Host: so how was filming action movie? Guest: I worked out too much, exercise is so blagh Audience: HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAH And nothing of substance is discussed artistically or critically. Just polite goofy banter
You can only work with what youve got. American popular culture isnt what it was back in the cold war era. Its deteriorated pretty dramatically, just over the last 10 years or so. All weve got now are Superhero movies and gangster rap. Lots and lots and lots of superhero movies and gangster rap. You could include stuff like podcasts and youtube commentary videos too i guess, but that just emphasises how far its declined lol. Who can talk show hosts even interview nowdays? Takeshi69? Jenna marbles? Biden and Trump? Hasan piker? lol. See what i mean? Theres really not a lot going on anymore. Not much of anything to work with. Social medias the big thing now, politics, too....not artistic media like movies, books, music etc.
@@signoguns8501 Pretty much agree but gangster rap was basically over by 2000, becoming something even more socially destructive and just plain garbage to the ears, musically-speaking.
@@audreymuzingo933 Yea, agree. I used to like rap, people ike Dre and Snoop and wutang... Kool Keith... I loved alI loved that stuff back in the day. But that was back when rap was one genre among many. Music as an art form was still insanely diverse and energetic and alive, with new genres and movements coming up every 2/3 years. Totally different now. Gangster rap is the only music genre left, there hasnt been a popular new music genre in over a decade. And tbh, I think the gang affiliation and criminal lifestyle is much more important to the fans today than the music is. The music is secondary, if tht.
I’m amazed when I go back and watch interviews from older talk shows, because it’s more quiet and the celebrity hosts and celebrity guests actually engage in authentic conversation with pure respect.
I recently watched Boy George's debut on the Johnny Carson Show. It was amazingly informative and cordial. I learned a lot and it was great to see two contrasting people laugh and talk together.
Luckily, today we have podcasts to more than make up for television talk shows - where meaningful conversations can take their time (sometimes too much time!) without interruption and without the need to promote something. That said, these old interviews are indeed fascinating to watch
Jimmy Fallon should watch this video. No stupid laughing constantly, no sound effects and no fake laughter from the host. Just a meaningful conversation
This was the morning talk show Dave did for NBC that didn't do so great in the ratings, before the Late Night came about in 1982. Those are still really reserved.
I hear you, but I have to disagree. Don't get me wrong, King is a very compelling speaker who uses his words wisely. But if there is one thing I have learned is that speaking and writing are not the same skill. Just because you're good at one, doesn't mean you're good at the other. I used to assume that brilliant writers must all be great speakers, but it's not the case. What I mean by that is that, I have often been kind of disappointed when an author I know to be super eloquent in his writing, is not as eloquent when he speaks. That's partly because they take time to come up with cool lines, but also because speaking is a skill in itself. On the flip side, I've often been shocked at seeing people who openly admit they don't read, and yet are such compelling speakers. That is very common, too. A lot of RUclipsrs are fantastic speakers, but are not necessarily well-read.
The idea for a new novel King was talking about at the end was IT. King began writing it in the same year this interview took place, and took him five years to complete. The Stand and IT are two of the best works of fiction I've ever read in my life.
Agreed. It is so fuc*ing deep. Touching on the fears we have about life itself- losing our childhood, the movement and changes of time. I’m in love with his mind. It’s more than genius.
This should be a master class in interviewing and interviews. Both Dave and Stephen did an excellent job. Dave did a great job asking relevant questions and keeping him engaged. Stephen answered the questions well and quick
Other than a random, vague comment about Kubrick and a grenade, he doesn't actually explain what he didn't like about The Shining movie. Disappointing.
He literally introduced the novel (holding it in his hands) as The Firestarter. During the interview he picks the book up and once more refers to it as The Firestarter.
@@rickallen9099 I think he didn't like that the movie didn't go as the material he wrote. Kubrick on purpose changed some things. Like the color of a car that Jack drives in the beginning. But man, I would be grateful if someone made a movie like that, based on my material.
I never thought strongly one way or another about King, but his response of "the guy banging his head against the wall because it feels good when he stops" to "why do people want horror?" was one of the simple and smartest answers i've ever heard!
No, it's because it causes a reflex and emotion that we don't experience from day to day, not to mention adrenaline.. King's response wasn't thoughtful or relative at all...
people read horror for the same thing they read crime. the macabre brings out a human emotion and explores themes people are interested in. people read love, mystery, scifi, it all plays on a human emotion. horror is no different.
What a class act. It is no secret that King did not care for Kubrick's changes to the story or Nicholson's casting, but King does not skewer anyone on live television and keeps his harsher criticisms to himself.
i understand there are aspects of the movie he did not like but his disdain for the movie that eveyone talks about is not shown here. do you know where i can read a transcript or if there is an interview where he expresses this opinion?
@@TheLoveThief-fk2nnThe answer is probably no. Read between the lines of this person’s comment; they say it’s no secret of his disdain for the movie, yet says King keeps his opinions to himself. I mean……..
@@TheLoveThief-fk2nn It's not shown here because in this kind of public setting certain ppl are capable of being classy instead of being rude or disagreeable about others'work. However there have been MANY less formal interviews, articles etc where King was more open,expressive and detailed about the film. *It's cold, I’m not a cold guy. I think one of the things people relate to in my books is this warmth, there’s a reaching out and saying to the reader, ‘I want you to be a part of this.’ With Kubrick’s The Shining I felt that it was very cold, very ‘We’re looking at these people, but they’re like ants in an anthill, aren’t they doing interesting things, these little insects* In regards to Jack Nicholson, He didn't really seem to care for Jack Nicholson's portrayal of Jack either: *Jack Torrance in the movie, seems crazy from the jump. Jack Nicholson, I’d seen all his biker pictures in the ’50s and ’60s and I thought, he’s just channeling The Wild Angels here* *Shelley Duvall as Wendy is really one of the most misogynistic characters ever put on film, she’s basically just there to scream and be stupid and that’s not the woman that I wrote about*
I remember him saying at one time that he didn't like Nicholson being cast as Jack since the book presents the character as relatively normal, but he becomes more and more unhinged the longer he lives in the hotel. He said that as soon as you see Nicholson at the beginning, it's already obvious he is borderline nuts.
True but his style has changed a lot. He's a bit more political now. For example, there's a huge difference between 'Salem's Lot and the Holly Gibney books.
Actually met Stephen King at a Gary Hart rally of all places in 1984. I had my paperback copy of "Firestarter", and a pen with me, and I got Mr. King to sign it for me. Now it is one of my most prized possessions. Mr. King was very generous to do that for me.
Great interview all-around. And Stephen King really is a great guy - he was actually my neighbor for about a decade when I was growing up, my family had a summer house next-door to his on Kezar Lake, in a town of about 700 people. He was always a very cool and friendly and chill guy, his wife was very nice too.
@@SuperCallum112 That was from around 1995 through 2004 or so that I was spending most of my summers up there regularly, though my family kept the house until around 2009 or so - a lot of us lucky upper-middle class folk with second homes had to sell them to keep afloat around that time, I'd imagine. We were living there when he got hit by the van, for instance - and before that happened we'd drive by him on these walks he'd take along the road in the late morning/early afternoon practically every other day, and I even remember us joking more than once about hitting Stephen King and how awful it would be! We'd see him all the time at the local diner, too, sitting in the booth behind us or something. Everyone in town was always cool and chill around him, and knew to treat him like any other random guy around town, which was clearly what he wanted. Before the accident he'd always drive a beat-up pickup truck, for instance.
I used to live in Stoneham. Spent a lot of time in Lovell, Norway, Greenwood and that whole area. Are you familiar with Evergreen Valley, the abandoned resort?
I know his books, the movie adaptations. I knew he directed Maximum Overdrive himself, but I've never seen him in an interview, what a cool down to earth guy.
Its amazing how Stephen King can talk about his life and his career and make it seem like a best selling novel. Stephen King is the goat in writing horror. So well spoken and a razor sharp wit.
@@DrFunk-rk6ylI thing fifty or a hundred years from now Steven King will be looked as being one of the greatest and be on the Mt. Rushmore of horror along with Poe and Lovecraft
This was from the very brief morning show Letterman did in 1980 on NBC. It was a revelation for me as a kid. I’d never seen any thing like it, and I was captivated by the unique sensibility that Letterman was still crafting at that point. It was cancelled after 6 months or so, but as you see here, the man was just a born broadcaster. The comedy bits he did on this show were like previews of the stuff he would do a couple years later when he got Late Night.
I remember Good Morning with David Letterman as well and liking it a lot as a 13 year old back in the Summer of 80. Although the only skit-like thing I can remember is when he once came out floating on wires.
@@marvinjones4415 Wow, I missed that. But that might’ve been the first time for the “wires in TV comedy” idea which was later adapted by Howard Stern flying in as Fartman at the MTV awards, and of course Chris Farley during Weekend Update on SNL. That one ranks far above all in my opinion.
What does that even mean? He actually took him seriously? Firstly, Letterman took every guest seriously except for about four a year when somebody was clearly running an act like Andy Kaufman, or harmony, Karin, or Joaquin phoenix, when he was a rapper Not to mention almost everyone takes Stephen king seriously when the interview him. Go back to Venus or whatever planet you’re from
@@Eric_In_SF I've seen interviews of writers by Letterman, and they weren't like this, because he pushed the writer for humor. You can even perceive in this one Letterman's ironic edge, but he restrains himself with King. That's all I meant. I like this interview.
Back when daytime interviews were exchanging information for an audience. Not the drama filled, bs gotcha moments we have now. I can’t stand daytime tv or reality Tv- with 2 exceptions. And they aren’t scripted bs.
I read Stephen King's book on writing and it was so good. The first half was a semi biography and the second half was about the nuts and bolts of writing. Any aspiring writers out there would be well served to buy and read it. One of the funniest things was when his agent called to tell him that his book Carrie was sold at auction for $5 million dollars and he was at home alone. He wanted to celebrate but his wife was out and it was a Sunday evening and all the stores were closed. I think he ended up buying a hair dryer for his wife
What stays with me to this very day from his book On Writing, even decades later since I read it, is for one to write a million words to be a competent or fair writer. Not a good one, or a great one, but a competent one. I do hope I'm At the very least competent. And Storm of the Century is his best work ever!
Yeah and he actively disparages outlining/plotting/planning your narrative, which I think is very bad advice. On Writing is otherwise excellent though.
We read it for my creative writing class, which i always found funny because the book basically says that both books about writing and classes about writing are not the greatest way to go about learning to write.
Great to see a respectful interview with no attempt at muck-raking, trickery or judgement. Just good questions and interesting answers. Wish there was more of it today.
Haha, I was going to say the same thing. I’ve never seen him say so many good things about The Shining. At this time, it wasn’t popular with the critics either, so he was basically just agreeing with the general mixed reviews here.
This likely came from the original NBC studio tape (which the people of this channel have access to). But sometimes even the original tapes could look lousy if they were not properly preserved.
@@gordons-alive4940could just be monetary. Don’t talk bad about a production a few months after release if you want to do business with that studio again.
People say I’m crazy that I used to watch David letterman during the day with my grandmother!!! Told ya!! Thanks for showing us this episode with my fave Stephen King!!!
One interesting comment from King: I didn't go to the market, the market came to me. He barely made a living writing until he was well-past 30. He was writing his great stories, but nobody paid him any mind (or money). Publishers, and the People found him. He never pandered to the market. I believe, Carrie, was his first sold novel. Then, he had many other stories/novel already written. They sold like hotcakes, and people thought Mr. King was churning out books. No. He had them all written, and waiting.
@Redmenace96 I think the age was 25 not well past thirty . He received 400 thousand deal to paperback rights for Carrie which wound up being split 50 50 with his hardback publisher . The Shining was his first hardback bestseller to make the New York Times list and of course it caught the attention of Stanley Kubrick . Stephen King was then making good enough money to quit his teaching day job . Of course his earnings weren’t the mega bucks he later got as he kept churning out one classic after the other but with some dreck here and there . He is only human.
Well he was 33 when he did this interview so Im not sure Id say well past 30... he was certainly making a living before this. "Carrie" was a best seller in 1975... and made into a movie a year later.
I'm legitimately touched by his story where he said his wife would say "hurry up and think of a monster" when the bills came due. I don't know much about their marriage but that sounds like a wife who respects and appreciates her husband.
That was a great interview. David showed his intelligence and journalistic chops there. Interesting to see how personalities change and evolve. Something appealing about the modesty of youth.
Have loved King for decades. & this maybe the best interview I've seen Letterman do. He kept it all about S.K., & did not impose his own 'humor' & 2 cents into the allotted time for this segment.
If it wasn’t in the title and he hadn’t been introduced, I never would have recognised that as Stephen King. Wow. He is so articulate and funny. One of my favourite authors too. Terrifyingly brilliant. I don’t read to many of his books because they draw me in and I can’t put them down, so I need a lot of time that I don’t have. Wish I could read a lot more though. I respect this man so much. Such a great old interview to watch. Thankyou for adding it.
What a legend. Folks please try to help me find this book, it's not Stephen King, but it was called something like "12 Short Stories" or "12 Ghost Stories" and it was a paperback book with 12 ghost stories, I read as a child and have never been able to find since. I know it was in my dad's book collection but I am going back 40 years and that book is long gone. The only thing I remember in the 12 stories was a gate. I was engrossed by it as a child aged around 8 to 10 years old and have been looking for that book for the last 40 years!
What a thoughtful, insightful interview with one of my favorite authors. And to think it happened on David Letterman's short-lived morning show. Thank god for video tape and RUclips!!!
I'll never get the chance to shake your hand, sir. But the first book I read as a young adult, was Salems lot. Thank you sir, for all your fantastic books!
I remember when Firestarter was a new book. I had only been a Stephen King fan for about 3 years but I had read all of his books at the time. I remember thinking I wish there was more Stephen King books to read. The last time I could claim I read all of his books was in 1988. I remember seeing a cartoon in the newspaper, A man is reading a big book that has Stephen King on the spine and his wife says "Maybe you should hold it. If you use the bathroom Stephen King will probably have two new books by the time you're done."
Great interview with Mr. king. I loved his books and movie adaptations growing up and now my 16 year old daughter is devouring his back catalogue of books. His work is timeless.
OMG as kids my sister me and our cousin watched Salems Lot all piled on a bed in a darkened bedroom. We named the boy on the window GHOST BOY!! So many fun times going to my sisters window at night witth a flashlinght under my chin and scratching her window and enjoying the screams of my sister .
I love Stephen King! I’ve read many of his novels, and there is just something about the way he writes, that keeps you hooked to the story, and hard to put the book down. Truly a legend in American literature.
Yes, for young people who have the attention span of a goldfish he is boring. People need constant bleeps and notifications from their smartphones now. I only found Bag of Bones and Dreamcatcher boring.@@lahtiman8141
There's a difference between a storyteller, even a good one like Jeffrey Archer, and a real writer. Of course he goes into it more formally in On Writing, but in Misery you get a sense of what it's like, a "hole in the paper into which you fall," and characters that take on lives of their own. Ideas that come to you and demand to be written. Every true writer has that as an answer to "where do you get your ideas." King has always been so frightening to me because of his ability to evoke something so awful, but then go on to describe a setting that is basically the same as your kitchen.
I read The Shining in '79 as a kid and was so enthralled by it that I went on to read every book King wrote until Needful Things (some 30 books or so) in my 20s. I then had to stop. I had become so used to his style & prose that I became too comfortable and familiar with it all. Hard to believe he's written just as many (if not more) books since then.
Yeah I started reading King books as a young teen. My first three were Christine, Pet Sematary and The Shining in that order. All three scared the shyt out of me. I read and enjoyed many more of his books but they started having less and less of an effect on me as I got used to his style. As far as The Shining movie goes, King should stick to writing and leave movie making to masters like Kubrick. King's The Shining mini-series was an absolute joke.
If you have to endure King's blathering on Twitter, you might think differently. King is inflicting pain on millions versus the dozens of victims on the Cosby side.
This is great. Stephen king is legendary and I’m reading Christine right now. There will never be another writer that matches him - it’s so weird seeing him younger looking here lol
The most scared I have ever been reading a book was Stephen King's "Misery", the scene where the writer is exploring the house and hears her returning to the home. He desperately drags himself along the floor trying to get back into his prison room before the psycho lady finds him. It had my heart completely racing! And then after he successfully gets back into the bedroom and pretends he's been there, everything was fine... until a few pages later when we find out that she had placed threads on the door so they would break if he left the room. My heart dropped so hard at that unexpected turn of events. He aint lying that subverted expectations can be the most shocking thing imaginable. Also the funniest, in comedy!
Two very young men. Dave's very first show (Daytime Television). Much later in life both of these guys would receive an insane amount of Awards and Honors!
Finally watched “Pet Sematary” this past weekend; interesting premise, but I couldn’t help but think of Herman Munster every time Fred Gwynne came on screen.
Pet Sematary was a fantastic book which didn’t transfer well to a movie. Too many of the critical parts of the book took place inside the main character’s mind. I don’t see how you transfer that to the screen.
That was the problem with poor Fred Gwynnes career. The guy graduated Harvard, had serious theater experience but his career in television and/or the movies suffered because everybody always thought of him as Herman Munster. His career picked up somewhat in the 90s though. I just watched a short documentary on him here on RUclips. Check it out, it's interesting.
@@sstills951Yeah always small supporting roles such as Secret Of My Success, Fatal Attraction etc. It was nice that he got a great character to play In My Cousin Vinnie.
Herman Munster was both a blessing and a curse for Fred Gwynne. He was great in both Pet Sematary and My Cousin Vinny! I never saw Herman Munster in those movies but a fantastic actor who never got the credit he deserved from the critics but loved by kids and those young at heart.
Dave was a real good interviewer. Sharp questions and good follow-up. I think that Mr. King gave, at times, stock answers but then on a a book tour you get a lot of the same questions. I didn’t like the Shining too much when I first saw it because I’d recently read the book. But over time it’s become one of my favorite movies.
@@chatteyj Saying it's "nothing like the book" seems like an exaggeration. Like the book, the movie involves a family house sitting a hotel in the Rockies that turns out to have some supernatural stuff going on in it that causes the father, who is a struggling writer, to become a homicidal maniac.
That last scene in the original Carrie gave me nightmares for weeks after. Ultimate jump scare. Love King's deadpan humour and his remark about Kubrick. Hilarious.
My mother is retired, but she was a librarian in Florida. Stephen came to discuss being an author to young adults. She said he was the kindest man. He was quite a bit older when she met him. Very well spoken.
This is from Letterman's morning show (before he had his nighttime gig). I was at this taping with several friends. SK was signing books afterward at Doubleday. I had all of his books in hardcover, Carrie right up to Firestarter. This was 8-18-1980. He signed and dated all seven books.
@chatteyj idk I haven't actually read much of King, I'm just very familiar with the movies based on his stories. I liked Cujo but I haven't seen it since I was a kid.
Man, it does me real good to see this. The Shining is my all time favorite movie, half because of the King story and half because of what Kubrick did with it. I'd always heard that King hated it, just despised it, and that always made me sad. I couldn't understand how he couldn't see at least _some_ artistic merit in it. -Now I see that he did in fact.
They're both brilliant and work for their respective mediums imo. I think the best summation I've ever heard is "The best parts of the book are not in the movie, and the best parts of the movie are not in the book."
@@kelliatlarge Ooo I like that. Very true. I didn't read the book until I was in my late 20's, after already seeing the movie half a dozen times or so, and unfortunately with the notion in my head that King did not approve whatsoever, so I really had my guard up, and yet found the book truly brilliant. And that was indeed because of parts not in the movie, although I felt they were forgivable because they would have made the movie too long and/or couldn't be done well with 1980 tech (like the animated hedge animals -something I think would best be left out even now that it's possible, because they're conceptually terrifying but would look a bit silly visually -just me?). I still don't doubt one thing I've heard -that a major beef King had with the movie was that it didn't focus "enough" on Jack's alcoholism. To me Kubrick addressed it amply, and judging by movies King had more of a direct hand in, he would beat us over the head with the struggle between addiction and sobriety at any chance, bless his heart. 😆 For me the movie is "home," so much more than just the scariest horror movie ever; bizarrely it comforts me and though I didn't realize it at the time, seeing it as a little kid may have saved me in various ways. I was Danny's age when I saw it at the drive-in, because common sense about exposing such a young child to such a thing was an example of the skills laking in the wolves who raised me. They loved me very much but not very well, locked in perpetual adolescence by alcohol and substance addiction. There was plenty of violence, mostly between the two of them but occasionally lapping over to us kids, and I held underlying constant fear that it could be even more so, that we might end up chopped up bloody meat piles, like the scenes in Vietnam my dad had seen, or in the nightmares my mom had, which they both saw fit to describe to us. In short, I had already seen The Shining before I saw The Shining. But what I hadn't seen was how a tiny helpless kid could survive it. In Danny I saw such a person learn quickly to give up the automatic trust of parents so hardwired into every infant creature, in favor of an inner voice that knew better, knew when to embrace help from strangers, when to hide silently, and when to run, just run, get out.
@@audreymuzingo933 I'm sorry you had to experience that as a child. I can 100% understand how Danny's survival would bring hope and comfort. Actually that reminds me of one of my favorite essays by G.K. Chesterton, called "The Red Angel." Quote: "Fairy tales, then, are not responsible for producing in children fear, or any of the shapes of fear; fairy tales do not give the child the idea of the evil or the ugly; that is in the child already, because it is in the world already. Fairy tales do not give the child his first idea of bogey. What fairy tales give the child is his first clear idea of the possible defeat of bogey. The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon." Look it up if you get a chance, the whole thing is worth reading.
Keep in mind that this interview was just a few months after The Shining was released, so he held back on some of his real feelings about the movie. I read the book and didn't see the film until many years later and when I finally saw it I understood exactly why he didn't like it. If you base your opinion on the film itself, it's a masterpiece of horror cinema, but if you judge it as an adaptation, the changes to the ending were completely unnecessary. I absolutely prefer the way the book ended.
@@maleitch lol, King is one of the most influential writers of the modern times, his work is already being study by lots of people and will continue to be just like Kubrick
@@arthurguilherme3358 None of his literature will ever be considered a classic. No serious literature class studies King, but considering the laughable and embarrassing farce that is higher education today, I am sure he is being studied along with marvel movies.
King and kubrick are allowed to disagree, book and film are very different and work very differently, king and cubrick are both great, both will be remembered, your comment won't 👍
@@brianmeen2158I think it’s because when we read a book, we create the visual. We fill in details. In a movie or show, they’re presenting a very specific image of a character. The Dark Tower series shouldn’t be done unless it’s going to be presented in full, over multiple seasons in a series. A 2 hour movie can’t include the important stuff of a book. Often it misses the heart of the story as well.
I loved 1408. It didn't quite capture all of the oddness of the story, but it got most of it right. John Cusack and Samuel Jackson were both fantastic in it.
This guy makes so much sense to me and why I love his work. When he was talking about "after the book or movie ends and the lights come on, you think to yourself that my life is not so bad. Not as bad as what I just read or saw on screen." This is exactly why I enjoy the horror/thriller genre. I remember watching The Walking Dead series and I was completely engrossed. I was consumed by that show and was so thankful that it wasn't me living in the zombie apocalypse!
He speaks so well. I’m a poor reader, time constraints mainly, but I’ve read a few of his works and It means I have all the rest of his books that I intend to read one day to enjoy.
Just an FYI… Stephen King turned 75 a few weeks ago. Still making millions and millions of dollars. And he is still giving millions and millions to his various charities, I should say Steven and his wife are giving to charities.
I had also just left the comment about him being 75 years old and he is still going strong I see all these stories posted on Google and they are all about him or with him in it and or his books and movies especially now during the the Halloween season
What a super interesting introspective man at this point in his life. Thanks for posting this amazing clip! His comment on Kubrik was poignant and caught me off-guard! Loved hearing it and seeing it out of his mouth. Fun!
This is the best interview that I have seen of Stephen King. He seemed brilliant. He doesn't seem like that anymore. I like what he said about a good scary story. "It's inexplicable." I feel the same way about a good song.
He’s as brilliant as he always was. (Wise is a better word imo.) Twitter isn’t the best conduit for how he goes about it, but in interviews, he shines as brightly as the quality of conversation / questioning allows. THAT has certainly declined for sure.
Kubrick knew some of what was in the book would not translate well onto the silver screen. Especially with the limits of what special effects could do at the time. He had enough foresight to see that. He felt the topiary creatures would make the movie corny and i agree. The Shinning is a masterpiece book and a film albeit the film deviates away from certain aspects of the book. All you need to do is watch Kings TV adaptation of his novel to know Kubrick knew better and is the true cinematic pro.
But Kubrick changed the Jack Torrance character's descent into madness into a mere after-thought. It was Jack Nicholson, already crazy, playing Jack Nicholson.. not the nuanced character that Sai King wrote about in The Shining. Steven Weber played Jack Torrance beautifully in Stephen King's The Shining TV miniseries.... making his fall from sanity so much more tragic.
In my opinion both Nicholson's performance (hell, his glances at the camera are profoundly unsettling and the way he talks is like he feels he is inside an eternal loop and trying to enjoy it like a Sisyphus of villains) and the movie are cinematic perfection and merely taking the books plot as a starting point, like having a dream after reading the book. The movie is not about nuanced characters at all, they are by design just as cartoonish as the cartoons Danny is watching. I also love the book and completely understand why King must have hated the movie, King is all about characters, Kubrick is about inviting you inside a world of pictures. King is really not good at writing movie scripts though and I find Mick Garris' adaptation terrible and actually a far worse insult to the novel than Kubrick dreaming up his own version of spending time at the Overlook.
@@Elphaba1952Nicholson played an already broken character who then turned into an absolute monster. It's more grounded and scary in my opinion than just a father who went completely crazy because of the hotel.
@@zacharyqueyrouze6604 Jack (in both the book & the miniseries) is flawed at the start. He's a recovering alcoholic who broke his son Danny's arm in a rage. He was pulling himself back when he took the job at the Overlook... that's at the center of the story.
I have to say that like other commenters this was a great interview. Probably my top SK book is “The Stand”. I have read it through the years in the neighborhood of 12 times. I especially like the uncut version of it. I also like the way he weaves the King world throughout his stories to Include the Gunslinger world.
Maybe I missed something. I Read the stand a few years ago after hearing many good things and though it started out allright i felt the ending was rather anticlimactic. Also i loved the first 3 or 4 gunslinger books and then incredibly disappointed with the final few some much duality established in those great characters like detta walker only for them to be a bunch of campy do gooders in the end i just didnt get it.
@@MellowGibson You didn't miss anything. King is infamous for writing terrible endings, and he backhandedly made fun of himself for it in the latest film adaptation of "IT".
At the end of the Dark Tower series its like book 6 about 400 pages in King writes a warning to the reader. It goes on to say that you can keep reading and he did write an ending but if you been on this journey for years waiting for an ending theres nothing he can write that can live up to that expectation. He can write they lived happily ever after or Roland gets what he wants and the good guy wins the bad guy loses but in reality life goes on and the end of the story is that they lived the rest of their life. The journey was what was important. The story that was told. But he did write and ending and said hed prefer for us to not read it. Then on the next page he says something like "well now that you all have decided to read the ending" and he finishes the book. He was right though and the ending was just that. An ending @@timthegem
As an “Avid reader “ myself I would love this to have been a much larger & longer interview. I don’t know why it bothers me so much that Dave keeps referring to the book title as The Fire starter rather than just Fire Starter, but it does!! 😂😮
Yeah, but I give SK props for not correcting him in the moment. SK is the type of guy if someone invites him into their home he doesn't kick their dog. Class.
Many in the classic literary field don't take King's writing as "serious", but I don't think there is another American author in the last 50 years that can develop characters and their interactions with others so well.
Mr. King's intellect is dominating even Dave in this interview! Thought that would never happen in this lifetime. PS- it's "Firestarter" not "The Firestarter"!!!!!
It was odd, I think he called it that three times - whilst holding a copy of the book! Perhaps he realised he'd made a mistake when he added the "The" first time and decided his best bet was to double down on it? Coincidentally, earlier this evening l watched The Mist: Lots to enjoy in the film, but I thought the ending really let it down.
I can understand King's not being too happy with the film version of "The Shining", despite how much I liked it. The story was very personal to him, and as entertaining as Jack Nicholson was as Jack Torrance, there was no decent into madness, with Jack. Nicholson's Jack was pretty much crazy throughout the film. Stephen Weber was much closer in his portrayal of Jack Torrance in the TV miniseries that King was involved in.
I've seen that take before, and I agree. The miniseries did do a better job making Jack Torrance an actual character, one that evolves as the story unfolds. Kubricks Torrance is more of a slasher villian - it's clear there is something wrong with Jack from day one. At the same time, I like the Kubrick movie better overall. It had better atmosphere and most everything besides Jack was flushed out better.
I have said this so many times and been laughed at! But the mini series was just loyal to the book . I don't mind that its a little cheesy sometimes or didn't age well. I love the book so much, its hard for me to prefer anything that strays too far from it.
I like this. Video from 1980? It is nice to see things from “back in the day.” I show my kid things from my youth to show her how things were partially because I used to wonder how things were for my parents when they were young. And…as far as “from my youth”->I would have been about 3 years old when this originally came out. There is something touching about recognizing the passage of time & having a feel for both what was & what is. I am grateful that this was shared. Thank you for sharing this with us. 😊
My feeling about King is that he actually wrote Fantasy with some dark horror elements. Although his best work seems to have been penned in his novelettes, such as Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, and The Body. The Dark Tower series really makes clear the sort of dark fantasy King was creating.
to this day sometimes i jump into the bed rather than stand next to it for any length of time because im afraid some hands will tug at my ankles before i get into bed. but ONLY at night and ONLY when im about to go to sleep.
I liked how Dave just jumped from one question to the other, let Stephen talk and then just ask another question, not try to reply with a funny joke or comment after , just let the guest do the talking
Its nice to hear a conversation without hearing the audience laugh every 40 seconds.
Host: so how was filming action movie?
Guest: I worked out too much, exercise is so blagh
Audience: HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAH
And nothing of substance is discussed artistically or critically. Just polite goofy banter
Just noticed that! Cool, huh?
Sorry Grandpa but these old interviews are boring and pretentious 😂
@@philmitchell91attention spans are shorter than ever, this is true
@@philmitchell91No they were actually smarter and not for an audience of and attention span of a kitten like today
Man no wonder podcasts have taken over. This interview was far more interesting and informative than any late night tv interview we get these days.
And, more interesting than the vast majority of podcasts.
You can only work with what youve got. American popular culture isnt what it was back in the cold war era. Its deteriorated pretty dramatically, just over the last 10 years or so. All weve got now are Superhero movies and gangster rap. Lots and lots and lots of superhero movies and gangster rap. You could include stuff like podcasts and youtube commentary videos too i guess, but that just emphasises how far its declined lol. Who can talk show hosts even interview nowdays? Takeshi69? Jenna marbles? Biden and Trump? Hasan piker? lol. See what i mean? Theres really not a lot going on anymore. Not much of anything to work with. Social medias the big thing now, politics, too....not artistic media like movies, books, music etc.
@@signoguns8501 Pretty much agree but gangster rap was basically over by 2000, becoming something even more socially destructive and just plain garbage to the ears, musically-speaking.
@@audreymuzingo933 Yea, agree. I used to like rap, people ike Dre and Snoop and wutang... Kool Keith... I loved alI loved that stuff back in the day. But that was back when rap was one genre among many. Music as an art form was still insanely diverse and energetic and alive, with new genres and movements coming up every 2/3 years. Totally different now. Gangster rap is the only music genre left, there hasnt been a popular new music genre in over a decade. And tbh, I think the gang affiliation and criminal lifestyle is much more important to the fans today than the music is. The music is secondary, if tht.
Except Colbert.
I’m amazed when I go back and watch interviews from older talk shows, because it’s more quiet and the celebrity hosts and celebrity guests actually engage in authentic conversation with pure respect.
I recently watched Boy George's debut on the Johnny Carson Show. It was amazingly informative and cordial. I learned a lot and it was great to see two contrasting people laugh and talk together.
Facts
Today its all about fun and entertainment. Actual knowledge and interesting topics just go under sadly
Luckily, today we have podcasts to more than make up for television talk shows - where meaningful conversations can take their time (sometimes too much time!) without interruption and without the need to promote something. That said, these old interviews are indeed fascinating to watch
The intelligence of these people back then is uncanny. You can’t predict what they would say
Jimmy Fallon should watch this video. No stupid laughing constantly, no sound effects and no fake laughter from the host. Just a meaningful conversation
hush, so tired of these comments.
@@phoenix21studioscope. Go watch Jimmy and a Fast and the Furious movie.
That the world now though, huh...
This was the morning talk show Dave did for NBC that didn't do so great in the ratings, before the Late Night came about in 1982. Those are still really reserved.
Fallon hides his mediocre conversation skills behind flurries of oohs, aahs, golly-jeepers and 'that's greats!'
you can tell he's a writer by the way he talks, he's not wasting any words and knows exactly what to say without hesitation
I was thinking the same thing. Not just well spoken, but an effective, colorful communicator.
They also agree on the set of questions beforehand. Not to diminish King’s clarity of thought.
_"I'd given Stanley Kubrick a live grenade and he'd heroically threw his body on it."_
The art of being succinct.
I hear you, but I have to disagree. Don't get me wrong, King is a very compelling speaker who uses his words wisely. But if there is one thing I have learned is that speaking and writing are not the same skill. Just because you're good at one, doesn't mean you're good at the other. I used to assume that brilliant writers must all be great speakers, but it's not the case.
What I mean by that is that, I have often been kind of disappointed when an author I know to be super eloquent in his writing, is not as eloquent when he speaks. That's partly because they take time to come up with cool lines, but also because speaking is a skill in itself. On the flip side, I've often been shocked at seeing people who openly admit they don't read, and yet are such compelling speakers. That is very common, too. A lot of RUclipsrs are fantastic speakers, but are not necessarily well-read.
The idea for a new novel King was talking about at the end was IT. King began writing it in the same year this interview took place, and took him five years to complete. The Stand and IT are two of the best works of fiction I've ever read in my life.
Agreed. It is so fuc*ing deep. Touching on the fears we have about life itself- losing our childhood, the movement and changes of time. I’m in love with his mind. It’s more than genius.
Roadwork, Danse Macabre and Cujo all came out the year after Firestarter.
I’m curious why you say he was speaking of IT?
I, too, believe The Stand and IT are his best work.
Then you didn't read much at all...
That's so weird, I thought his best book was 11.23.63 with The shining come in on the top 5
This should be a master class in interviewing and interviews. Both Dave and Stephen did an excellent job. Dave did a great job asking relevant questions and keeping him engaged. Stephen answered the questions well and quick
agreed
Other than a random, vague comment about Kubrick and a grenade, he doesn't actually explain what he didn't like about The Shining movie. Disappointing.
@@rickallen9099There was limited time😢
He literally introduced the novel (holding it in his hands) as The Firestarter. During the interview he picks the book up and once more refers to it as The Firestarter.
@@rickallen9099 I think he didn't like that the movie didn't go as the material he wrote. Kubrick on purpose changed some things. Like the color of a car that Jack drives in the beginning.
But man, I would be grateful if someone made a movie like that, based on my material.
I never thought strongly one way or another about King, but his response of "the guy banging his head against the wall because it feels good when he stops" to "why do people want horror?" was one of the simple and smartest answers i've ever heard!
This is from the Letterman morning show before he moved to night.
No, it's because it causes a reflex and emotion that we don't experience from day to day, not to mention adrenaline.. King's response wasn't thoughtful or relative at all...
what @@SFFireSoul
I agree and my comment touched on that too.
people read horror for the same thing they read crime. the macabre brings out a human emotion and explores themes people are interested in. people read love, mystery, scifi, it all plays on a human emotion. horror is no different.
I worked with Stephen recently. When asked about the passing of time he said: "Yesterday I was 16, today I'm 76." 'Nuff said!
That may well be the scariest thing he's ever said or written...
My mother used to say, “The days go slowly, but the years fly by.” Boy was she right!
He is an awful person. A motorist tried to kill him
@@opticscolossalandepicvideo4879 That isn't what happened. It was an accident, His dog was loose in the car and distracting him.
14 Year Olds be like: "omg dats so deep"
What a class act. It is no secret that King did not care for Kubrick's changes to the story or Nicholson's casting, but King does not skewer anyone on live television and keeps his harsher criticisms to himself.
i understand there are aspects of the movie he did not like but his disdain for the movie that eveyone talks about is not shown here. do you know where i can read a transcript or if there is an interview where he expresses this opinion?
@@TheLoveThief-fk2nnThe answer is probably no. Read between the lines of this person’s comment; they say it’s no secret of his disdain for the movie, yet says King keeps his opinions to himself. I mean……..
@@TheLoveThief-fk2nn It's not shown here because in this kind of public setting certain ppl are capable of being classy instead of being rude or disagreeable about others'work.
However there have been MANY less formal interviews, articles etc where King was more open,expressive and detailed about the film.
*It's cold, I’m not a cold guy. I think one of the things people relate to in my books is this warmth, there’s a reaching out and saying to the reader, ‘I want you to be a part of this.’ With Kubrick’s The Shining I felt that it was very cold, very ‘We’re looking at these people, but they’re like ants in an anthill, aren’t they doing interesting things, these little insects*
In regards to Jack Nicholson, He didn't really seem to care for Jack Nicholson's portrayal of Jack either:
*Jack Torrance in the movie, seems crazy from the jump. Jack Nicholson, I’d seen all his biker pictures in the ’50s and ’60s and I thought, he’s just channeling The Wild Angels here*
*Shelley Duvall as Wendy is really one of the most misogynistic characters ever put on film, she’s basically just there to scream and be stupid and that’s not the woman that I wrote about*
@@Tusc9969 ah i see. yeah that all makes sense to me. Thanks i appreciate you taking the time to fill me in.
I remember him saying at one time that he didn't like Nicholson being cast as Jack since the book presents the character as relatively normal, but he becomes more and more unhinged the longer he lives in the hotel. He said that as soon as you see Nicholson at the beginning, it's already obvious he is borderline nuts.
Wow...an interview where the audience actually learns things about the person, about themselves and feels inspired.
Yes. Before Dave grew into his narcissistic, disruptive, and condescending showman schtick.
@@gargoyle790 And before Stephen King turned into a liberal POS with TDS who thinks that Trump "is scarier than any horror story" he's written.
Ye i can confirm i had a spiritual enlightenment into the nature of the cosmos watching this.
if you learned anything from this your parents were worse than gaslighting narcissists.
Two of my favorite people having a conversation. Awesome.
Very witty, smart, articulate guy. Great writer. Love writers they have such an interesting way of looking at and explaining things.
You mean, romantic ones?
@jimdandy8686what did you just say, .....??!!
@jimdandy8686 large nostrils ey
That's the beauty of the writer's mind, the ability to see the minutest details and communicate the importance thereof. Or something.
I kind of can't look at him the same because of that IT ending.
I never knew Stephen was so erudite and witty. A great character.
40 years later.... ☠️
Pretty insane that 44 years later he's still at the top when it comes to horror authors and still relevant as ever! Crazy! 🤯
True but his style has changed a lot. He's a bit more political now. For example, there's a huge difference between 'Salem's Lot and the Holly Gibney books.
@@josebro352 yeah, I follow him on twitter, he's got a lot to say!
Actually met Stephen King at a Gary Hart rally of all places in 1984. I had my paperback copy of "Firestarter", and a pen with me, and I got Mr. King to sign it for me. Now it is one of my most prized possessions. Mr. King was very generous to do that for me.
Thats what he was there to do
@@wilmcl9209he was at a political rally to sign autographs?
@@mikeg2491lol
Heh, Gary Hart. It's amazing what people thought was a scandal that could ruin a person politically back then compared to now.
Stephen King always struck me as a guy who'd be really decent to his fans in chance encounters such as this. Great story, man.
Great interview all-around. And Stephen King really is a great guy - he was actually my neighbor for about a decade when I was growing up, my family had a summer house next-door to his on Kezar Lake, in a town of about 700 people. He was always a very cool and friendly and chill guy, his wife was very nice too.
Amazing! Which decade was that?
@@SuperCallum112 That was from around 1995 through 2004 or so that I was spending most of my summers up there regularly, though my family kept the house until around 2009 or so - a lot of us lucky upper-middle class folk with second homes had to sell them to keep afloat around that time, I'd imagine.
We were living there when he got hit by the van, for instance - and before that happened we'd drive by him on these walks he'd take along the road in the late morning/early afternoon practically every other day, and I even remember us joking more than once about hitting Stephen King and how awful it would be! We'd see him all the time at the local diner, too, sitting in the booth behind us or something. Everyone in town was always cool and chill around him, and knew to treat him like any other random guy around town, which was clearly what he wanted. Before the accident he'd always drive a beat-up pickup truck, for instance.
@@isaacgraham5727 Wow, so he was already a super popular author by then, what a great story!
My third grade teacher was named Tabitha King
I used to live in Stoneham. Spent a lot of time in Lovell, Norway, Greenwood and that whole area. Are you familiar with Evergreen Valley, the abandoned resort?
I know his books, the movie adaptations. I knew he directed Maximum Overdrive himself, but I've never seen him in an interview, what a cool down to earth guy.
Its amazing how Stephen King can talk about his life and his career and make it seem like a best selling novel. Stephen King is the goat in writing horror. So well spoken and a razor sharp wit.
Way way way beyond horror.
@@elmoblatch9787 yes sir then it's Dean Koontz
@elmoblatch9787 you honestly believe that he is better than Poe and Lovecraft?
@@DrFunk-rk6ylI thing fifty or a hundred years from now Steven King will be looked as being one of the greatest and be on the Mt. Rushmore of horror along with Poe and Lovecraft
@@griplimit I agree. I just don't think Koontz is on that level.
This was from the very brief morning show Letterman did in 1980 on NBC. It was a revelation for me as a kid. I’d never seen any thing like it, and I was captivated by the unique sensibility that Letterman was still crafting at that point. It was cancelled after 6 months or so, but as you see here, the man was just a born broadcaster. The comedy bits he did on this show were like previews of the stuff he would do a couple years later when he got Late Night.
I remember Good Morning with David Letterman as well and liking it a lot as a 13 year old back in the Summer of 80. Although the only skit-like thing I can remember is when he once came out floating on wires.
Thank you. I was skipping forward to get to the interview and thought to myself, "Did I just hear him say good morning?" Wild. I never knew.
I remember Edwin Newman doing the news.
I remember the show as well, it ended up getting canceled
@@marvinjones4415 Wow, I missed that. But that might’ve been the first time for the “wires in TV comedy” idea which was later adapted by Howard Stern flying in as Fartman at the MTV awards, and of course Chris Farley during Weekend Update on SNL. That one ranks far above all in my opinion.
He looked like a dr Seuss character 😂
still does
Oh, my goodness, you're right
Man belongs in whoville
I think it's really his front teeth
It's his button nose and massive midface.
It's a serious interview! And very good! Letterman actually took Stephen King seriously.
back when I liked letterman.
What does that even mean? He actually took him seriously? Firstly, Letterman took every guest seriously except for about four a year when somebody was clearly running an act like Andy Kaufman, or harmony, Karin, or Joaquin phoenix, when he was a rapper
Not to mention almost everyone takes Stephen king seriously when the interview him.
Go back to Venus or whatever planet you’re from
@@Eric_In_SF I've seen interviews of writers by Letterman, and they weren't like this, because he pushed the writer for humor. You can even perceive in this one Letterman's ironic edge, but he restrains himself with King. That's all I meant. I like this interview.
You can say what you want about David letterman, but the man always respected very talented people when he had them on his show
@@TheKnives777 Always? Look up Oliver Reed.
It’s refreshing how respectful and well mannered interviews used to be. Stephen even bothered to say excuse me after clearing his throat.
Yes, I feel like we've lost something
Our culture is swirling around a toilet bowl that empties into Hell
@@ronfroehlich4697 Haha holy smokes. Sad but true.
@@RaptorFromWeegeea lot of somethings, sadly.
I adore SK
@@ronfroehlich4697yep and the folks flushing it currently are some RW politicians and then social “influencers”. That shouldn’t even be a thing.
I was pleasantly surprised at the interesting questions Dave asked, and thoughtful answers King gave.
He was very prepared for all these questions in the typical talk show sense, but I really enjoyed all of his responses.
Back when daytime interviews were exchanging information for an audience. Not the drama filled, bs gotcha moments we have now. I can’t stand daytime tv or reality Tv- with 2 exceptions. And they aren’t scripted bs.
I read Stephen King's book on writing and it was so good. The first half was a semi biography and the second half was about the nuts and bolts of writing. Any aspiring writers out there would be well served to buy and read it. One of the funniest things was when his agent called to tell him that his book Carrie was sold at auction for $5 million dollars and he was at home alone. He wanted to celebrate but his wife was out and it was a Sunday evening and all the stores were closed. I think he ended up buying a hair dryer for his wife
What stays with me to this very day from his book On Writing, even decades later since I read it, is for one to write a million words to be a competent or fair writer. Not a good one, or a great one, but a competent one. I do hope I'm At the very least competent.
And Storm of the Century is his best work ever!
How to Write: Do lots of cocaine.
GREAT book about writing. Which is weird, because I when I revisit a lot of old King books, they aren't as well written as I remembered.
Yeah and he actively disparages outlining/plotting/planning your narrative, which I think is very bad advice. On Writing is otherwise excellent though.
We read it for my creative writing class, which i always found funny because the book basically says that both books about writing and classes about writing are not the greatest way to go about learning to write.
Great to see a respectful interview with no attempt at muck-raking, trickery or judgement. Just good questions and interesting answers. Wish there was more of it today.
I'm absolutely stunned that this clip exists, and not in a 5th gen VHS version either!
The least disparaging King ever was about The Shining
It had only come out a few months earlier at this point. Maybe it took a while to build up his animosity towards it. 😅
Haha, I was going to say the same thing. I’ve never seen him say so many good things about The Shining. At this time, it wasn’t popular with the critics either, so he was basically just agreeing with the general mixed reviews here.
This likely came from the original NBC studio tape (which the people of this channel have access to). But sometimes even the original tapes could look lousy if they were not properly preserved.
I think he was a little more diplomatic about the Shining while Kubrick was alive.
@@gordons-alive4940could just be monetary. Don’t talk bad about a production a few months after release if you want to do business with that studio again.
People say I’m crazy that I used to watch David letterman during the day with my grandmother!!! Told ya!! Thanks for showing us this episode with my fave Stephen King!!!
Yep..i too remember DAYTIME DAVE!
I had no idea Stephen King was so insanely eloquent. Brilliant guy.
One interesting comment from King: I didn't go to the market, the market came to me.
He barely made a living writing until he was well-past 30. He was writing his great stories, but nobody paid him any mind (or money). Publishers, and the People found him. He never pandered to the market. I believe, Carrie, was his first sold novel. Then, he had many other stories/novel already written. They sold like hotcakes, and people thought Mr. King was churning out books. No. He had them all written, and waiting.
@Redmenace96 I think the age was 25 not well past thirty . He received 400 thousand deal to paperback rights for Carrie which wound up being split 50 50 with his hardback publisher . The Shining was his first hardback bestseller to make the New York Times list and of course it caught the attention of Stanley Kubrick . Stephen King was then making good enough money to quit his teaching day job . Of course his earnings weren’t the mega bucks he later got as he kept churning out one classic after the other but with some dreck here and there . He is only human.
Well he was 33 when he did this interview so Im not sure Id say well past 30... he was certainly making a living before this. "Carrie" was a best seller in 1975... and made into a movie a year later.
That’s how it is though.
@@nychris2258 He was a high school English teacher for a long time. That’s how he made a living before he was able to write full-time.
What a class act he is. Sharp, intelligent and very polite.
Except for his TDS… too bad, really. Great writer, lefty lunatic.
I didn’t previously have a strong opinion about Stephen King but as I listened to this interview I came to very much like him. He was very cogent.
I'm legitimately touched by his story where he said his wife would say "hurry up and think of a monster" when the bills came due. I don't know much about their marriage but that sounds like a wife who respects and appreciates her husband.
Which would explain why they've been married for 52 years.
I think people in those days were just more pragmatic, blunt, and down to earth in how they communicated.
That was a great interview. David showed his intelligence and journalistic chops there. Interesting to see how personalities change and evolve. Something appealing about the modesty of youth.
Well said
I agree but just wish he didn't say "The" Firestarter. It's just Firestarter. I have the original hardback and the cover art is amazing.
I never knew this letterman existed…..this was so good
Todays youth don’t seem modest to me. I think it was more about the way people were back then regardless of age. This was a long time ago.
@@ownedbymykitty270 boomers were always horrible.
Have loved King for decades. & this maybe the best interview I've seen Letterman do. He kept it all about S.K., & did not impose his own 'humor' & 2 cents into the allotted time for this segment.
I used to watch Dave when I was a kid and absolutely loved his show. Stephen King is one of my favorites and this was a great conversation ❤️
If it wasn’t in the title and he hadn’t been introduced, I never would have recognised that as Stephen King. Wow. He is so articulate and funny. One of my favourite authors too. Terrifyingly brilliant. I don’t read to many of his books because they draw me in and I can’t put them down, so I need a lot of time that I don’t have. Wish I could read a lot more though. I respect this man so much. Such a great old interview to watch. Thankyou for adding it.
Read as much as you want. It's one of the more delicious things we can do in this life.
What a legend. Folks please try to help me find this book, it's not Stephen King, but it was called something like "12 Short Stories" or "12 Ghost Stories" and it was a paperback book with 12 ghost stories, I read as a child and have never been able to find since. I know it was in my dad's book collection but I am going back 40 years and that book is long gone. The only thing I remember in the 12 stories was a gate. I was engrossed by it as a child aged around 8 to 10 years old and have been looking for that book for the last 40 years!
Great interview. Two of the best doing what they do best. Classic.
What a thoughtful, insightful interview with one of my favorite authors. And to think it happened on David Letterman's short-lived morning show. Thank god for video tape and RUclips!!!
This is a great Stephen King interview! David and Stephen both do a fantastic job!
Trey:)
I'll never get the chance to shake your hand, sir. But the first book I read as a young adult, was Salems lot. Thank you sir, for all your fantastic books!
5:35 pretty sure he’s talking about “Creepshow” (1982). One of my favorite horror films of all time!
Definitely - it was his first screenplay, and Romero directed.
Creepshow 2 messed me up pretty good.
@@JonnySublime "Thanks for the ride, lady!"
yes sir
so nice to watch to two intelligent people having an interesting conversation.
It's really awesome that this channel includes stuff from all of his shows and not just the lane night stuff! This channel is a real treasure trove.
‘I didn’t go to the market, the market came to me’ Love that and admire his longevity writing such captivating stories. A true living legend
I remember when Firestarter was a new book. I had only been a Stephen King fan for about 3 years but I had read all of his books at the time. I remember thinking I wish there was more Stephen King books to read. The last time I could claim I read all of his books was in 1988. I remember seeing a cartoon in the newspaper, A man is reading a big book that has Stephen King on the spine and his wife says "Maybe you should hold it. If you use the bathroom Stephen King will probably have two new books by the time you're done."
Great interview with Mr. king. I loved his books and movie adaptations growing up and now my 16 year old daughter is devouring his back catalogue of books. His work is timeless.
Timeless,yes❤
Mr. King. Is he your lord?
Two legends. What a great interview.
The Salem's Lot miniseries scared me almost more than anything when i was young. That kid at the window scene kept me up many nights.
oh god lol...me too! all of it was extra scary to me, more than anything else I can remember
And when the Vampire came in the kitchen and killed the boys parents by banging their heads together--scared me
Salem's Lot was so good. Amazing cast and incredibly spooky.
OMG as kids my sister me and our cousin watched Salems Lot all piled on a bed in a darkened bedroom. We named the boy on the window GHOST BOY!!
So many fun times going to my sisters window at night witth a flashlinght under my chin and scratching her window and enjoying the screams of my sister .
I love Stephen King! I’ve read many of his novels, and there is just something about the way he writes, that keeps you hooked to the story, and hard to put the book down. Truly a legend in American literature.
No. Heis boring.
Yes, for young people who have the attention span of a goldfish he is boring. People need constant bleeps and notifications from their smartphones now. I only found Bag of Bones and Dreamcatcher boring.@@lahtiman8141
@@lahtiman8141🐢
There's a difference between a storyteller, even a good one like Jeffrey Archer, and a real writer. Of course he goes into it more formally in On Writing, but in Misery you get a sense of what it's like, a "hole in the paper into which you fall," and characters that take on lives of their own. Ideas that come to you and demand to be written. Every true writer has that as an answer to "where do you get your ideas."
King has always been so frightening to me because of his ability to evoke something so awful, but then go on to describe a setting that is basically the same as your kitchen.
@@lahtiman8141you're in the minority 😅
He's not boring at all
Greatest writer of the last hundred years imo. A total genius. So many simply amazing novels each one better than the last
I read The Shining in '79 as a kid and was so enthralled by it that I went on to read every book King wrote until Needful Things (some 30 books or so) in my 20s. I then had to stop. I had become so used to his style & prose that I became too comfortable and familiar with it all. Hard to believe he's written just as many (if not more) books since then.
He came back with a vengeance with Bag of Bones, which was truly frightening at times. Also, The Dark Tower series is magnificent.
Yeah I started reading King books as a young teen. My first three were Christine, Pet Sematary and The Shining in that order. All three scared the shyt out of me. I read and enjoyed many more of his books but they started having less and less of an effect on me as I got used to his style.
As far as The Shining movie goes, King should stick to writing and leave movie making to masters like Kubrick. King's The Shining mini-series was an absolute joke.
Do you mean too comfortable as in it felt predictable? Or like you had gotten too obsessed? Something else?
Check out 11/22/63.
@@coinraker6497
Do you mean less of an effect as in it felt predictable? Or like you had gotten too obsessed? Something else?
Little did we know at the time that Bill Cosby was scarier than any Stephen King novel.
My thoughts exactly.
If you have to endure King's blathering on Twitter, you might think differently. King is inflicting pain on millions versus the dozens of victims on the Cosby side.
Cosby is the tip of the iceberg…Hollywood in the 70s was a diabolical sinister place behind the scenes
So weird hearing him referenced back then or seeing him on old tv shows…like what a wolf in sheeps clothing
Yep
Very few talk shows have such interviews with depth. These old talk shows interviews are great. I guess it's the sign of the times.
Back then Dave's show was daytime talk. A very different format.
This is great. Stephen king is legendary and I’m reading Christine right now. There will never be another writer that matches him - it’s so weird seeing him younger looking here lol
Great book! Hearts in Atlantis is phenomenal also…. Check it out if you haven’t.
I read it 30 years ago. The book is quite different from the movie but still very good.
Christine is an awesome book. Have you read Pet Semetary?
@@ThouSwell-zx3fd Pet cemetary was the first ever novel I read as a child, it scared the hell out of me.
@@chatteyj It is the ultimate page turner, almost impossible to set down.
The most scared I have ever been reading a book was Stephen King's "Misery", the scene where the writer is exploring the house and hears her returning to the home. He desperately drags himself along the floor trying to get back into his prison room before the psycho lady finds him.
It had my heart completely racing!
And then after he successfully gets back into the bedroom and pretends he's been there, everything was fine... until a few pages later when we find out that she had placed threads on the door so they would break if he left the room. My heart dropped so hard at that unexpected turn of events.
He aint lying that subverted expectations can be the most shocking thing imaginable. Also the funniest, in comedy!
And she chops his foot off for it! (and blowtorches the wound) Much more horrific than the film where she uses the sledge hammer.
Two very young men. Dave's very first show (Daytime Television). Much later in life both of
these guys would receive an insane amount of Awards and Honors!
And wealth. SK is worth north of $500MM and DL is just fine. Both of them are flawed men but they added something to society and were rewarded for it.
I had no
Idea that Dave did daytime television lol
@@scottystcloud7086it’s amazing that King is still putting out stories - his mind must be full of nightmares 🤣
@@scottystcloud7086If you consider both of them flawed men, then nearly every adult man on the planet is flawed.
@@brianmeen2158The daytime show was short lived. Just a few months. But Late Night started not long after.
Finally watched “Pet Sematary” this past weekend; interesting premise, but I couldn’t help but think of Herman Munster every time Fred Gwynne came on screen.
Pet Sematary was a fantastic book which didn’t transfer well to a movie. Too many of the critical parts of the book took place inside the main character’s mind. I don’t see how you transfer that to the screen.
That was the problem with poor Fred Gwynnes career. The guy graduated Harvard, had serious theater experience but his career in television and/or the movies suffered because everybody always thought of him as Herman Munster. His career picked up somewhat in the 90s though. I just watched a short documentary on him here on RUclips. Check it out, it's interesting.
@@sstills951Yeah always small supporting roles such as Secret Of My Success, Fatal Attraction etc. It was nice that he got a great character to play In My Cousin Vinnie.
Herman Munster was both a blessing and a curse for Fred Gwynne. He was great in both Pet Sematary and My Cousin Vinny! I never saw Herman Munster in those movies but a fantastic actor who never got the credit he deserved from the critics but loved by kids and those young at heart.
Dave was a real good interviewer. Sharp questions and good follow-up. I think that Mr. King gave, at times, stock answers but then on a a book tour you get a lot of the same questions.
I didn’t like the Shining too much when I first saw it because I’d recently read the book. But over time it’s become one of my favorite movies.
I still can't watch it to this day, I will try again sometime but its nothing like the book.
Yeah I read the Shining before watching the movie. Totally ruined the movie.
@@chatteyj Yeah I know .. Kubrick improved his book.
@@chatteyj Saying it's "nothing like the book" seems like an exaggeration. Like the book, the movie involves a family house sitting a hotel in the Rockies that turns out to have some supernatural stuff going on in it that causes the father, who is a struggling writer, to become a homicidal maniac.
@@Fiveash-Art No he didn't he made a skin deep film with annoying maddening background music that looked pretty with poor acting.
That last scene in the original Carrie gave me nightmares for weeks after. Ultimate jump scare. Love King's deadpan humour and his remark about Kubrick. Hilarious.
My mother is retired, but she was a librarian in Florida. Stephen came to discuss being an author to young adults. She said he was the kindest man. He was quite a bit older when she met him. Very well spoken.
This is from Letterman's morning show (before he had his nighttime gig). I was at this taping with several friends. SK was signing books afterward at Doubleday. I had all of his books in hardcover, Carrie right up to Firestarter. This was 8-18-1980. He signed and dated all seven books.
Awesome story!
Do you know what book he’s referencing when he says he’s working on one now?
@melondonkey someone in another comment said he would have been writing Cujo around this time.
@@DrizzyDefenseForce And is cujo a stand out book of Kings? I've not heard much about it.
@chatteyj idk I haven't actually read much of King, I'm just very familiar with the movies based on his stories. I liked Cujo but I haven't seen it since I was a kid.
Man, it does me real good to see this. The Shining is my all time favorite movie, half because of the King story and half because of what Kubrick did with it. I'd always heard that King hated it, just despised it, and that always made me sad. I couldn't understand how he couldn't see at least _some_ artistic merit in it. -Now I see that he did in fact.
They're both brilliant and work for their respective mediums imo. I think the best summation I've ever heard is "The best parts of the book are not in the movie, and the best parts of the movie are not in the book."
@@kelliatlarge Ooo I like that. Very true. I didn't read the book until I was in my late 20's, after already seeing the movie half a dozen times or so, and unfortunately with the notion in my head that King did not approve whatsoever, so I really had my guard up, and yet found the book truly brilliant. And that was indeed because of parts not in the movie, although I felt they were forgivable because they would have made the movie too long and/or couldn't be done well with 1980 tech (like the animated hedge animals -something I think would best be left out even now that it's possible, because they're conceptually terrifying but would look a bit silly visually -just me?).
I still don't doubt one thing I've heard -that a major beef King had with the movie was that it didn't focus "enough" on Jack's alcoholism. To me Kubrick addressed it amply, and judging by movies King had more of a direct hand in, he would beat us over the head with the struggle between addiction and sobriety at any chance, bless his heart. 😆
For me the movie is "home," so much more than just the scariest horror movie ever; bizarrely it comforts me and though I didn't realize it at the time, seeing it as a little kid may have saved me in various ways. I was Danny's age when I saw it at the drive-in, because common sense about exposing such a young child to such a thing was an example of the skills laking in the wolves who raised me. They loved me very much but not very well, locked in perpetual adolescence by alcohol and substance addiction. There was plenty of violence, mostly between the two of them but occasionally lapping over to us kids, and I held underlying constant fear that it could be even more so, that we might end up chopped up bloody meat piles, like the scenes in Vietnam my dad had seen, or in the nightmares my mom had, which they both saw fit to describe to us.
In short, I had already seen The Shining before I saw The Shining. But what I hadn't seen was how a tiny helpless kid could survive it. In Danny I saw such a person learn quickly to give up the automatic trust of parents so hardwired into every infant creature, in favor of an inner voice that knew better, knew when to embrace help from strangers, when to hide silently, and when to run, just run, get out.
@@audreymuzingo933 I'm sorry you had to experience that as a child. I can 100% understand how Danny's survival would bring hope and comfort. Actually that reminds me of one of my favorite essays by G.K. Chesterton, called "The Red Angel."
Quote: "Fairy tales, then, are not responsible for producing in children fear, or any of the shapes of fear; fairy tales do not give the child the idea of the evil or the ugly; that is in the child already, because it is in the world already. Fairy tales do not give the child his first idea of bogey. What fairy tales give the child is his first clear idea of the possible defeat of bogey. The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon."
Look it up if you get a chance, the whole thing is worth reading.
@@kelliatlarge I WILL, thank you!
The shining still gives me nightmares!
He was promoting his book Firestarter. I'm pleased because this is my favourite Stephen King novel ever. The most underrated masterpiece.
in my mind it started the xmen, but dunno if that's true. :)
Letterman is not acting clownish because King is someone who has actually accomplished something real.
Love when he casually talks about working on Creepshow with Romero
best 10 second description of Star Wars ever... nailed it
Keep in mind that this interview was just a few months after The Shining was released, so he held back on some of his real feelings about the movie. I read the book and didn't see the film until many years later and when I finally saw it I understood exactly why he didn't like it. If you base your opinion on the film itself, it's a masterpiece of horror cinema, but if you judge it as an adaptation, the changes to the ending were completely unnecessary. I absolutely prefer the way the book ended.
And that is why Kubrick's works will be studied for generations and King will be relegated to comic books without pictures.
@@maleitch lol, King is one of the most influential writers of the modern times, his work is already being study by lots of people and will continue to be just like Kubrick
@@arthurguilherme3358 None of his literature will ever be considered a classic. No serious literature class studies King, but considering the laughable and embarrassing farce that is higher education today, I am sure he is being studied along with marvel movies.
@@maleitchNah, no actual reason to argue with you, comparing Stephen King with marvel movies💀💀💀💀💀💀
King and kubrick are allowed to disagree, book and film are very different and work very differently, king and cubrick are both great, both will be remembered, your comment won't 👍
King movies are famously hit or miss. I still can’t believe what they did to “The Dark Tower”. Wow.
In a positive or negative light?
Agree. Many of Kings movies are either barely average or just bad. There’s a couple great ones though . His writing is legendary though
@@brianmeen2158I think it’s because when we read a book, we create the visual. We fill in details. In a movie or show, they’re presenting a very specific image of a character.
The Dark Tower series shouldn’t be done unless it’s going to be presented in full, over multiple seasons in a series. A 2 hour movie can’t include the important stuff of a book. Often it misses the heart of the story as well.
I loved 1408. It didn't quite capture all of the oddness of the story, but it got most of it right. John Cusack and Samuel Jackson were both fantastic in it.
Looks like Mike Flanagan might be adapting it. The movie wasted Idris Elba.
This guy makes so much sense to me and why I love his work. When he was talking about "after the book or movie ends and the lights come on, you think to yourself that my life is not so bad. Not as bad as what I just read or saw on screen." This is exactly why I enjoy the horror/thriller genre. I remember watching The Walking Dead series and I was completely engrossed. I was consumed by that show and was so thankful that it wasn't me living in the zombie apocalypse!
Man, too bad you don’t see interviews like this much anymore.
This guy is a genius ! He’s wrote more books than I’ve wrote shopping lists 😅😂
Written*
A lot of his books read like shopping lists
He speaks so well. I’m a poor reader, time constraints mainly, but I’ve read a few of his works and It means I have all the rest of his books that I intend to read one day to enjoy.
Just an FYI… Stephen King turned 75 a few weeks ago. Still making millions and millions of dollars. And he is still giving millions and millions to his various charities, I should say Steven and his wife are giving to charities.
I had also just left the comment about him being 75 years old and he is still going strong I see all these stories posted on Google and they are all about him or with him in it and or his books and movies especially now during the the Halloween season
he's an imbecile, if you read his tweets.
This is such a treat! Stephen King looked very much like my pediatrician, Dr. Rubin, talking about how freaky that had to be. Both good humans!
That was a fascinating interview. So interesting getting into the head of someone like Stephen King and him being so open to great questions.
What a super interesting introspective man at this point in his life. Thanks for posting this amazing clip! His comment on Kubrik was poignant and caught me off-guard! Loved hearing it and seeing it out of his mouth. Fun!
What a great interview. King seems like a great guy!
And I wish I could watch Letterman today. He and Carson were great!
Was, perhaps. He really seems like a loon these days, sadly
He is speaking a lot of wisdom here… as a lot of ppl don’t like to admit what truly fears them.
King's hair in this interview is fantastic! Everyone needs to pick up Holly, his new book--great read!
This is the best interview that I have seen of Stephen King. He seemed brilliant. He doesn't seem like that anymore. I like what he said about a good scary story. "It's inexplicable." I feel the same way about a good song.
Same brilliant man today
Seems the same to me.
He’s as brilliant as he always was. (Wise is a better word imo.) Twitter isn’t the best conduit for how he goes about it, but in interviews, he shines as brightly as the quality of conversation / questioning allows. THAT has certainly declined for sure.
Shawshank is my favorite Stephen King story
Kubrick knew some of what was in the book would not translate well onto the silver screen. Especially with the limits of what special effects could do at the time. He had enough foresight to see that. He felt the topiary creatures would make the movie corny and i agree. The Shinning is a masterpiece book and a film albeit the film deviates away from certain aspects of the book. All you need to do is watch Kings TV adaptation of his novel to know Kubrick knew better and is the true cinematic pro.
But Kubrick changed the Jack Torrance character's descent into madness into a mere after-thought. It was Jack Nicholson, already crazy, playing Jack Nicholson.. not the nuanced character that Sai King wrote about in The Shining. Steven Weber played Jack Torrance beautifully in Stephen King's The Shining TV miniseries.... making his fall from sanity so much more tragic.
In my opinion both Nicholson's performance (hell, his glances at the camera are profoundly unsettling and the way he talks is like he feels he is inside an eternal loop and trying to enjoy it like a Sisyphus of villains) and the movie are cinematic perfection and merely taking the books plot as a starting point, like having a dream after reading the book. The movie is not about nuanced characters at all, they are by design just as cartoonish as the cartoons Danny is watching. I also love the book and completely understand why King must have hated the movie, King is all about characters, Kubrick is about inviting you inside a world of pictures. King is really not good at writing movie scripts though and I find Mick Garris' adaptation terrible and actually a far worse insult to the novel than Kubrick dreaming up his own version of spending time at the Overlook.
you called it the shinning so you wouldn't get sued 😂
@@Elphaba1952Nicholson played an already broken character who then turned into an absolute monster. It's more grounded and scary in my opinion than just a father who went completely crazy because of the hotel.
@@zacharyqueyrouze6604 Jack (in both the book & the miniseries) is flawed at the start. He's a recovering alcoholic who broke his son Danny's arm in a rage. He was pulling himself back when he took the job at the Overlook... that's at the center of the story.
Dave's Morning Show was great we need to see all the episodes on here.
I have to say that like other commenters this was a great interview. Probably my top SK book is “The Stand”. I have read it through the years in the neighborhood of 12 times. I especially like the uncut version of it. I also like the way he weaves the King world throughout his stories to Include the Gunslinger world.
Moon, that spells The Stand!
Maybe I missed something. I Read the stand a few years ago after hearing many good things and though it started out allright i felt the ending was rather anticlimactic. Also i loved the first 3 or 4 gunslinger books and then incredibly disappointed with the final few some much duality established in those great characters like detta walker only for them to be a bunch of campy do gooders in the end i just didnt get it.
@@MellowGibson You didn't miss anything. King is infamous for writing terrible endings, and he backhandedly made fun of himself for it in the latest film adaptation of "IT".
At the end of the Dark Tower series its like book 6 about 400 pages in King writes a warning to the reader. It goes on to say that you can keep reading and he did write an ending but if you been on this journey for years waiting for an ending theres nothing he can write that can live up to that expectation. He can write they lived happily ever after or Roland gets what he wants and the good guy wins the bad guy loses but in reality life goes on and the end of the story is that they lived the rest of their life. The journey was what was important. The story that was told. But he did write and ending and said hed prefer for us to not read it.
Then on the next page he says something like "well now that you all have decided to read the ending" and he finishes the book. He was right though and the ending was just that. An ending
@@timthegem
I agree; The Stand is my absolute favorite SK book. From M-O-O-N to Happy Crappy, the Stand is in a category all by itself. An instant classic!
As an “Avid reader “ myself I would love this to have been a much larger & longer interview. I don’t know why it bothers me so much that Dave keeps referring to the book title as The Fire starter rather than just Fire Starter, but it does!! 😂😮
This made me twitch! 😉
Yeah, but I give SK props for not correcting him in the moment. SK is the type of guy if someone invites him into their home he doesn't kick their dog. Class.
Constant Reader. At least that's what King calls his readers.
Many in the classic literary field don't take King's writing as "serious", but I don't think there is another American author in the last 50 years that can develop characters and their interactions with others so well.
Mr. King's intellect is dominating even Dave in this interview! Thought that would never happen in this lifetime. PS- it's "Firestarter" not "The Firestarter"!!!!!
Adding the definite article must have had King cringing inside ha.
@@mikemason7422 For sure! Dave did it in two different interviews separated by years! lol
It was odd, I think he called it that three times - whilst holding a copy of the book! Perhaps he realised he'd made a mistake when he added the "The" first time and decided his best bet was to double down on it? Coincidentally, earlier this evening l watched The Mist: Lots to enjoy in the film, but I thought the ending really let it down.
That's how letterman talks. Hey congratulations Michael Richards on The Seinfeld, that's a great show.
I can understand King's not being too happy with the film version of "The Shining", despite how much I liked it. The story was very personal to him, and as entertaining as Jack Nicholson was as Jack Torrance, there was no decent into madness, with Jack. Nicholson's Jack was pretty much crazy throughout the film. Stephen Weber was much closer in his portrayal of Jack Torrance in the TV miniseries that King was involved in.
I've seen that take before, and I agree.
The miniseries did do a better job making Jack Torrance an actual character, one that evolves as the story unfolds. Kubricks Torrance is more of a slasher villian - it's clear there is something wrong with Jack from day one.
At the same time, I like the Kubrick movie better overall. It had better atmosphere and most everything besides Jack was flushed out better.
The book is great, the movie is great, but they are two different stories.
I have said this so many times and been laughed at! But the mini series was just loyal to the book . I don't mind that its a little cheesy sometimes or didn't age well. I love the book so much, its hard for me to prefer anything that strays too far from it.
Movie is a movie, book is a book.. Writers don´t understant it.
@@pasikymalainen7478 I think they probably do, its probably more a case of directors not understanding the source material properly.
I like this.
Video from 1980? It is nice to see things from “back in the day.” I show my kid things from my youth to show her how things were partially because I used to wonder how things were for my parents when they were young. And…as far as “from my youth”->I would have been about 3 years old when this originally came out.
There is something touching about recognizing the passage of time & having a feel for both what was & what is.
I am grateful that this was shared.
Thank you for sharing this with us. 😊
I hate when people say Stephen hated the shining movie in passing, when he really didn't he gave a really honest and reasonable opinion.
That's what I'd heard as well. It's nice that he sees good elements in the movie
My feeling about King is that he actually wrote Fantasy with some dark horror elements. Although his best work seems to have been penned in his novelettes, such as Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, and The Body. The Dark Tower series really makes clear the sort of dark fantasy King was creating.
King is one fine writer! Of any genre he chose, he would be. Brilliant.
I love Stephen’s voice and vocabulary- I could listen to his voice for hours. He speaks as eloquently as he writes, and he’s funny!
"As we get older we still have the fears. We sublimate them."
What a sophisticated thinker he is.
INN real life
to this day sometimes i jump into the bed rather than stand next to it for any length of time because im afraid some hands will tug at my ankles before i get into bed. but ONLY at night and ONLY when im about to go to sleep.
He has such brevity
If you WROTE the story, you can spoil the end if you want to. This man is a rockstar.
@jimdandy8686 So what. Nothing extra comes from normal.
I liked how Dave just jumped from one question to the other, let Stephen talk and then just ask another question, not try to reply with a funny joke or comment after , just let the guest do the talking
One of the great writers with one of the great interviewers 💀