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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 26, 1985)
-6- iJy\0| |l [IlO/M UK ii jajjari aqj. A college tradition: studying with David Mam a Late Night spent with Dave By MARY COX StaffWriter Late Night with David Let- terman has saved many of my nights when my dates were boring, fve gone out with a couple of guys who were about as romantic as Larry "Bud’ Mel- man himself. On these ‘nights of delight,’ I’d just lay on the floor in front of the TV, pre tending to be asleep while I was really watching David Let- terman. While my date planted his exciting self on my couch, I would laugh silently at all of David’s so-stupid-you-just- have-to-laugh jokes. That’s when I discovered Da vid Letterman was sort of at tractive. Seriously, he’s a heck of a lot cuter than some of the dates I’ve had in the past. The gap between his teeth doesn’t even bother me so much. I would gladly trade some of the Larrv ‘Bud’s’ in my life for a man who has such a quick wit with a small orthodontic prob lem. One thing about the show is that it seems like everybody has so much fun. Some of the things that go on are such non sense, but you can’t help but laugh. Apparently, Late Night keeps lots of other people laughing, too. In 1984, the show’s writers were honored with an Emmy for Outstand ing Writing in a Variety or Mu sic Program. And of Dave has won three himself. High rat ings are also something for the cast of the show to brag about. In a recent survey, college stu dents were recorded as one of the show’s largest audiences. Does that mean that there’s lots of us out there that prefer David’s humor to that of our dates? David Letterman has hosted this show for over four years, and he’s done about 500 origi nal shows. Letterman’s ad-lib bing keeps the show going strong. One of his favorite seg ments on the show is “Stupid Pet Tricks.” With two dogs of his own, Bob and Stan, David says he really loves pets. “People who don’t have pets don’t understand the bond that exists between the animal and the owner, but people who do have pets are just suckers for them,” he says. “I love seeing the dogs and cats and how the people react. I think when it works, it’s perfect television.” How do they get their pet guests? The same way they get a lot of the people for their “Stupid Human Tricks” seg ment — they advertise in the New York area newspapers. The ad for the stupid pets re ads, “Have you taught your pet to do something odd?” What a question. The first ad for the stupid humans asked the reader if he could do some thing odd. Of course, that ad had to be rewritten because of all the obscene phone calls they got. It now says, “Can you do a unique trick?” While the show hosts lots of weirdos, they do have an im pressive list of “normal” type entertainers. In 1984, they had guests like: Bill Cosby, Bob Dy lan, Burt Reynolds, Robin Wil liams, Phil Donahue, Cyndi Lauper, Brooke Shields, Jane Pauley, Jane Curtin, George Carlin, Lily Tomlin, Liberace, Bob and Ray, and Boy George. It doesn’t matter if the guests are funny or not. David will outwit anybody. And most of the time if the guests get too funny, David has a way of making them look dumb. The Host of Humor just cele brated his 38th birthday this month. David graduated from Ball State University in Indiana in 1969, with a degree in ra dio/TV. Later, he got a job as an announcer at a television station in his hometown, Indi anapolis. It’s not hard to imag ine what he must’ve been like as the host of a Saturday morn ing children’s show, a weather man, a news anchorman, or a late-night movie host — all of which he was. Once when an nouncing that a tropical storm had been upgraded to a hurri cane, he congratulated the storm on being promoted. The station manager didn’t think it was as funny as David did. In 1975, David made his de but at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles. Then, he appeared on his first network television show on the “Mary” series, starring Maiy Tyler Moore. He has blessed Johnny Carson with his presence 17 times on “The Tonight Show” and he’s been the guest host 50 times. “The David Letterman Show” won David two of his Emmy’s but the NBC bigwigs thought David needed a later time slot for his antics. Thus, the story of Late Night’s David Letterman. This smartassed, low-keyed guy handles his success with modesty. He had this to say about his show’s popularity: “I think things are going bet ter than I would have guessed they would be going three years into it,” he says. “I know the network as a whole is doing better, and I think that helps everybody. And then maybe we’ve just worn people down to the point where they say ‘Oh, all right, we’ll watch the damn show.’” \ “People who don't have pets don't understand the bond that exists between the animal and the owner, but people who do have pets are just suckers for them,” David says. “I love seeing the dogs and cats and how the people react. I think when it works it's perfect television.”