Late Show UK

Merry Christmas everyone!

The big Christmas show aired on Wednesday 23rd December. The Late Show tradition is still going strong – Jay Thomas (with his Lone Ranger story) and Darlene Love (singing Christmas, Baby Please Come Home) both featured, including the Quarterback Challenge where Dave and Jay Thomas try to knock the meatball off the top of the Late Show Christmas tree.

Paul Shaffer’s impression of Cher also featured, but is only available on the CBS website as it was cut from the final broadcast (presumably because of time constraints).

Alec Baldwin was the main interview and there were special messages from serving US troops stationed overseas.

Click here for video clips from the Christmas show

Paul Shaffer was interviewed by Letterman on Tuesday night’s Late Show to promote his new book which was released in the US this week.

Paul was hilarious during the interview and told us what it was like meeting Britney Spears when she was a surprise guest on the show in the past – let’s just say his name is now “DJ Paul Shaffer” and she wasn’t quite sure who Bob Hope was.

Paul’s new book – We’ll Be Here For The Rest Of Our Lives – is a candid memoir of his rock and roll life including his time as a musical director for Saturday Night Live, his memories of John Belushi & Jerry Lewis, his work getting the Blues Brothers together and the time he’s spent as musical director for the Late Show With David Letterman & previously on Late Night With David Letterman.

The book is available to buy now at Amazon UK – click here. To win an autographed copy of the book for free head over to paulshaffersdayinrock.com.

Watch a clip of the Paul Shaffer interview

During Thursday’s episode of the Late Show, David Letterman revealed he’s been a victim of attempted “sex blackmail”.

During the show Letterman announced he’s had relationships with women working on the Late Show – he said “I have had sex with women who work for me on this show” and for that reason a guy was trying to extort money from him to keep it a secret.

Letterman said the guy had left a package in his car outside the Ed Sullivan Theatre which contained evidence of the “terrible things” Dave had done and threatened Dave to reveal everything in a new book he was writing, which he said would then become a screenplay, unless he was given money.

Dave said that on the advice of his attorney he contacted Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and as part of the investigation he handed over a $2million “phoney” cheque to the guy trying to blackmail him.

Letterman said “this morning I did something I’ve never done in my life… I had to go downtown and testify before a grand jury”. Because of the court case, David had to come clean over his sexual encounters with Late Show staff. He said “I had to tell them all of the creepy things that I had done… the creepy stuff was that I have had sex with women who work for me on this show”.

Dave described the whole experience as “bizarre” and went on to say he wants to protect his family, himself and his job.

Belinda Luscombe from Time Magazine said “while Letterman seems to be in no immediate risk of losing either his family or his job (ratings from last night’s telecast will likely be stratospheric), his troubles may not be over. Having sex with people who were his employees or whom he managed could leave him, or CBS, open to a sexual-harassment lawsuit”.

BBC News reports “CBS employee Robert “Joe” Halderman, who was arrested on Thursday, appeared in court in New York… Mr Halderman, a producer for the real-life crime show 48 Hours, entered his plea as he appeared in court in Manhattan on a charge of attempted grand larceny” – he’s pleaded not guilty.

The story was covered on this evening’s News At Ten on BBC1 and has been covered by many UK newspapers today with tabloid coverage expected tomorrow. Click here to watch the story reported on the BBC’s News At Ten.

Time.com is reporting that Dave’s assistant Stephanie Birkett was one of the staffers Dave allegedly had an affair with – they report “widespread reports say Birkitt had a romantic relationship with Letterman before his marriage, while she was working as his personal assistant and appearing regularly on his program”.

David Letterman married his long-term partner Regina Lasko earlier this year.

BBC News – “Letterman reveals ’sex blackmail’”
BBC News – “Man denies Letterman ‘blackmail’”
Time.com – “Stephanie Birkitt: Letterman’s Lover?”
The Associated Press – “The joke’s on Letterman after on-air confession”
BBC News – “Letterman’s life in TV spotlight”

Click here to watch Dave’s announcement from Thursday night’s Late Show

Madonna was a guest on the Late Show With David Letterman on Wednesday night. Madonna has been on the show several times, including the infamous appearance in 1994 with her excessive swearing and rudeness towards Dave.

Madonna arrived into the theatre on Wednesday night at the start of the interview being carried by members of the New York Rangers.

In this latest interview she seemed more subdued than in previous appearances and discussed her relationship with US sports star A-Rod, her marriage to Guy Ritchie & whether she’d ever want to remarry (for the record she would “rather get run over by a train”) and her infamous 1994 appearance. She also asked Dave not to call her ‘Madge’ as it makes her sound “boring and middle-aged”.

At the end of the interview – as Madonna said she had never eaten a New York pizza before – Dave and Madonna dined at Angelo’s Pizza next door to the theatre (he whisked her off during the taping and they enjoyed a slice of pizza – without cheese – in front of the crowd who were peering in from outside).

Telegraph – “Madonna: please don’t call me ‘Madge’”
The Sun – “Remarry? I’d rather be hit by a train”
London Evening Standard – “Madonna tries pizza for the first time”
Digital Spy – Star Snaps – David Letterman and Madonna

Click here to watch highlights from Madonna’s LS appearance

Craig Ferguson was a guest on the Late Show With David Letterman last night. The host of the Late Late Show visited Dave to discuss his talk show (which follows directly after the Late Show on CBS) and tells us about his encounter with Rolling Stones legend Mick Jagger (including a very good impersonation of him as a “sexy dinosaur”).

Click here to watch clip of the Craig Ferguson interview

The night after President Obama’s Late Show appearance, former US President Bill Clinton was a guest on the Late Show With David Letterman on Tuesday. He talked to Dave about how he feels about Hillary becoming Secretary Of State, and also how he felt about her running for President and helping Obama win the election last year.

Click here to watch a clip of the Bill Clinton interview

US President Barack Obama made an appearance on the Late Show With David Letterman last night – the first time a US President has appeared on the programme whilst still in office. When the President came out onto the stage he was greeted by a standing ovation (as seen in this clip on the BBC News website).

Obama discussed the financial crisis saying “we’re not going to recover overnight”. He mostly spoke about the health care reform programme and when asked if people’s objections to it were racist views, he said “I was actually black before the election” and “one of the things you sign up for in politics is that folks yell at you”. Security was tight at the Ed Sullivan Theatre – Dave joked the security was “tighter than Joan Rivers’ face”. At one point during his appearance he accepted a heart-shaped potato from an audience member.

The Guardian – “‘I was black before the election’ Obama tells David Letterman”
The Independent – “Letterman gets to the heart of it all”

Click here to watch a clip of the Barack Obama interview and for a web exclusive Top Ten list which was cut from the original TV broadcast last night

Britney Spears’ appearance on the Late Show With David Letterman meant it was featured in today’s London Lite newspaper – on the front page in some editions, and on page 3 in others – and it was also featured in the other top London newspaper The London Paper.

Britney appeared on the Late Show to present the Top Ten list – “Ways The Country Would Be Different If Britney Spears Were President” – the top reason being “finally the media would pay some attention to me”.

With all this British media interest recently (Paul McCartney’s rooftop performance on top of the Late Show marquee, Britney’s appearance, and more) why is the Late Show still off our TV screens in the UK? It doesn’t make sense. Please join our Facebook petition group.

This Is London (London Lite) – “Is Britney Spears aiming to become President?”
The London Paper – “If Britney Spears were President, on David Letterman”

Click here to watch Britney Spears on the Late Show

Sir Paul McCartney returned to the Ed Sullivan Theater this week 45 years after his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show as part of the legendary group The Beatles. The performance on The Ed Sullivan Show broke The Beatles into the big time in the US.

As well as an interview with Dave, he performed on top of the Late Show With David Letterman marquee outside the theater, which looked stunning, and caused quite a stir – it looked like there were hundreds of people gathered to watch.

In the CBS.com web exclusive performance on the marquee (which lasted over 20 minutes), he performed Coming Up, Band On The Run, Let Me Roll It, Helter Skelter and Back In The USSR with his band.

It was originally thought Paul wouldn’t be performing outside because they had trouble getting the permits, but it all worked out fine in the end.

The video of the webcast performance is available on the CBS website – click here to watch.

The Associated Press – “McCartney performs where Beatles made US TV debut”

Click here to watch Paul McCartney’s interview on the Late Show

Ray Romano – who became a household name for appearing in US sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond – was a guest on the Late Show With David Letterman this week.

In the video clip below he discusses the voiceovers that are put over the Worldwide Pants endboard at the end of every edition of the Late Show.

Incidentally, Everybody Loves Raymond was also produced by Worldwide Pants – David Letterman’s own production company. Ray has some ideas for new Worldwide Pants voiceovers.

Click here for the video clip

Stephen Colbert was a guest on the Late Show With David Letterman on Wednesday.

The Colbert Report host talked about how he used to spend his summers as a child – instead of summer camp he was just “free range” at home with the rest of the kids. He also spoke of his feud with Virgin billionaire Sir Richard Branson. Read more about Colbert’s appearance on the Wahoo Gazette blog.

Click here to watch Stephen Colbert’s interview on the Late Show

Zac Efron, Mike Golic & Mike Greenberg, Kelly Ripa talking about Regis & Kathie-Lee, Late Show writer Bill Scheft talking about having dinner with Larry David, Drew Barrymore’s new tongue piercing, Matthew Perry’s one-word impersonation of Dustin Hoffman, Elisha Cuthbert, Russell Crowe, New York accountants with the Top Ten list, David Letterman getting stopped in the street when he goes out to get coffee with his son, and more…

It’s all here in the Late Show Rewind for the week of the 13th April.

Click here to watch

Fox News host Bill O’Reilly made his third appearance on the Late Show With David Letterman this week.

His first interview on the programme went down in history as one of David Letterman’s best moments where he told Bill “60% of what you say is crap”.

The host of The O’Reilly Factor had a more sedate third appearance on the Late Show but he still came under fire from Dave.

It’s well-documented that Dave doesn’t agree with O’Reilly’s political views and isn’t a fan of his. Letterman said “when you say working your way up, does that really apply to Fox?” and “I think of you as a goon”.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer – “Pundit alley: O’Reilly vs. Letterman: Round 3!”
Popeater – “Letterman Reunites With ‘Goon’ O’Reilly”

Click here to watch the Bill O’Reilly interview

Actor (and now musician) Joaquin Phoenix appeared as a guest on the Late Show With David Letterman this week to promote his new film which also stars Gwyneth Paltrow. The Walk The Line star’s appearance on the Late Show has been described by Times Online as “shambolic” and the Telegraph says it’s “odd”.

Joaquin was behaving very strangely and only responding to Letterman’s questions briefly – sometimes with only a few words. The actor has recently announced he’s giving up acting to launch a rap music career. Joaquin has changed his appearance dramaitcally since starring in Walk The Line – he now sports a full beard.

There has been some suggestion the whole thing is an act and he’s really being like this for a Hollywood mockumentary like Spinal Tap as he’s been filmed a lot recently led by Casey Affleck. When he was confronted about this elsewhere recently he replied “there’s not a hoax… might I be ridiculous… might my career in music be laughable? Yeah, that’s possible, but that’s certainly not my intention”.

When he become a bit less despondent during the Late Show interview, he mentioned how he’d like to come back on and perform some of his new songs at some point, but Letterman said “that seems unlikely… I’ll keep you in our Rolodex”. Another bizarre moment in the interview was when Phoenix asked Dave what happened to his thumb. Dave said “it’s just a little cuticle mishap”.

After they played a clip of the Joaquin’s new film (which he seemed to know little about – saying he hadn’t seen the film yet), Letterman closed with “Joaquin, I’m sorry you couldn’t be here tonight”.

Do you think it’s a hoax? Click here to watch the interview

The crew of Flight 1549 – the plane that made an emergency landing in New York’s Hudson River on the 15th January – appeared on the Late Show With David Letterman on Tuesday to tell their remarkable story how they managed to get everyone off the flight safely without any fatalities.

Captain Chesley Sullenberger and his crew injected some humour into then appearance though. When Dave asked him if the plane was designed to float on water, he said “we were very glad that this one remained intact and did” and when talking about a passenger who opened one of the doors of the plane letting in water he said “”I think it was Steve Martin who did that” (referring to this).

Click here to watch a clip from the interview and a clip of Steve Martin on the Late Show

Last night saw the return of the big Late Show With David Letterman Christmas show (it wasn’t on last Christmas because of the US writers strike).

The episode saw traditional Christmas show guests Jay Thomas with the meatball Christmas tree challenge and the fantastic Darlene Love singing Christmas, Baby Please Come Home.

Watch clips from the show below. Merry Christmas!