====================================================================== Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for the alt.fan.letterman newsgroup ====================================================================== Author: Keith Rice (drice@ponder.csci.unt.edu) ====================================================================== This FAQ list will attempt to answer common questions as completely as possible in order to keep questions from coming up too often on the newsgroup which would make reading new postings a chore for those who have actively been following alt.fan.letterman. The information in this FAQ has been sent to me by readers of a.f.l and some has been gleaned from the net. Please send any and all suggestions, comments, corrections, and new information to me, Keith Rice (drice@ponder.csci.unt.edu) via email. Your input will help this FAQ to become the definitive source of information on David Letterman and "Late Night with David Letterman." Please send any and all flames to /dev/null. This FAQ follows a simple Q&A format and I will try to categorize all questions as much as possible. In the meantime, enjoy the FAQ, the newsgroup, and, most of all, Dave!!!! My thanks and appreciation go out to: Dean Adams, Fritz Anderson, John Bonacci, Ken Anderson, Jason Bak, J.D. Baldwin, Marc Conte, Lewis Coury, Matt Dittrich, Sean Donnelly, David Eccleston, Kevin Fong, Mathew A. Hennessy, Ed Krauss, Lana Krotenko, Robert Lopez, Lon Lowen, Ian McCuaig, Shamim Zvonko Mohamed, Noel (t-noelc@microsoft.com), Alan Perry, Tom Sakoda, Bill Sherman, Jeff Shimbo, Jason Snell, Greg Sroka, Christopher Taylor, Tim Veatch, Jeff Wilder, and Eric Wood. Keith Rice drice@ponder.csci.unt.edu ====================================================================== Section 0: General Information. ====================================================================== I have categorized the FAQ into related sections. Starting with the next revision (revision 3), I will be making notations as to which sections have been updated with a "|", and which sections are new "!". There are currently 9 sections to this FAQ. They are: 0. General Information 1. Questions about Viewer Mail. 2. Questions about tickets. 3. Questions about Dave himself. | 4. Questions about the Top Ten lists. 5. Questions about LNWDL skits, stunts, etc. 6. Questions about LNWDL music. | 7. Miscellaneous questions. | 8. Questions about this list. ====================================================================== Section 1: Questions about Viewer Mail. ====================================================================== Q. What is the address for Viewer Mail? A. The address for viewer mail is: Viewer Mail Late Night with David Letterman c/o NBC 30 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 10020 ====================================================================== Section 2: Questions about tickets. ====================================================================== Q. Where can I write to get tickets to Late Night? A. Send a postcard (no letters) with your name and address to: Tickets Late Night with David Letterman c/o NBC 30 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 10020 Requests are limited to 2 tickets. Q. If I'm in NY and don't have advance tickets can I still see the show? A. Yes. Standby tickets are given out at 8:15am on the morning of the show (Tues-Fri). They are limited to one ticket per person and have a number on the back in accordance to your place in line. The line usually starts around 3:00am at the Guest Rela- tions door on the Mezzanine level. You then line up in numeri- cal order at 5:00pm beside the gift shop on the main level. Once all the advance ticket holders have gone in, the standby ticket holders fill the seats. The first 10 have an excellent chance, sometimes as many as 20-30 are let in. Good Luck! ====================================================================== Section 3: Questions about Dave himself. ====================================================================== Q. Where does Dave live in Connecticut? A. New Canaan. (Anybody have his address?) Q. Where did Dave attend college? A. Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Q. Was Dave in a fraternity in college? A. Yes. Dave is a member of Sigma Chi. Q. What was Dave's major in college? A. Dave majored in Television and Radio Broadcasting with a minor in speech. Q. Is Dave married? A. No. Dave is divorced and is presently in a relationship with a former LNWDL staffer. Q. I heard that Dave used to be a weatherman in Indianapolis. Why did he leave this job? A. He was fired. More info below: From Lewis Coury (coury@chem.duke.edu) -- "I used to live in Cincinnati, Ohio, and there was a popular story at the time that Letterman was fired from his job as the weatherman on one of the Indianapolis t.v. stations for making fun of the veteran's memorial in downtown Indy. The memorial is a tall column in the center of the downtown area, and supposedly Dave referred to it as a giant aspar- agus, `the state tree of Indiana.'" ====================================================================== Section 4: Questions about the Top Ten Lists. ====================================================================== Q. Are there any files with Top Ten listings available through anonymous FTP? A. Yes. From the a.f.l archive site at quartz.rutgers.edu in the /pub/tv+movies/letterman directory. Q. Can I post Top Ten lists to the newsgroup? A. Yes. Just be sure to include the copyright notice for the show in the post. Q. What are the different cities where Dave's "home office" has been located? A. The former homes of the home office are: o Lebanon, Pennsylvania o Lincoln, Nebraska o Milwaukee, Wisconsin o Oklahoma City, Oklahoma o Omaha, Nebraska o Scottsdale, Arizona o Tempe, Arizona o Torrance, California The home office is presently located in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. ====================================================================== Section 5: Questions about LNWDL skits, stunts, etc. ====================================================================== Q. What are the different types of "cams" that have been used on LNWDL? A. Here is the list of cams from LNWDL: o Amphi-cam (8th anniversary show at Universal Amphitheatre) o Anton-cam (or was it the "Fig-cam"?) o Chair-cam o Cow-cam o Crash-cam o Guest-cam (worn by Howie Mandel) o Love-cam (Bill Murray) o Monkey-cam o Sewer-cam o Sky-cam o Thrill-cam o Thrill-cam 360 o Tiger-cam Q. What were the different animals that Dave had on the show to sing "Blueberry Hill"? A. The animals that attempted, and "failed" were: o Chicken o Iguana o Mynah bird The creature that actually "sang" was a catfish. The viewers weren't able to hear him because of the water, of course. Q. What types of gifts has Dave given to the audience members of LNWDL? A. Gift types: o Bacon o Beef o Cartons of cigarettes o Collapsible drinking cups o Composters o Edible plunger o Fajitas o French fries o Frozen turkeys o Gallon jars of mayonnaise o Handfuls of nickels from a big bucket o Handfuls of watches from a fish bowl. o Jumper cables o Kielbasa o Large squares of sod o Late Night with David Letterman facial sponges (if you were an *especially* good little audience member, Dave would use it first.) o One volume of an encyclopedia set o Packs of assorted GE light bulbs o Pounds of hair o Roll of garden hose o Selections of fluorescent lighting o Six dollars. o Tee-shirts (via Bob Rooney) o Tires o Toast o "Today" show coffee mugs o Waffles Q. What were the films in LNWDL's Holiday Film Festivals? A. List of films from the "1st Annual Holiday Film Festival": Air date: 11/30/85 o "With My Own Eyes", by David Letterman o "Dress Cool", music video by Paul and the band o "But I'm Happy", Michael Keaton (with Clint Howard) o "Why Bother?", Bette Midler List of films from the "2nd Annual Holiday Film Festival": Air date: 11/86 o "Feelin' in Love", David Letterman o "The Iceman Hummeth", Michael J. Fox o "An Audience of My Own", Diane Sawyer o "My Day With the Stars", Jonathan Winters o "You Kill Me" (music video), Paul Shaffer w/Teri Garr o "Chris Elliot: A Television Miracle", w/George Takei (aka Mr. Sulu from "Star Trek") Q. What are the different types of "suits" Dave has worn on the show? A. Dave's "suits": o Suit of Alka-Seltzer o Suit of Lard (worn by someone other than Dave) o Suit of Magnets o Suit of Marshmallows (they tried to light the marshmallows with propane torches but failed; eaten by audience) o Suit of Nachos (eaten by members of the audience after Dave was dunked in cheese) o Suit of Rice Krispies (milk poured on Dave) o Suit of Sponge (they weighed Dave, dunked him in water, then weighed him again, but it was off the scale) o Suit of Suet (Dave went into a cage of birds) o Suit of Vegemite (sp?) o Suit of Velcro (Dave wore the soft part, then he jumped onto a wall covered with the other part, and stuck) Q. When Chris Elliot was still writing for LNWDL, what were some of the characters he played? A. Chris' characters: o Marlon Brando o The Guy Under the Seats o Marv Albert o Jay Leno (with large fake chin) o Letterman imitation--"Late Night with Chris Elliot" o The Fugitive Guy o The Nervous Guy o The Regulator Guy o Chris Elliot, Jr. (Morton Downey, Jr. take-off w/ lots o' moles) o The Panicky Guy o The Conspiracy Guy o Gerard Mulligan's baby boy, "Kevin" (complete w/ diaper) o Jack Hanna of the Columbus Zoo Q. What were the Democratic catch-phrases for the 1992 election? A. o "We have compromising pictures of Bush with Angela Lans- bury." o "We're Dukkak-er-if-ic!" o "Please. Please...for the love of God PLEASE vote for us!" o "Read my lips. No Dan Quayle!" And the winner: o "We don't have a clue, but we don't have a Quayle!" Q. What were the Republican catch phrases? (This one is not complete--DKR) A. o "Vote Republican and screw the spotted owl!" And the winner: o "Deficit Schmeficit!" Q. What is Larry "Bud" Melman's real name? A. Calvert DeForest. Q. Who played Flunky the Clown? A. Jeff Martin, one of LNWDL's former writers. Q. Who all have been the means of delivery of Cokes, etc. from the vending machines? A. o The Rockettes o Members of the NYC area chapter of Mensa o Carl Lewis o Boy Scouts o Marching Band o Andy Grayson, trail bike rider, rode down the stairs and jumped up on Dave's desk (w/the bike) without touching a foot. ====================================================================== Section 6: Questions about LNWDL music. ====================================================================== Q. What are the names of the members of "The World's Most Dangerous Band"? Former members? A. Current members: o Paul Shaffer, leader/keyboards o Anton Fig, drums o Will Lee, bass guitar o Sid McGinniss, guitar Former members: o Hiram Bullock, guitar o Steve Jordan, drums ====================================================================== Section 7: Miscellaneous questions. ====================================================================== Q. What's all this about an Australian rip-off of LNWDL? A. Australia has their own version of LNWDL. It's called "Tonight Live." The host's name is Steve Vizard. They have admitted to ripping off Dave and Late Night. Steve Vizard has said, "Naturally people compare the two. We ripped off half his show. But I believe we've gone beyond what the US shows offer. Not in terms of good or bad but in terms of risk. They're pre-recorded and studio-bound. We're live. As a re- sult, we often get it wrong--guests don't fire, gags don't work, and some shows have been downright woeful. But the hits more than compensate for the misses." (Yeah, right--DKR) Q. What's the translation of the Japanese on the kites in the LNWDL opening sequence? A. Well, rumor (that is, a.f.l) has it that it is one of two messages. It's either "Late Night," or "G.E. sucks." Q. Is there an official alt.fan.letterman archive site accessible via anonymous FTP? A. Yes, there is. It's quartz.rutgers.edu. The directory path is /pub/tv+movies/letterman. There you can download graphic ====================================================================== Section 8: Questions about this list. ====================================================================== Q. Where can I get the latest version of this list? A. The latest versions of the alt.fan.letterman FAQ list can be gotten approximately every two weeks on alt.fan.letterman. If for some reason you miss the posting, the list is availa- ble via anonymous FTP from quartz.rutgers.edu in the /pub/tv+movies/letterman directory as alt.fan.letterman.faq.Z. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article is Copyright (c) 1992 by Keith Rice. It may be freely redistributed so long as the author's name, and this notice, remain intact.