Thank you, David Letterman

The Late Show with David Letterman signs off for the final time tonight.

This is a sad event for us since we grew up watching Letterman and his departure leaves a big hole in the late night lineup.  Letterman shaped our sense of humor and we've enjoyed watching his shows for more than 30 years.

Back in 2010, we blogged about Letterman's long-running Christmas traditions.  Darlene Love began singing 'Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)' on Letterman's holiday shows in 1986.  Love performed the song again in 2014 and says she will no longer sing it on television.

In same 2014 episode, Late Show bandleader Paul Shaffer revived his tradition of singing 'O Holy Night' in the style of Cher for the first time in several years.

Actor Jay Thomas returned to The Late Show to tell, in Letterman's words, "the greatest talk show story of all time."

Letterman and Thomas also engaged in their annual contest built around knocking a giant meatball off the top of a Christmas tree with a football.

We've gotten a great amount of joy from Letterman's holiday programming we wish him well.  Our holiday seasons won't be the same without his Christmas shows.   If we ever have the chance to meet Letterman, the first thing we would say is "thanks for all the laughs!"

J.A. & RigbyMel

It's Not Christmas Without...David Letterman's Christmas Episode!

There are a few Holiday movies, specials, episodes, etc, that RigbyMel and I simply must watch every year.

One of our favorite ongoing TV Christmas traditions is the annual Christmas episode of The Late Show With David Letterman.

One recurring Holiday bit is band leader Paul Shaffer’s hilarious impersonation of Cher singing "O Holy Night," which he began performing in 1983 on Letterman’s old NBC show.  For many years, I had only heard the Shaffer version.  But a clip of the song from The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour recently showed up on dvd and youtube.  It originally aired on December 19, 1973, the special guest that week was actor William Conrad, who sings "The First Noel" in the same scene (and don't miss Terri Garr in this scene, she was a regular back-up singer & dancer on Sonny And Cher). 

I always enjoyed Cher's work in comedy sketches with Sonny, but this is not her finest moment.  Here it is, if you find the “Holiday medley” unbearable, go to the 3:55 mark in the video to hear "O Holy Night":

And here’s Shaffer imitating Cher singing "O Holy Night," from 1998:

Another Letterman show tradition is Darlene Love’s performance of her classic song "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)". The song was first released in 1963, Letterman calls it his favorite Christmas song of the Rock Era, and it’s one of my favorites as well.

Love began performing the song on Late Night  in 1986 and in recent year's she's become a permanent fixture on Letterman's last show before Christmas.  Here’s Love's 2008 Late Show appearance:

Darlene Love returns to ‘The Late Show’ on Thursday, December 23, don’t miss it!