Fatthew Sweet

I have about ten Matthew Sweet albums, and his 1991 masterpiece Girlfriend holds a permanent place in my top 15. Saw him live once, and I was surprised at how solidly he was built. Like a linebacker, I remember thinking.

But Matthew, come on, what happened to you? To quote Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, David Crosby thinks you've let yourself go.

I mean, here he is making his television debut on Letterman, playing a storming "Girlfriend," with the late Robert Quine playing one hell of a lead guitar.



Now here he is 16ish years later, duetting with once and future Bangle Susanna Hoffs on a cover of the Beatles' "Rain."



Seriously, I see him in this and I worry for his health. The music's still pretty great and Hoffs looks glorious, but I just keep looking at Matthew and wincing. I hope he's not ruined or anything...

Those thrilling days of yesteryear

Dan Rather once said, "An intellectual snob is someone who can listen to the William Tell Overture and not think of The Lone Ranger." I guess I'm no intellectual snob. Really, did a piece of classical music ever become so tightly entwined with any other fictional character?



Clayton Moore, who played the Lone Ranger, is unique among TV stars in his desire to be as much like his character in real life as he was onscreen, living by the Lone Ranger creed and rarely appearing in public without a mask. Even when doing this ad for Cheerios (and where can you find a cereal these days that will send you a gun for a couple boxtops and four bits?), he talked only of gun safety, nothing about those tasty whole grain oats.



Finally, here's a fantastic story actor/radio personality Jay Thomas told on Letterman about his encounter with that masked man early in Thomas's career.

Super Bill

Today is, of course, Groundhog Day, and that's also, of course, the title of a movie starring Bill Murray. So of course, the obvious move would be to post a clip of Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. Which of course is why I'm not going to.

Instead, I'll post a couple of Bill Murray / Super Bowl related clips, as the big game's tomorrow (and I'm scheduled to work, consarn it). Here he is last year, trying to score tickets to the big game from the head of CBS as Dave Letterman eggs him on.



But this is even cooler, as well as being 31 years older. Bill joins Christopher Guest in some humor with a few sports immortals.

Norm makes talk show hosts laugh hard

Some people think Norm Macdonald is a riot. Some don't. I do. So do late night talk show hosts. That mix of his who-cares delivery and his sacred-cows-make-the-best-burgers approach are pretty much comedy gold.

Here he is interrupting Conan O'Brien's somewhat bland interview of Courtney Thorne-Smith with some slams on Carrot Top that has Conan whirling in his chair.



Here he is telling a "Scrabble at a bed & breakfast" story to David Letterman.



Here's the best one. Two days after crocodile hunter Steve Irwin died, and between mocking Joe Camel and Canadian foreign minister Peter McKay, Macdonald says some lines that have Jon Stewart audibly cringing.

MeTube Extra: Oh, just one more Letterman

I just spotted this and couldn't wait...

The writer of the dog poetry video (see previous entry) was Merrill Markoe, who was the original head writer on Late Night and was also David Letterman's girlfriend for a number of years.

In the mid-nineties she returned to the show as a guest. Dave spent much of the show talking about how nervous he was to be interviewing her, but the interview turned out very well; you could certainly understand the attraction. It's fun to watch the warm side of Dave coming out.

Dog Poetry

Not too awfully much to say today, so I'll just post some dog poetry from Letterman. I remember when this was in a coffee table book on Letterman, and it was nice to see it in motion.

The dawn of (Letter)man

David Letterman wasn't always the brilliant talk show host he is today. He started off as a local weatherman before going to Hollywood to hone his acting chops.

Here he is doing light comedy with Michael Jackson. (Yes, you read that right.)



And this is him as an obnoxious self-help guru on Mork and Mindy.



That was a great find for me personally, because for years I've remembered this phrasing of "Sit down and shut up" and didn't know where it came from. Now I do. Thanks, YouTube! *grin*

Let's talk about Fred Willard

One of my favorite comedians out there is Fred Willard. His characters, oblivious in their fatuousness, constantly deliver lines you can tell they don't think are anything unusual, when in fact they're hilarious.

There's quite a bit of Fred on YouTube; I even found a bit with him on the original Get Smart TV show. But for the sake of brevity, I'll just give you a few here. There's this bit from A Mighty Wind...



...an excerpt from The Stu Osborn Show...



..."Tragg's Trough," from The Tim and Eric Awesome Show...



...and a bit from David Letterman, where he tells a joke that David apparently never heard before.



Say - that gives me an idea for tomorrow's entry.

Mitch All Together

One of the ways I use to get to sleep is to listen to a spoken word CD really quietly. I lie still so I can hear it, and my focusing on it keeps my mind from wandering all over the place. Beats counting sheep.

For the past three weeks the sandman and I have been listening to the late Mitch Hedberg. I love his stuff. If Steven Wright did more drugs, he'd be Mitch Hedberg. Then again, he might be dead too.

But what I like best about Hedberg is his delivery. It combines fast and laid-back in a rhythm that's just as funny as the joke itself. Once you get a sense of it, try saying some Steven Wright jokes in a Mitch Hedberg way.

Here he is on Letterman, very nervous but totally in control, much like toothpaste with tartar. Pick up both of his CDs if you have trouble sleeping or laughing. You will be satisfied.

Larry "Bud" Melman, R.I.P.

Calvin DeForest died this week at the age of 85. He's best known - in fact, probably only known - as a regular foil of David Letterman's, both at NBC, where he played the character Larry "Bud" Melman, and CBS, where he appeared under his real name.

He had a persona where he wasn't so much clueless as in his own world. It never failed to amuse Letterman when he would talk at the wrong camera, or not know how to work the microphone, or say just about anything in his helpless bray of a voice.

Here he is in 1983, serving as offical greeter at the Port Authority bus terminal, turning a funny idea into something approaching magic.

I Got You Babe

How about another Letterman moment?

In 1987 David Letterman managed to do the unthinkable - not only did he get Sonny and Cher to appear on his set together, he got them to duet on "I Got You Babe."



This is a pretty remarkable clip, not only for the connection that's still there, but for the feeling that you just don't know what's going to happen next. Pathos on top of tension; your heart's dealing with two kinds of anxiety, and that's going to produce an unforgettable moment.

Hail to the Chief

David Letterman has a recurring bit on his show called "Great Moments in Presidential Speeches." It consists of a clip of FDR saying "...fear itself," JFK saying "Ask not...", and Dubya looking and/or sounding ridiculous.

An easy laugh? Sure. But it's remarkable how much material the guy's given us.

There are lots of these clips on YouTube, but this is the one that lays me out.

Rose Marie Times Two

I always wondered how Slim Whitman could sell twenty million records before I ever heard of him. -- Tim Sample

Nowaday probably best known as the guy whose voice made alien heads explode in Mars Attacks!, Slim Whitman was huge in the fifties. Huge. Here's his song "Rose Marie," which was #1 in the UK for eleven straight weeks, a record that wouldn't be broken for 36 years.



And here it is as performed on Late Night with David Letterman by Andy Kaufman, wearing a fake mustache, turban and diaper.

A reading from the book of David

I've seen David Sedaris read three times; twice, I acted in an official capacity, selling books and such like, so I got to talk with him. No surprises; he's an extremely nice guy. After one gig I went out and got him a strawberry yogurt; the next day I got a thank-you note he'd typed at his hotel room.

I think he's gotten better with every book; Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim is not only very funny, it's truly moving in many places.

Here he is on Letterman, reading his essay about the Stadium Pal. If you're not familiar, it's... well, just watch.