Posted: Saturday 31st December 2011 at 12:55am by Paul
The Late Show’s big Christmas spectacular aired on the 23rd December. As always it was packed full of the usual Christmas fare.
Jay Thomas told his Lone Ranger story that we never grow tired of – one of the best anecdotes ever told. This year the story-telling had a bit of a twist with the addition of a video segment at the end of it featuring Dave as the Lone Ranger himself!
Dave and Jay threw footballs at the meatball & pizza on top of the Late Show Christmas tree for the annual Quarterback Challenge.
Darlene Love closed the show with another fantastic rendition of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”.
The annual messages from the US troops serving overseas were also a part of the show going into the commercial breaks.
As an added bonus former Frasier actor David Hyde Pierce stopped by to talk about his new theatre show on Broadway.
The only thing missing was Paul Shaffer’s Cher impression, but just look on YouTube and enjoy one from a previous year if you feel inclined.
On a sadder note, it was cameraman Dave Dorsett’s final Late Show as he was retiring after a long career with CBS. He’s been seen in many on-air segments over the years usually involving something happening with the camera (i.e. falling asleep when Dave is talking and having the camera dip down low, or saying he thought it was just a rehearsal and walking out of the theatre). I always loved these little segments with Dave Dorsett and he’ll be missed on the Late Show.
The Late Show Christmas show is always a highlight of the festive season for me. Watch some of the highlights below:
It was Regis’s final week of Live With Regis & Kelly shows this week and Dave let him go out in style – surprising him with a present of a Vespa scooter. However Regis did fall off it as he drove off into the sunset – it could only happen to Regis!
Posted: Wednesday 26th October 2011 at 9:27am by Paul
President Barack Obama was interviewed on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno yesterday.
The US President was on a whirlwind three-day fundraising tour for elections next year.
The first part of the interview was the most serious, as Obama discussed the recent crisis in Libya, the war in Iraq and terrorist threats.
The second part of the interview was a bit more light-hearted as the President talked about his family’s TV viewing habits, giving up smoking since taking up office and wanting to give out candy at Halloween when Michelle always wants to promote healthy food instead.
Posted: Sunday 25th September 2011 at 12:19am by Paul
Popular British band Coldplay stopped by the Ed Sullivan Theater this week to play a special concert as part of the Live On Letterman series of webcasts.
The concert was streamed live on the CBS Late Show website and is now available to watch on demand on their website:
In addition to the Live On Letterman webcast concert, Coldplay also performed their new song Paradise on an episode of the Late Show this week:
Posted: Sunday 4th September 2011 at 4:00pm by Paul
The Jonathan Ross Show made its premiere on ITV1 last night. Guests on the opening show were Sarah Jessica Parker, Lewis Hamilton and Adele.
The new talk show followed a very similar format to his old BBC1 show Friday Night With Jonathan Ross. So much so that certain reviewers are describing it as the same show but with adverts.
It’s a very traditional talk show and still features the backstage “green room” area where guests wait and are shown on a TV screen.
After one guest is interviewed they return to the “green room” area – the same as his old BBC1 show worked (not like The Graham Norton Show where the guest normally stays out when the next one is interviewed.
The set for the show looks very American-esque and reminded me a lot of the sets for The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and Conan.
The new theme tune was produced by Mark Ronson and featured trumpets and orchestral sounds – again, similar to the theme tunes for The Tonight Show, Late Night and Conan in the US.
An ITV1 repeat will air on Thursday 10.35pm and a further repeat will air on ITV2 on Friday at 11.40pm.
The full show is available to watch on ITV Player and there are a couple of exclusive online clips they couldn’t fit into the show:
Posted: Friday 26th August 2011 at 10:18am by Paul
Terrorist threats have been made to David Letterman and Craig Ferguson over the past week.
David Letterman was threatened by radical Islamists for a joke he made on the Late Show. The Washington Times reports “David Letterman had a fatwa issued against him by jihadists for having the nerve to make a joke about a jihadist. The edict required that as a Jew, his tongue should be cut out for speaking blasphemy. Mr. Letterman is not Jewish, but Radical Islamists never let facts interfere with fatwas”.
Letterman has beefed up security at the Ed Sullivan Theatre where the Late Show is taped in New York City but has since joked about the threat saying “everybody knows it’s Leno” and did a special segment showing everyone who “hates” Dave. He also said “a radical extremist threatened to cut my tongue out… I wish I had a nickel for every time a guy has threatened… I think the first time was during the Academy Awards”.
Craig Ferguson also had a scare himself this week when an envelope of white powder arrived in the mail at the Late Late Show from overseas. The Los Angeles Times reports “the powder was purported to be anthrax but later proved to be harmless”.
Ferguson joked about his threat saying “In the old days if someone sent me white powder I’d have said ‘Yeah’… I’d have snorted it, ended up at a party at Elton John’s house or rehab or both… but nowadays white powder in the mail is bad… this is the most attention this show has gotten since… this is the most attention this show has gotten”.
LSUK launched in 2005. We provide coverage of such shows as the Late Show With David Letterman, the Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, Conan, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Saturday Night Live, The Graham Norton Show, The Jonathan Ross Show and The Late Late Show (Ireland).
Late Night With Jimmy Fallonairs on CNBC Mon-Fri at 11pm and weekends at 8pm. The Daily Show Global Edition airs on More 4 Mondays at 11.05pm. The Graham Norton Show airs
on BBC1 Fridays at 10.35pm. The Jonathan Ross Show airs on ITV1 Saturdays (times vary).
Late Show Quotes:
“If it weren’t for Johnny Carson, I’d have no career"
Remembering September 11thPaul: Thank you so much for the video clip link. I’ve now embedded it into this post. I’ve never seen his opening monologue from this show before, so thank you again.
