…

That's great!

Did you know Rosemary before that? Any interesting stories to tell, such as what she said after she returned to her seat, or what took place during the commercial break when Rosemary was at the desk? That must have been strange to experience, having the person seated next to you suddenly become the show host.

@@joadbreslin5819 I did not know Rosemary prior to the show. The 3 guys to my right and I went to NYC from NJ for senior skip day. We were walking by Radio City Music Hall when an NBC page stopped us on the sidewalk and asked if we wanted to attend the taping of this new show. I think it was around 4 PM. When we entered the studio they looked you over then brought you to your assigned seat. The person seating us told me that I would be sitting next to a person who would be called up to host the show for a while during the opening. I was told to "clap wildly" when Rosemary was called up to host hence my wild clapping. While waiting for the show to start I talked to Rosemary quite a bit. She said she was very nervous but very happy to be selected to be on TV. She told me where she was from and that her family were in other areas of the audience. The flower she was holding was the "mark" that she was selected to be the guest host. Dave was not there any time prior to the show so I actually think the flower mark was more for him. Prior to the show they had someone warm up the audience who was quite funny. There were some rowdy guys in the back during the warm up show that Dave mentioned during his opening. Then Paul said a few words to the audience then he goes over to the band and a producer, I think the same guy who did the warm up, addressed the audience this time wearing a headset and just started counting down. The band starts playing and Rosemary squeezed my leg. I just said, "You are going to do great" and the show begins. Sitting in the front row is not the best viewing place because the cameras and equipment are in your way. You can see my friends and I looking up at the monitors because that's the only way we could see anything on the stage. It wasn't as bad when Dave went to the desk since that was past the cameras. When Rosemary got back from her opening she asked, "How did I do?" I told her she did great. The show pretty much is filmed live just like you see it on this KZfaq presentation. If the commercials were 3 minutes, they waited 3 minutes. It was filmed between 5 and 6 PM and we made it back home just in time to see the show that same night at midnight or 1. On the way out I did get to meet Rosemary's husband who was waiting for her at the top of the steps. He said, "I'm married to a TV star." I just laughed and said, "Yes you are."

@@MBeshadathat’s cool. How old are you now? And how old would you say rosemary was? I’d say she was about 50 so probably dead now

@@MBeshadaGreat story, thanks for sharing it

The stereo trademark appeared only after the show began broadcasting in stereo, which was in mid-1985.

I was at this show. You are right. Dave's desk is sort of angled and the guests are directly facing the audience. Not that the audience could see much live because of the lights and camera equipment. When they pan the audience you can see us actually looking up at the monitors and not at the show stage, especially in the first few rows, because our view was blocked by the equipment.

Both Allen’s “Tonight Show” and “The Steve Allen Show” we’re both on NBC. His 1962-64 “Steve Allen Show” was syndicated on Westinghouse channels. None were on CBS.

@@dongiller His late night show ran on CBS affiliated channel 2 in the Detroit area (I am only referring to that show in my comments, not the earlier NBC Tonight Show, or his Sunday night show. But, yes, you are correct re Westinghouse etc. I should've eliminated mention of CBS since the only connection was that local channel 2's in various parts of the country often carried his syndication. As far as the erasing of the tapes, I guess that was done by whomever was responsible for the taping and re-use of the tapes. So I stand corrected on some of my comments, but....I stand by my comments about the great quality of the comedy and craziness of that night time show.

@@RSEFX Ah! I wasn’t aware of the CBS connection, thanks. It’s admittedly an extremely minor detail to your overall comment, and I probably shouldn’t have dwelled on it. Yes, a short-sighted crime on cultural history, allowing all that treasure to just be wiped away.

That's right. I thought that was a classy move by whoever thought of adding that bumper. I plan to put together all of the "farewell" bumpers after I finish digitizing Late Night.

April 7, 1983. Email me your email address, and I’ll send it to you directly via wetransfer. You’ll find my address in the About page of my YT channel.

I have every show. You’ll find the (uncensored) Kaufman/Lawler in this collection - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/aq1zp5x0scrRlas.html

Steve Allen copycat.

I’ve watched shows of Parr, Allen and tons of Carson but I always felt Dick Cavett had a quick a wit as Letterman did. The other three were sharp and quick but Dick and Dave just always seemed to quickly put together the correct concise, quick comeback that made you wonder how did they do that!

Yep.

I was at this taping. It was taped at 5 PM.

Actually, you have to keep in mind that Tom Snyder originally occupied the timeslot after The Tonight Show, and he had that for 8 years and 2 months before David Letterman replaced him, and he said "Good Morning" at the beginning of most of his Tomorrow Show offerings as well. The reason why is exactly what you just said. Any time after midnight is morning, which is why you heard the song "Good Morning" in a popular film entitled Singing in the Rain. Tom Snyder stopped saying Good Morning on The Tomorrow Show in 1980, and David Letterman stopped saying Good Morning on Late Night in about 1983 or so, but in any event, we should all remember that a late night talk show airing after midnight is technically an early-morning show because the people who might watch those shows either have DVRS or VCRS that will allow them to watch them while they're eating breakfast. Does that make sense?

@@graxjpg Thank you. Of course, now that we have the Internet and things like that, the hosts can literally say "Hi" at the beginning of the show and they won't be punished.

Well, there is a way. I put up a collection of complete "Green Onions" performances here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/n7KjnLOpxNPdl4U.html And there are full music breaks here:kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ptqijLGr0tPFZmg.html I'll include more when I can.

Yeah, he was bumped and never subsequently appeared on the show.