Did any of you tune into Dave Letterman’s final show last night? It was a show full of montages and a fun top ten list featuring an awesome batch of actors (I may or may not have squealed when Bill Murray appeared). It was definitely an emotional show. I mean, the guy has been on air for 30 years, it’s kinda a big deal.
Anyone who has been in New York must have experienced some sort of Late Show shenanigans. My first Late Show experience was three years ago when my great friend Barrie had an extra pass to see Silversun Pickups’ set – I just wanna take a second to throw a shoutout to Barrie. He’s been such a generously awesome friend who got me tickets to so many great shows. Such good memories from around that time. Anyway, SSPU put on a fantastic hour long show, and I was able to snatch a poster they were handing out after the performance (which is hanging on my wall of course ⤴).
Fast forward to 17 months ago, I managed to get an internship at a screenprinting shop in the Ed Sullivan Theater. So that meant the entrance to the offices was the same for everyone who worked for the Late Show. I worked in the building for almost a year. I had a view of the awesome Roseland Ballroom mural, saw the same Letterman posters outside the building everyday, heard all the cheering from fans outside, fought my way through the crowds to get back into the building after lunch where I occasionally spotted some of the guests all the fans were behind the barricades waiting for, and had the privilege of seeing a couple of bands play their set outside on a stage that was assembled that morning. I was even luckier to become friends with the guards whom had once let me sit in on Interpol’s rehearsal first thing in the morning. Even though they played the same song over and over, it was cool to get a “free show” in the theater surrounded by empty seats.
After all this you may ask “have I ever spotted David Letterman?” Just once! I had just surfaced from the subway as his SUV pulled up. I had walked into the building right behind him. I couldn’t help but notice he was giving me weird glances as if he wanted to ask “what are you doing here?”. Or maybe it was “are you following me?” Even though we both needed the elevator to get to our destinations, I’ve been told from day one that there’s no elevator sharing with Letterman. Although I was right behind him, I had to wait for another elevator to come down. His elevator doors closed and I never spotted him again.
So for a year, I called that building home. Seeing those montages of the building made me a little sad. I can’t imagine how it must have been for him to film that final episode being that he called that Ed Sullivan Theater home for thirty years.
Anyway, I’m just happy I tuned in, and I’m actually sad to see Letterman move on. But I have to say, CBS made a good decision signing on Stephen Colbert. Now begun is a new era of late show talk hosts. Let’s hope they can keep up.
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