This is one of the things that I loved about Letterman -- the way that he made his staff and crew part of the show, whether they liked it or not. Barbara Gaines, Biff Henderson, Hal Gurnee, Pat Farmer, Kenny Sheehan, etc. -- these folks may not have initially expected to be featured on-camera, but their appearances were an important part of what made the show great.
Don, you are the King of Letterman. I thank you for all these amazing collections and all the shows in general. This was truly an amazing show and none today even come close. I may not always agree with Letterman politically but he never let that show when he was on air. ALL executives are weasels, simple. On the same note, I am now not getting anything done because I am watching all these clips, for that, also, I thank you!
There are certain pivotal moments in time that help map Letterman's transition from goofy cool young Dave to cynical grizzled old Dave. The moment he stopped saying "Gaines" and started calling her "Barbara" was one such moment. Miss you, goofy cool young Dave!
As with most comments, of all the characters working with Dave, the one I'd love to meet and chat with is Barbara Gaines. She seems to be, to this day, one of Dave's best friends.
Dave said "man alive" *a lot* in the 80s and 90s. A lot. After watching countless hours and videos from Don's archive I've meant to comment on it and I guess now finally I did :) From how much he used this expression I don't think he used it much in 00s. I wonder where the cut off was and he stopped using it.
Great collection. Funny to hear Paul talk about the opening of the original House of Blues....worked there for a few years myself. Hadn't thought about that joint in a while.
Even the most mundane phone calls always ended up going wrong in some hilarious way. "Hello, Helen. My name's David Letterman. I do a little TV show here in New York City and we're actually on the air right now and I was wondering if I could put your voice on the program. Would that be alright, Helen? W-whaddya mean 'No'?"
@captain scentsible39 Most famously, President Lydon Johnson called a woman who he was considering to hire as his White House secretary. Since he recorded all phone calls, we got to hear her say nothing and immediately hang up on him. When he called back, she apologized saying it sounded like a prank. He thought this was hilarious.
Considering the awful things her mom said about her on the telephone call, overheard by millions, Barbara has to be a saint to be so sweet! I hope she is happy, healthy, wealthy, and well loved nowadays! Thanks and blessings Barbara for making "How's the Weather" so much fun during the difficult days in 2021 and 2022. 🙏👏👍👍♥️
One of my biggest thrills was discovering Barbara Gaines was on Twitter, she was travelling in Europe somewhere, and I excitedly asked her "HOWS THE WEATHER?" she did reply! I'm not 100% she might have understood the context of the question lol
I loved when Barbara got some air time. She's was as adorable when the show ended as she was when she first appeared and she had a great rapport with Dave.
@@Shadowx011 No, that wasn't her. The lady from the "husky idler" was a woman named madeline smithburg or something like that (who actually wasn't even husky at all).
@@CptCrash21 no I didn’t think she was husky but she was pretty tall…she was also adorable and I felt sorry for her. This Woman in this video I thought resembled her until I went and checked out the Madeline video.
I lost track of this one halfway through and just got back to it. Brilliant stuff -- I love how Dave just kept calling the model Barbara, as if it was just another random call bit. I wonder why Paul didn't play the chorus for "Carry That Weight" instead of the "You Never Give Me Your Money" interlude.
Paul Shaffer came up with “At Pierrot’s Door” for dialing music on “What’s the deal with Ross Perot?” I hadn’t heard that since we played that in elementary school band!
Sadly I am here to announce the passing of one of the phonebook people. Merle Humphrey of Vidalia Georgia died in June, 2006 at the age of 96. She never made it to New York to visit Dave. Rip
In the second segment they called Minot, North Dakota, which is where I'm from. He said the number was out of order but it sounded like somebody answered. I listened to it a few times.
That was a weird switch in the final piece - pretending the model was Barbara Gaines. I was expecting some sort of “reveal” or punch line at the end, but the bit carried all the way through to the end of the segment. Was this another sort of running gag? Never saw this switch before. Seems weird that no real joke came of it.
OMG, that is great ...... "I fired the little bastard, he's out" ....You'd never hear anybody saying that these days......I laughed so hard, my stomach ached!
It's sort of crazy to think that these phone numbers were basically put on air for anyone to copy lol. Each number has a specific tone, so reverse engineering the numbers would be pretty simple if the program was recorded. The whole country basically had access to a person's name, area, home phone number, and whatever else Dave got out of them.
I can't believe they called Minot again and picked the Grog Shop. I recognized the liquor store as soon as they said the name. Thanks for indulging me just can't believe they called Minot twice. Did they call anyone else's hometown who happened to watch this? I'm done not even done with the video, they may call again. 😂
Sounds trite, but this type of stuff was the true genius of Letterman. Name me another late night guy (short of Johnny) who could make a great segment out of just dialing numbers in random phone books? Go ahead. I'll wait. ..............................(hours passing....)......... ....still waiting. Can't do it can ya? Didn't think so. #WorldwidePantsRules
Glad you're so enamored with Letterman, and I'm a fan too (or was before he got uber political), but a lot of his playbook comes straight from Steve Allen. Think he's a genius if you want, but his "genius" was in resurrecting bits that Steve Allen originated.
30:40 Baby, Now That I found you I cant let you go. I build My World Around you, I need you so, even though you dont need me. See, I know somethings... 1:03:25 He Throws the Card through the center of the reef without looking... or knowing. 1:09:20 Mel was pretty cool lol 2:05:45 Its not an intro or outro but while they are looking up a number Paul is playing a little Jingle of 'Hooked on a Feeling', and I just noticed what it was and I thought id note it. Pretty proud of recognizing that one. - And Then I think at the very ending it turns into Feels Just Like Starting Over by John Lennon.
Poor Bette, she was nervous and excited, she just wanted to make sure she played her keys right, she didn't prepare for how to properly pretend to listen to Letterman telling stories about the timbers in his house in CT.
More people heard Dave saying that the Goodwill Games ended than actually saw any of the TBS coverage. Those of us who were part of the Turner Hostage Crisis in Seattle, aka - the Make-good Games - were glad it was over too. BTW - this is the production crew gag reel - ruclips.net/video/crylcrjQCxw/видео.html
That was wry plains humor from Mel Cunningham. Loved it! A retired guy would have grown up on radio & early tv which originated in NYC. Soldiers in WW2 shipped out to Europe from NYC. Yep, Dave met his Midwest match in Mel. Agree with poster who said Dave should've flown him out. Would've been a fun interview.
This was truly an amazing show and none today even come close. I may not always agree with Letterman politically but he never let that show when he was on air.
Had to search 'Letterman politics' to see what you're talking about: Oh, he has an opinion. My grandparents would get into a rare political discussion with a neighbor. If it reached an impasse, they'd say firmly, "Well, I may not agree with your opinion .... but I'll fight to the death for your right to have it!" Then the conversation would switch to weather or gardening or such. Remember the old saying, "The devil works by dividing."
I just wanna say that your dedication to pulling all this stuff together is boundless. Did you tape every single episode back in the 80's or something??
@@dongiller Wow. Thanks. What a story. You really are one of the great pro-bono archivists. Can't help but admire your relentless dedication to this mission. Also, love your reasoning for it. Looking at that colossal rack of DVDs, makes me wonder what the stack of VHS' in their entirety would look like!! Follow-up question... How did the show's producers / makers become aware of your killer cache?
Back in the mid-‘90s when alt.fan.letterman was _the_ place to be. Here’s a CBS profile of the site from 1995 - ruclips.net/video/hpz28Mmjerg/видео.html
Don, any idea of where "win or lose it's just good to be in Pasadena" came from? I remember hearing him say that on another one of your compilations. Thanks again for all you do.
Cool to see him dial mi, it looked like he dialed 313 for saginaw mi, i know nowadays its changed to a new area code. Btw what mother says on air " hows my barbara doing, put her on a diet" whoa ! That is just horrible tough 💘
This is one of the things that I loved about Letterman -- the way that he made his staff and crew part of the show, whether they liked it or not. Barbara Gaines, Biff Henderson, Hal Gurnee, Pat Farmer, Kenny Sheehan, etc. -- these folks may not have initially expected to be featured on-camera, but their appearances were an important part of what made the show great.
That's really the most compelling thing I have seen on television in the last 15 years now!
Only David Letterman could make dialing a phone and not talking to anyone hilarious! Him and Barbara together Amazing!
Don, you are the King of Letterman. I thank you for all these amazing collections and all the shows in general. This was truly an amazing show and none today even come close. I may not always agree with Letterman politically but he never let that show when he was on air. ALL executives are weasels, simple. On the same note, I am now not getting anything done because I am watching all these clips, for that, also, I thank you!
My work is done here, then. :)
Thanks!!
There’s just something so precious about Barbara’s readiness via call and response. Too cute
Never again; brilliant. I miss this so much
There are certain pivotal moments in time that help map Letterman's transition from goofy cool young Dave to cynical grizzled old Dave. The moment he stopped saying "Gaines" and started calling her "Barbara" was one such moment. Miss you, goofy cool young Dave!
Nami sah i was just about to say the same thing
As with most comments, of all the characters working with Dave, the one I'd love to meet and chat with is Barbara Gaines. She seems to be, to this day, one of Dave's best friends.
Dave said "man alive" *a lot* in the 80s and 90s. A lot.
After watching countless hours and videos from Don's archive I've meant to comment on it and I guess now finally I did :)
From how much he used this expression I don't think he used it much in 00s. I wonder where the cut off was and he stopped using it.
Gives new meaning to the old saying, "I'd listen to him read out of the phone book"
Great collection.
Funny to hear Paul talk about the opening of the original House of Blues....worked there for a few years myself. Hadn't thought about that joint in a while.
To think how far Barbara Gaines had come working on this show. From production coordinator to producer of the show by the end.
Boy, she really Gained a lot of experience.
@Brandon S I'm not saying it was uncommon. I'm just saying she did well moving up the ladder.
@@pac401 especially as an openly gay woman working in show business pre-2000. She earned her "Trailblazer Award"
Even the most mundane phone calls always ended up going wrong in some hilarious way. "Hello, Helen. My name's David Letterman. I do a little TV show here in New York City and we're actually on the air right now and I was wondering if I could put your voice on the program. Would that be alright, Helen? W-whaddya mean 'No'?"
@captain scentsible39 Most famously, President Lydon Johnson called a woman who he was considering to hire as his White House secretary. Since he recorded all phone calls, we got to hear her say nothing and immediately hang up on him. When he called back, she apologized saying it sounded like a prank. He thought this was hilarious.
I swear Barbara Gaines is the most delightful Human on the planet 🙂
Considering the awful things her mom said about her on the telephone call, overheard by millions, Barbara has to be a saint to be so sweet! I hope she is happy, healthy, wealthy, and well loved nowadays! Thanks and blessings Barbara for making "How's the Weather" so much fun during the difficult days in 2021 and 2022. 🙏👏👍👍♥️
Considering Dave used to be a weather guy, this was a natural hit segment.
One of my biggest thrills was discovering Barbara Gaines was on Twitter, she was travelling in Europe somewhere, and I excitedly asked her "HOWS THE WEATHER?" she did reply! I'm not 100% she might have understood the context of the question lol
do you know her back story? in her early years she tried to commit suicide.
@MorbidManMusic thud
I admire her overwhelmingly positive attitude in these clips
@@ZEZERBING thanks alot captain bringdown!
@@ZEZERBING Stop spreading rumors.
Thanks Don. this is great
I loved when Barbara got some air time. She's was as adorable when the show ended as she was when she first appeared and she had a great rapport with Dave.
Is she the one David called a “Husky Idler”? Lol
Yes I think she was adorable too and David was very apologetic to her as it made her cry.
@@Shadowx011 No, that wasn't her. The lady from the "husky idler" was a woman named madeline smithburg or something like that (who actually wasn't even husky at all).
@@CptCrash21 no I didn’t think she was husky but she was pretty tall…she was also adorable and I felt sorry for her. This Woman in this video I thought resembled her until I went and checked out the Madeline video.
Thanks Don.. this is great
I luv David Letterman he's adorable & just plain funny without being disgusting😊
A lot of old people went to bed early so they probably didn’t know what the David Letterman show was. My grandma when to bed following the news.
I lost track of this one halfway through and just got back to it. Brilliant stuff -- I love how Dave just kept calling the model Barbara, as if it was just another random call bit. I wonder why Paul didn't play the chorus for "Carry That Weight" instead of the "You Never Give Me Your Money" interlude.
Paul Shaffer came up with “At Pierrot’s Door” for dialing music on “What’s the deal with Ross Perot?” I hadn’t heard that since we played that in elementary school band!
ah , now i zee vat you meen : Au Clair de la Lune ( mon ami Pierrot )
Barbara is absolutely precious!
@Brandon S Because she's not you??
he had some cute lesbians on his staff
Bitshitter And what are you inferring?
Omg laughing my head off! Thank you for this compilation!!
Even though Paul had a smaller band on Late Night......his music going into commercials was amazing.
That's Paul's best quip ever "Hey Paul - Melvin Woodrow Bossheart"... "That used to be my name!".
Today, of course, Dave is a frequent guest on BARBARA's show.
1:12:39 the rapport between David and Barbara is nothing short of awesome.
ruclips.net/video/x_IasKgqxuo/видео.htmlsi=dRIuuzkCPemTGo-9&t=3054 Not sure if he had to grab her ass though
Hey Don do you have the episode from 10/04/1990? I was on briefly and my copy was destroyed
What happened to the good old days, I watched letterman every night 🌙
"And anytime you're in New York just .... keep on moving." lol
good to know though
Sadly I am here to announce the passing of one of the phonebook people. Merle Humphrey of Vidalia Georgia died in June, 2006 at the age of 96. She never made it to New York to visit Dave. Rip
That’s sad to hear. Thanks for letting us know.
Bless Her Heart ❤️ She Was Sweet
Dave was prophetic, over 30 years ago now, about the insanity of driving while talking on the phone; now that’s the LEAST of drivers’ distractions.
This is what they did when they couldn’t get Norm MacDonald on to burn through a half hour of air time telling jokes from 1920
Compared to what's called late night television. This is so much better.
You don't need to compare, it's just good Brian
Thanks Don!
In the second segment they called Minot, North Dakota, which is where I'm from. He said the number was out of order but it sounded like somebody answered. I listened to it a few times.
Note, Dave DID dial 1 first. lol #rewind
No, that first part he wasn't dialing correctly for sure.
That was a weird switch in the final piece - pretending the model was Barbara Gaines. I was expecting some sort of “reveal” or punch line at the end, but the bit carried all the way through to the end of the segment. Was this another sort of running gag? Never saw this switch before. Seems weird that no real joke came of it.
I got into that kind of idiocy on the autobahn once, but I was in a pokey car.
OMG, that is great ...... "I fired the little bastard, he's out" ....You'd never hear anybody saying that these days......I laughed so hard, my stomach ached!
"Nice laugh sir"
Okay, I won't lie. I am sitting here alone and I actually applauded when the Rockettes line reached Dave in the studio.
It's sort of crazy to think that these phone numbers were basically put on air for anyone to copy lol. Each number has a specific tone, so reverse engineering the numbers would be pretty simple if the program was recorded. The whole country basically had access to a person's name, area, home phone number, and whatever else Dave got out of them.
yes
Seems like a lot people were named Melvin.
I can't believe they called Minot again and picked the Grog Shop. I recognized the liquor store as soon as they said the name. Thanks for indulging me just can't believe they called Minot twice. Did they call anyone else's hometown who happened to watch this? I'm done not even done with the video, they may call again. 😂
Sounds trite, but this type of stuff was the true genius of Letterman. Name me another late night guy (short of Johnny) who could make a great segment out of just dialing numbers in random phone books? Go ahead. I'll wait. ..............................(hours passing....).........
....still waiting. Can't do it can ya? Didn't think so. #WorldwidePantsRules
Steve Allen. But that's ok, Dave was in good company.
Worldwide Pants DOES rule!
Glad you're so enamored with Letterman, and I'm a fan too (or was before he got uber political), but a lot of his playbook comes straight from Steve Allen. Think he's a genius if you want, but his "genius" was in resurrecting bits that Steve Allen originated.
"It's windy."
1:53:30
Ha! They never played "How's the weather?" again.
That is one big ass phone that Dave is using.
Leave me alone damn it, I'm watching how's the weather.
Yes it's not a new idea ,but it is the person and the chance of being slightly on the edge
51:35 - As one of the world's biggest Twin Peaks fans, I enjoyed Dave's little riff here.
I think a lot of people agreed with him on that second season.
30:40 Baby, Now That I found you I cant let you go. I build My World Around you, I need you so, even though you dont need me.
See, I know somethings...
1:03:25 He Throws the Card through the center of the reef without looking... or knowing.
1:09:20 Mel was pretty cool lol
2:05:45 Its not an intro or outro but while they are looking up a number Paul is playing a little Jingle of 'Hooked on a Feeling', and I just noticed what it was and I thought id note it. Pretty proud of recognizing that one. - And Then I think at the very ending it turns into Feels Just Like Starting Over by John Lennon.
Wow. Barbara’s mom is quite the peach, huh? 🙄🙄🙄
Stereotypical old jewish mother in Florida
@Don Giller, is there any chance we can get the rest of the footage from June 18, 1991, where they bought the woman some new shoes?
I announced a year ago that I’m no longer able to upload additional Dave-owned or -licensed content.
@@dongiller Oh, sorry. I will keep that in mind. Thank you, sir.
Poor Bette, she was nervous and excited, she just wanted to make sure she played her keys right, she didn't prepare for how to properly pretend to listen to Letterman telling stories about the timbers in his house in CT.
New York, New York. The town so nice they named it twice xD
55:20 The new guy, Steve Vai, I got a feeling this boy has good future 👌 😆
Did Dave send Helen and Ray a copy of the show to prove it was him for real???
14:54 That explains a lot Won't get that on the evening news.
Steve Vai's riffling music was great
You're doing the Lord's work Don!
Letterman is the GOAT
More people heard Dave saying that the Goodwill Games ended than actually saw any of the TBS coverage. Those of us who were part
of the Turner Hostage Crisis in Seattle, aka - the Make-good Games - were glad it was over too.
BTW - this is the production crew gag reel - ruclips.net/video/crylcrjQCxw/видео.html
Barbara Gaines reminds me of everyone's favorite aunt
What’s a phone book?
Funny how she screams from the back
"Where's New York City?"
That was wry plains humor from Mel Cunningham. Loved it! A retired guy would have grown up on radio & early tv which originated in NYC. Soldiers in WW2 shipped out to Europe from NYC. Yep, Dave met his Midwest match in Mel. Agree with poster who said Dave should've flown him out. Would've been a fun interview.
Wonder if they swiped the phone books from the Rock Ctr. concourse pay phone center that was removed in the mid 90's.
Aha, hope Helen Nice caught the show!
Was Dave not allowed to say the name of the program?
"I fired the little bastard!" Few people could pull that off
Helen was having none of that!
Barbara Gaines is so cute.
Wow, so disappointed that we didn't get to see what shoes that shoeless girl ended up with.
I was hoping they’d fly Mel out to be on the show.
He didn’t let her have a drink of the coke.
When life was fun and simple
Something tells me he had a preteen in his own family the time he made these skits! That was when crank calls were harmless
Dave’s first and only child was born in 2003.
@@dongiller LOL
Dave IS the pre-teen here. Part of his charm.
Can someone please dial the phone for dave???❤😊
This was truly an amazing show and none today even come close. I may not always agree with Letterman politically but he never let that show when he was on air.
Had to search 'Letterman politics' to see what you're talking about: Oh, he has an opinion. My grandparents would get into a rare political discussion with a neighbor. If it reached an impasse, they'd say firmly, "Well, I may not agree with your opinion .... but I'll fight to the death for your right to have it!" Then the conversation would switch to weather or gardening or such. Remember the old saying, "The devil works by dividing."
Mel in Pierre wins the grand prize!
17:06 Wonder if this is one that he got into trouble with lol
No worries, its the same thing when you dial a crisis line in the USA
1:03:24 epic toss
"He shoots... He scores!"
Krystin West did a nice job as Barbara!
David had all the awesome ideas on his show no one can come close now a days all boring shows
I just wanna say that your dedication to pulling all this stuff together is boundless. Did you tape every single episode back in the 80's or something??
Here’s a blog post on my collection. And thanks!
donzblog.home.blog/2019/01/16/the-journey-begins/
@@dongiller Wow. Thanks. What a story. You really are one of the great pro-bono archivists. Can't help but admire your relentless dedication to this mission. Also, love your reasoning for it.
Looking at that colossal rack of DVDs, makes me wonder what the stack of VHS' in their entirety would look like!!
Follow-up question... How did the show's producers / makers become aware of your killer cache?
Back in the mid-‘90s when alt.fan.letterman was _the_ place to be. Here’s a CBS profile of the site from 1995 - ruclips.net/video/hpz28Mmjerg/видео.html
what happened with the woman who lost her shoes?
I wondered the same thing.
Barbara is the prettiest woman ever. Simply gorgeous
Don, any idea of where "win or lose it's just good to be in Pasadena" came from? I remember hearing him say that on another one of your compilations.
Thanks again for all you do.
It's in "Dave's Emmy Adventure" - ruclips.net/video/Y6ct64KMxvs/видео.html
No difference on time zones
1:03:25 Bullseye
Cool to see him dial mi, it looked like he dialed 313 for saginaw mi, i know nowadays its changed to a new area code.
Btw what mother says on air " hows my barbara doing, put her on a diet" whoa ! That is just horrible tough 💘
I asked Barbara if she were ok with me including this. She told me it was ok.
Her mum does sound like a piece of work. Its very thoughtful of you to have checked with her before including that.
I was hearing him dia,l and I'm thinking, didn't you need to dial 1?
BBC this nearly beats the Two Ronnie's for a fraction of money
I doubt if Dave lost 25 lbs in 2 weeks. He would have to be on his death bed.
Where was Paul?
He was UNDER the weather.
Mel from South Dakota! 1:00:01
@derektalasek795 he’s a classic
Steve Vai.
Too much man. Too much.