Andrea Engelsberg Ordered Lunch From The Soup Nazi For The Letterman Writers, And It Was Awesome

Hi, I'm Paul Schaefer. I'm Will Lee. And you are watching the Letterman podcast.

Welcome once again to the Letterman podcast. My name is Mike Chisum. Okay, so uh I love I've talked about this in the past. Those of you who have have listened to or watched the show know that I I love talking to the interns. Uh the interns have such a really amazing perspective of their time either at late night or late show. uh in this case here, Andrea Englesburg, she was an intern for Late Show uh in the 95 1994 1995 uh range and and and and and we talk about some of the memories that she had while she was there. It's very cool that I have connected with some of these people um that I hadn't previously connected with because of what's going on with CBS right now because of what's happened with CBS's recent announcement of the cancellation of the Late Show with Steven Colbear. um you know which has sent you know shock waves into the lives of people like me and the people who you know tolerate this show. um because this is an institution and Andrea is really cool um in how she articulates that um you know those of us born in the 70s late night television for many of us it it is something that has just always been there and we kind of depend on it and she does such a good job talking about where she is from her perspective and and and and she talks a little bit about her background how she got to New York. Uh, we have candy together. Look at there's a ring pop.

Remember the ring pop from back in the day as she and I haven't gotten to know each other. We we bonded over many things, candy included. I got myself a screamer. Do you have a screamers down the states? I don't know. It's a slurpee and ice cream from the local Circle K. Um, you know, strange things are a foot at the Circle K if you know what I'm talking about. You understand what I'm talking about? This thing with late night. And uh and so Andrea was was um an intern in the for the writers. She's got some pretty cool vantage points of some neat things that have happened in history that we talk about the Sup. You got to listen to her tell the Sup Nazi story. Uh very very cool and um and and and some other tales that she has from when she worked at the Ed Sullivan Theater. I'm really excited to have Andrea Englesburg uh as our guest on this week's episode of the Letterman Podcast. Please enjoy.

Okay, Andrea. Uh I'm very very excited to be talking to you. I love talking to the interns. The interns have everybody who worked for the show had such a unique perspective. Uh but the interns in particular was a very very special vantage point of everything that was going on around them. Uh but before we get to that, uh you're a douly. You're a duel. You're a Canadian like are you half Canadian like I am?

I am. Yeah, I am.

How did that come about?

Uh my my mom is French Canadian from Montreal. Um and my father is um American from New York and they met in Kentucky. My father in med school and my mother um studying chemistry and immunology

um and uh they met there and got married. Um my mom went to McGill for undergrad and my dad went to City College. He's from Queens. Yep.

Um, so New Yorkers and Montrealers,

my brother lives in Montreal and he goes down to New York all the like it's it's it's a very, you know, they take the train. They enjoy they enjoy heading down there and doing that. McGill, for those uh for my American brothers and sisters, McGill is one of the most esteemed universities in Canada. And uh, very very cool. That's that that's excellent. Um, now before Okay, before I want to let everybody in on this a little bit. You and I have really had fun kind of getting to know each other a little bit. we're we're we're we're close when it comes to age and that kind of thing. Um, and we said, "Well, if we're going to do this, we got to do we got to do candy." We were talking about candy and we were talking about using the candy from maybe from our youth or favorite candy and we're going to have some candy here. So, I have I have my I Okay, I know I'm supposed to only bring three, but I brought four candy from my youth and I'm not I haven't decided which ones are my top three and I need some help here. So, uh, what candy did you bring for this excursion today?

Well, I I have a tendency to go a little extra.

Um, so so I um I have quite a few, but I can I got several options of how to present them.

Okay.

But I do have the one of my most favorite candies.

Okay.

Which I have in this bag right here.

Jelly beans.

No. Oh, you want to guess what they

No, I'm looking to see what is that. What is that? It's a mixture of all sorts of You got the sour. You got the uh the the the the gummy gummy. What are those gummy

Well, okay. So, it's four things. It's

four things. Okay. What do you got?

And they're my favorite. Um and and they're not exactly right, but I went to this place at the mall by where I'm staying called Wigs, which

Yes. like I'd never been in one before a couple weeks ago and now I've been there three times. So, but um but yeah, these are my four favorite candies, but not necessarily for my youth.

Okay, so what what do we got in there? What do we got?

We've got in here the It's Where's the

Is it the classic gummy bear? A little bit to your left. To your right. To your left. I don't know. Yeah, there we go. There we go.

Sorry about my nails.

The classic gummy bears.

But the these are the pineapple ones.

Oh, pineapple. Okay, there we go. There we go. Yep.

Yep. And

to make those a little extra.

Uh-huh.

These.

What are those?

The same.

It's a chocolate covered gummy bear

and pineapple gummy bears covered in chocolate.

Yeah. Well, this is why people uh around the world hate us right there for for for for having that. I mean, that is decadence turned into a you know, dectable finger- sized treat right there. Uh-huh. A chocolate covered gummy bear. Okay. What else?

So, I'm going to have to say these are my number one.

Those are chocolatecovered gummy bears. Yeah. They weren't around when we were kids. When when you get the five- cent candies, there weren't chocolate covered ones.

Here's an aside.

Uh-huh. So there my my mother and my my fa my stepfather

owned a store in Pasadena, California.

Y

my stepfather

Wayne Moody um was city planner of Laguna Beach and then Tucson, Arizona.

Wow.

And then part of the Aoya group which was responsible for revitalizing Oldtown Pasadena.

No kidding. Shout out to Wayne.

Shout out to Wayne. Wayne has passed, but there is a street named after him in Tucson, Arizona.

Oh, that's so cool.

In um in a planned community that's all based on solar energy called Savano.

No kidding.

Yeah, pretty rad. Pretty rad.

That is rad.

But the shop is called Sweet Desires and they had a section that was all candy called Andes Candies. No, you had a you had a you had a section in a store named after you. We didn't talk about that. Oh my god.

And then these I found out about then.

They're fantastic.

Mhm.

Okay. And what rounds out the bag? What what what are the other two things in the bag?

Okay. Well, these are not my favorite, but I'm sort of having like a red licorice crisis because

like um and it's sort of similar with my gummy bear crisis. Harbor all the way until lately, but now the Albanes are like, where did those come from? And I got some sour Albanes over there that are like out of this world, but I've always been a Red Vines person.

Uhhuh. Oh, really?

Because Mhm. Twizzlers too waxy.

Okay.

These are the Australian ones.

Yes. So much better. the soft and the I you know I can Yeah, the Australian licorice is they they're they're where it's at right now for me as well. I get that. I get that.

Well, this is a first. I haven't I tried the green apple.

Yeah. What do you think?

Are you there?

Not there.

No. No. Um I think it's too thick.

Oh, gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha. Well,

it tastes good though.

Everybody hates that problem. I've heard Mr. Pib and Red Vines equals crazy delicious. That's what I've heard.

Wait, wait, wait. You've heard Mr. pib and red vines

equals crazy delicious.

Delicious.

That's right.

Okay.

That's right. And then

and what's the fourth one? We've got a multicolored uh spherical.

Yeah, this is just the basic. This is Oh, and I chose two green.

Oh, of course you did.

Um but yeah, these are the peanut M&M's.

Yep.

Classic.

But you have to eat these in a very specific way.

Yes. Gen X knows this more than Yes, that is absolutely true.

What is your opinion on that?

Uh well, the green of course is the holy grail and and and you know that's for um do you remember the uh do you remember the baseball commercial? The baseball the kids playing baseball. I hit uh I hit I hit singles when I hit the brown ones, doubles with the orange uh or no doubles with the yellow orange triples. But the green ones I hit a grand slam. That's how the commercial went back in the day.

No, it didn't lie.

Yeah, that was it. I think I did it verbatim. The old uh Yeah,

that's hilarious. I don't remember that. But I wasn't referring to the horny.

No, I I believe you were referring to the aphrodisiac uh qualities. Is that No. Okay.

No, it would be Yeah, I could take this one and it would still need to be eaten in a very specific way. Oh,

because I have a specific way that you have to eat peanut M&M's.

Do tell.

So, you have to like you can't just munch it and like chew it up, right? You have to like make it like like you have to

reveal the peanut.

Stopped.

Yes, you have to reveal the peanut slowly.

Yes.

Thank you.

There we go.

Oh, but as I just punched it and did exactly what I said, but time is at that. Yeah, you don't. Yeah.

All right.

Let's uh let's compare some American and Canadian candies. I believe I picked ones that are are universal across the border. I do believe I picked that number one. I went with I went with the nerds. I went with the, you know, classic, right?

And grape was always my favorite. So, I did the strawberry grape flavor. That's what I did for my number one.

Uh, number two. And again, number two. Okay. So, number two. This will This is probably my favorite candy of all time. I'm a huge Skittles fan.

Love the Skittles.

Joy. Yeah. Tasting the rainbow.

Right. Yes. Very, very much so. However, there was controversy. I don't know if it was crossber controversy or not but a few years ago see these are the way that they're supposed to be with the if you look at the legend of colors on the Skittles they're the way they're supposed to be a few years ago the green when I grew up green was always lime a few years ago though and I don't know if it was just in Canada I don't know if it was just a test I don't know if the uh Skittles candy company was trying to put one over on us they changed the the green to green apple and I was not happy with that but now these ones here but I've I've been since been able to find So sometimes you can find Skittles where the green is green apple. I don't know if it's conspiracy or not.

Have to look into that. I mean

somebody needs to um I don't know if it's us.

I I volunteer I volunteer as tribute

starburst. I mean I don't know how you don't you know

the classic

but this is number four because what I wanted to do while we did this today Andrea because I'm so excited to be doing this with you is I thought that I should have be wearing a ring pop. I'm gonna be wearing a ring pop while we do this today because it just felt right in how we've led up to the to you appearing on the Letterman podcast today. Um, so Oh, and I did I got a grape one, which is my favorite.

Oh, no. It's a blue one. I got a blue one. So,

oh man, this is going to be fun.

The very beautiful blue raspberry.

It is very, so I'll be wearing that today.

I'm supposed

It must be. It must be a blue raspberry sapphire.

Absolutely delicious. Just like I remember.

Um but uh yeah. So, so you know what? I'll get to that in a minute. Um let's talk about your shirt for a second because you got one of the OG Hello Delhi shirts and then you have uh Andrea it. It's so cool. It's fantastic. Rupert's going to be delighted when he sees that. He's the, by the way, the one and only sponsor of the Letterman podcast is Rupert G and the Hello Delhi. He may not have the deli anymore, but he still has hello-d the RER part.

Yep.

You can't get that shirt anymore, but boy, you can get other shirts and other things, mugs, and all sorts of fun stuff at hello-delly.com. Uh, curated by our own, the legendary Rupert G. Do you have any stories when you were interning at the Ed Sullivan Theater? Do you have any stories about the Hello Deli? About Rupert? Did you go there? Did you eat?

We did. Well, we ate there, but a big part of our job, well, my job as the writer's intern was getting food for them after the show.

Mhm.

So, like that was they ate there and the food was provided. So, that was our job to go get their orders. We would go and I was a waitress before, a cocktail waitress. So, it was like kind of familiar. you know, you go and to eachbody's off in every person's office, take their order, go get their food, bring it back, like give it to them, you know. So, it was sort of um at the end of the day, they usually like met in the the writer's room and had all their food. But, um

but yeah, we would go all the time and get food for oursel or food for the writers or, you know, and and it was good so and convenient. So, we loved it.

They made great food there. Rupert, it's so funny. is like the sides of your head.

My my wife and Rupert are both foodies and so sometimes when my wife and Rert get together, they'll start talking about food and then they go off almost into another universe.

Very like, you know, everything every menu item there was was was was absolutely meticulously designed. Rupert loves this stuff. He just loves it. And uh

like 37 items on whatever sandwich. And you know what I love the best of sandwiches was? I love that shaved lettuce. You can't get that just everywhere. They don't do that just everywhere. It's so good.

I think you need a permit to shave lettuce now. I'm not

think you do. Yeah. A barber's permit probably.

You probably Yeah, you could get hurt doing that. Like, oh [ __ ] protection.

And and when you were an intern there, it was during the crazy times because it was it was during the time where it was still so new. It was so a part of the news cycle, not just the entertainment news cycle, but the news cycle of Dave having recently moved over to CBS. It was literally like the stationary circus was in town and and um there was a lot of lot of activity going on around that theater all the time and Rupert of course was one of the epicenters of that of that activity and and it stayed that way right up to the the the end of the show. you know people who they they would come from thousands and thousands of miles. Some of them

would have the opportunity to see the show. Many didn't. And so the second best thing was going to the Hello Delhi and that's what they would do.

Yeah. And he was always I mean I never saw him lose his cool a single time. Always big smile. I I mean like probably didn't you know expect that. I'm sure super grateful for it and handled it like especially when when we were there um one of the I don't know if it was a preerequisite but they had us leave read late night and you know like read the the book of how like the transition and what happened and so we were all pretty queued in and and the whole world was pretty electric around there and there was always people outside the green room door and always you know it wasn't quite um the crazy paparazzi that had got to maybe some years later. I think it got maybe a little crazier. Um but there was always a ton of people there. And I do have my lanyard thing. I found it.

Oh, you have the You still have your ID? Oh my gosh.

So, it expired 1231.95 unfortunately. Uh but yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's there. Oh, that's fantastic. That's fantastic that you still have that. It's uh Did you you got a you got a jacket too, right?

I did. Yeah, I got a jacket. And um un um since I'm in the middle of moving, it's packed up right now. Um and I do have we I have we all got like

I got one sweatshirt left. I had a t-shirt, but it got

it died.

As they do. As they do.

Yeah. How did you get the gig? How did you like how in the world where were you and how did it happen that you would be so fortuitous uh to be chosen to go into the Late Show with David Letterman internship program?

You know, I'm I I need to find what I sent in because um my education kind of went like this. Um, my grandfather uh was the president of the Canadian Fashion Design Association or whatever it is called. I'm not Yeah. Which the CFDA I think. Um, for seven year we had a seven-year run. Um, and so I grew up wanting to be a fashion designer and went to school for fashion design. And um,

I was there 2 years before I decided I don't really like

making patterns. Like there wasn't such a thing as like styling and things like that back then. Um, but the actual work of it was pretty tedious. And I was not a great kid in school. I you know I was one of those kids that got straight A's but also would not get along with the teachers and have a lot of detention. So like I definitely had a little bit of class clown. I like

I was going to say smart mouth. Bit of smart mouth.

Very much a smart mouth. Um yeah, and um um so I I did learn that I could get away with stuff because I had a sharp wit and people responded to it and I'm a good writer. So um I left I went to Otis Parsons at the time. It was part of Parson School of Design. Um and went back to the University of Arizona where to figure it out. Um, and then I ended up graduating there with a triple major in theater arts, fine arts, and media arts because I had so many already. So, I ended up really um doing a lot of um video production, art production and costume design.

Oh, wow.

So, those costume How did you do the costume design? Where did you apply that?

Um, well, I did um in the theater department there. I was the assistant designer for nine which is Fellini's eight and a half.

Yeah.

Um so um which was kind of a funny gig because literally nobody wears any clothes

in the whole thing. So it's like a lot of black lingerie um that we you know so so that was um wasn't a super difficult you know design task but I was the assistant designer on that and then you know the senior designer was in grad school so she was um and then I did the set design for uh touring Shakespeare the production of touring Shakespeare for UVA

so it wasn't a traditional design so I assistant designed on shot where it was basically a lot of production where um it was a lot of cubes that they had that would unfold and like so that it was very they would take it to high schools and you know teach them about Shakespeare and so it had to be very something that they could move very easily and sort of

so my involvement that

yeah my involvement with that was more production

um and then I did a lot of um media production and it was back when Avid was the, you know, the the editing tool, there weren't computers, you know, we were doing, you know, actual tape and real tore and stuff like that. So, I had that experience as well.

Um, and I was always a late night fan, you know, like always. Um, uh, I grew up on Johnny Carson being a Latchki kid, you know, I think I think a lot of kids from the 70s who didn't have a lot of pinal vision watched a lot of late night television and I certainly did. And it

carried through as SNL fans since, you know, birth. Um,

and I don't, you know, only recently have I started actually missing episodes, but you know, I think my entire life I rarely missed an episode except for, you know, my partying years and all of that, but

but yeah, there was, you know, that's and for the last year, that's how I'm getting my my news, you know.

Yeah. like growing up a lot of people Dennis Miller was my weekend update guy and and and I mean I learned

far more I knew who Dick Cheney was uh long long long long ago as a little kid because you know Dennis Miller would would would use him for target practice on weekend update I

John Cenounu or or or some of these other you know Kevin mentioned him uh Bros Bros Gali the only reason why I knew Bros Bros Gi was because of weekend update I know exactly what you're talking about as a kid

I wasn't up on current events uh social studies teacher I just watched SNL every weekend. Like that's really what it was.

Yeah. A lot of that. And I watched a lot of late night television. And I think um you know uh when I moved to Los Angeles um and I stayed up late at night and and I uh I watched a lot of Arsenal Hall for a while, you know. I was like, yeah, I just loved that super exciting vibe that he had was super new. So I like religiously watched that. my first I guess it was probably my sophomore year cuz I'd moved out of the dorm and like I had my own place in Los Angeles and was feeling very grown up at 19 years old, you know.

That's fun.

That's fun. That's cool that you got that in the memory banks there. That's really really cool that you have that memory.

Yeah, it was exciting time for sure. and then moved back to Tucson and finished up because my mom um after being a chemist and and an immunologist became an architect um and as people do and um and uh she um was the assistant dean of architecture until she retired at UVA. So we got a free tuition there. So so ended up graduating from there and

that is so cool. Now What year were you in when you got the internship?

Um, so I guess it must have been 94 95. Is that right?

Yeah.

Like I bet in in in university like were you uh were you a senior when you got it? Were you

It was um

or was it after? Were you one of the lucky ones that did it when you were after? Oh, isn't that cool?

So you finish you get your degree and you go to New York

to be an intern and that's how you're celebrating. I finished university

100%. Exactly.

Oh my god.

Yeah, I got pretty lucky. And you know, honestly, I did because my parents were able to help me with that because there's a lot of people that wouldn't be able to do that because it's a free internship and living in New York City is very expensive.

So, yeah. This is one of the stories that I ask people like like we did uh two summers ago it was it was the the the summer these the summer of intern we had we had six or seven interns come on and one of one of my questions was always how were you able to bankroll it? How did it work? Were you one of these people living in a place with 11 other people? How did you how did you make that work? What was your living situation? So so you're a West Coast girl. Um and then and then suddenly you know you graduate and you're in New York. Was New York one of those Did you had you spent much time there before you got this internship? Um, was this one of those things where did New York ever call out to you? Did it was it one of those?

Yeah.

My family My family on my dad's side, New Yorkers through,

right? Cuz your dad That's right. Of course. Your dad grew up in Bayside, Queens. Yeah. So, like his whole side of the family and and I've still have relatives in Bayside that actually still live in the house next door. My my second cousins, they still live in the house they grew up in in Bayside. So, um, which was shared a yard with the house that my dad and my aunt Carol grew up in. So, like they are New Yorkers through and through. My second cousin Eddie was a New York postman in Manhattan his entire life.

Yeah.

Fantastic. So, so you knew New York?

Uh, some, you know, my dad would take me back my whole life. if we would visit them until of course like all all New Yorkers, my grandparents moved to Florida and but we would still go and and um on the other side of the family um we have other side of the family like my my cousin's father so I guess my uncle's side of the family still lives in New York as well. So, um, so we would see them and then my stepmother's family is also east coast, so they were they're in DC.

So, we would we would go back and a lot.

Do you remember when you found out that you got the internship? Do you remember where you were and and all that? Yeah. How did you find out? Was it a call? Was it a letter?

It was a letter. It was a letter. Yeah, it was a letter. Um, and I had sent out, you know, quite a few and I had to write an essay and I wish I could find it. I know I have it somewhere

because

Oh man. Yeah. When you find please send it.

Yeah. And then we would then we had to come interview. Yep. So, we would come and we came out and it was August or something when we interviewed and it was I remember I was wearing a like a pink satin shirt and by the time I got from our hotel in like like I don't even know how far south it was but like you know times squareish and then up to a like up to the y

I was sweating

57 53rd Street. Uh yeah, that that's that's the thing about New York heat, right? It's that sticky heat, that humid heat.

Yeah. So I was like trying to be all professional and I think I was like wearing like a suit and by the time I got there I'm like it's over. I already I messed this up already. I'm like the sweaty girl. other like but you know it went really well and they had us in and we just chatted with different groups and

we did the different departments because yeah most a lot of the interns have talked about that where they'll go to the different departments that are there

and then those people if there's a connection or whatever they might request people and sometimes you'd even get a couple different departments requesting you did you go right to the writers or did you go somewhere else first?

No, I went right to the writers. I did

and then I had another opportunity after I left. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take for financial reasons. They offered me another internship in costume design, which I

So, well, it makes so much sense. Yeah. That you could find this use department.

And I did get to I I I I did get to help um I did a lot of wrangling. I think I was uh I did get to help with the Halloween episode. So, yeah, that was pretty amazing in thinking about that. And just I didn't get to help in building the costumes. I just babysat the kids while they would come in and out, you know, like basically they had their own green room with like tumbling blocks in there and it was like basically like an underground kindergarten and they would come and get them in in pairs or whatever

and they were like and making sure they didn't mess up their costumes before they got on.

Yeah, of course. Of course. Which is which is that that's that's charming and magical and fant and it does have to do with, you know, uh what you went to school for. But that being said, like I mean I look at I look at when I when I look back at all of the options that people had um you know where they could have gone research or segment producing whatever the writer room is where I would have that's where I would have wanted to be and you were there at a time where there were

savages working like just they were the best of the best like such good I now at this point iconic letter writers

to see where they've gone on to you know it's Like I'm like what? I know the person like that's wild. Like and they were all so young too, you know, most of not all of them but like there was and I was an older intern because I took you know my time. Um so

and you were after the senior there were some people who were there earlier in their university career in between years, right? So yeah, you were an older one.

I was an older intern. I finished. So there were writers there that were only like that were my age or like right around my age which was kind of strange dynamic as well. But yeah, so it was it was really was it and you got to spend time with like each person separately the way it was set up. So we I really got an opportunity to know everyone, you know, on separately.

Did you have any favorites? Did you have anybody that you you kind of connected with and they were kind of your one of your favorite writers or or

Oh gosh, I mean so many in different ways. you know, like um yeah, so many in different ways. And there was Rodney Rothman was brand new when I started,

brand new. So he was like he was I think like a little freaked out because he was brand new and we connected cuz we were like like this is crazy, you know, kind of thing and like and he was just a sweetheart and like I just we connected and um John Beckerman and I like he was a music guy and I'm a music person so he and I talk music a lot and he would recommend music and he would have like DVDs or CDs or whatever whatever they we had back then. Yep.

I guess it was probably CDs because I remember

CDs for sure. Yeah.

Yeah. I still have my garbage CD that I got from Tony the Qard guy when we did like an AIDS benefit that we did and I volunteered for and they donated a bunch of stuff and like we had they had like a it's an outdoor yard sale that he was involved with with the theater community somehow and I volunteered to help him.

Tony Mendes that's beautiful.

Oh my he and I got along really well. He he was this he and I got along like Yeah, he was he was a great guy. He I have a place in my heart for him. He he he brought light.

Yeah, for sure.

Working on working on a project to to raise money um for AIDS uh you know research and prevention and and and curation and all that sort of stuff. That's that's a that's a beautiful thing, right? That's a heartfelt kind of thing right there. Um

yeah, he was with Tony and his past and all that. Yeah. like that's

genuine person. But when we were doing that, he was he slipped me the garbage CD that was the one with the pink feathers and I never heard of them before which came like one of my all-time favorites.

I have pictures of me and Shirley together. I love garbage there.

Me too. So he like So that was it was also very exciting time to be around so much live music of people that are like my heroes, you know.

I'm a big music guy, too. Uh, isn't Beckerman just amazing? He's such a a phenomenal phenomenal guy as well.

Yeah, he was super low-key, you know, he was a little like held back like a little bit, but but he and I really connected about music and he was always very genuine and kind and yeah, he was always very nice, but again, we were not that different in age, you know. So, um, so it was a weird line said that it was like, "Okay, you're an intern, you know, like, you know, like you have to do what I say. I'm your boss, you know, kind of thing." Um, yeah, Steve O'Donnell is amazing. like

one of my favorite humans walking the planet. And when I talk to him, I uh I feel um I feel subintelligent, but I feel no shame in it because yes, he is leagues ahead intellect wise, but he's also so kind that it doesn't matter that I am not uh even, you know, I'm exponentially uh less intelligent than he is. Isn't Steve a wonderful, wonderful man?

Exciting, right? Oh my goodness. Like just being in his presence make you you make makes you feel better like he just brings the world up and he was so kind to me like you know like he and Steve Young like what but Steve like and and Gerard they they they were all just so nice even like the Bill Shep was a little standoffish he did like his own thing whatever you know he was just I mean he had his job I think was different than everybody else

monologue right he was more focusing on the monologue so he wasn't involved D and everything. Um but uh but everyone um was so so nice.

No. Oh no. I was just going to say can you talk about this time and place? I think it's probably a good time to talk about the idea that

you know uh you got you got Spike Ferris and you got um um um um Steve O'Donnell both who went on after or even during perhaps I know I think it was both after to write Seinfeld episodes. Of course, one very very very famous one,

there was a very famous Seinfeld episode where the genesis of it was

uh from the Letterman Writer Room and it's everyday life stuff that I get turned into a story and I just want to throw that at you and then we can go from there. Yeah, this is a funny story because it was um we would get lunch every day and it was part of our job like I was saying, you know, you go to each room. Like we had duties. It was very scheduled. You would pass out, you know, the the top 10 list first thing and you know, at this time and then you would collect it at this time, take on tour at this time. Um, and when the soup kitchen opened up, everyone's like, "Ah, Soup Nazi is open." And we're like, "Yay, Soup Nazi is open. Like, we're going to order Soup Nazi today." And like I'm like, "Awesome."

And y'all called him the Soup Nazi at that point. Like that's what that's how he was known.

I looked in the phone book for the soup Nazi. I like computers weren't a thing. I'm like, there is no soup Nazi in the phone book. Like I don't know where to find the soup Nazi. So they told me where to look and looking around and it like I don't know if I like did recon or like before it was open. I think I might have gone and it wasn't open yet like they said it was going to be open and it was on this corner and there were there was no sign that said even soup kitchen or whatever it was called not like much less soup Nazi. So I'm like it doesn't exist. I don't know what you guys are talking about. Like, this isn't a thing. And then finally, I figured out, okay, this is just what they're calling it because this man is insane and he has the best soup around.

But so they gave me like lessons and it was very like I would have very like detailed notes like Jill wants tomato bisque with an apple and a bread and no croutons and like you have it was like ordering a Starbucks before you ordered Starbucks. Like he was the original Starbucks order and so I would have like 12 orders. I wouldn't be like ordering for everybody. So, I got some practice and you know, he started to like me. I even got like some extra candies here and there. Like he would throw in those chocolate candies. I'm like, "Oh my god, I got two oranges today." But like I did good. You know, and it was like you would have to be like like a robot. Order, move, move, move, like hand over the money, grab the food out, like you know, you'd be like, "Okay." and then you would be okay and you would get maybe an extra candy or if you did real good you might get two extra oranges sometimes. But

was was the name justified? Was he as strict and whatnot as you know obviously you know with sitcoms you have hyperbole and and and things like that but like was it

was it justified?

It is spot on.

Spot on. So they there was all this chit cchatter like, "Oh my god, it's tonight. It's tonight. What's tonight? The soup not yet episode on Seinfeld is tonight. Spike Soup Nazi." I'm like, "What?" Yeah. He wrote like a script about the soup and it's coming on tonight. And I have to go order soup from him knowing he's going to be on TV that night. And I'm like dying to say something. I'm like like getting my, you know, my 27 soups all with everything correct, lined up, all practice, like I'm repeating the order in my head so I get it all correct and then like at the end given the correct amount of change, you know, everything totally perfect. And then I'm like, have a good night. I was so excited. And then I watched it that night and I was like, I have never seen a more spot-on like impersonation because it was an impersonation that was 100% correct. 100%. No soup for you.

That's fantastic. I

Yeah, it was wild. Except it was more crowded and sweatier inside there.

Well, it's funny. It's one of those things where where where you know, one of the things that I think is similar now to what it was even back then is the idea of, you know, it's I'm I'm in bed or it's just before bed and I'm going to channel surf a little bit and I'm just going to see what's out there and see what's what's on. That still exists, especially for our generation. It probably doesn't for the kids. the kids are probably in VR or something like that. But but for us, I I still see and Seinfeld, of course, is one of those shows that is like you've got all these networks that late night

they have Seinfeld reruns going.

Yeah.

And you think about that Nazi episode every single time. Seinfeld's one of those shows where if it's the right episode, I will not flip. I'll I'll continue to watch it even though

I've got access to the whole series right now. It's just one of those things. It's comfort food for for for for my eyes and my soul

and friends. Yeah. Oh, friends abs and you know it well enough. It's like listening to almost like music visual

music. Yes. But the soup dotsy episode I mean iconic and and and the idea that you have this kind of special memory that's all wrapped up like a little present. Like if that if that shows up you have way more nostalgic value and and and and memory associated with that particular episode than a lot of us and a lot of us really rever that episode. And yet you have this really cool customized story about it. That's very very neat.

I remember when I saw like his soup like in the grocery store. I think I took a picture of it and put it on Facebook. I was like whoa. Like I know that guy was so crazy. But I mean his soup was great. It was worth it. You know, I mean, I don't know if it was worth it after I became famous because I didn't try to wait in a three-hour line for soup, but I waited in a 45 minute line a lot.

It blew up his business. Yeah. And and uh just very very That's

very cool. Um and and working with these writers, I mean, I can only imagine like like were you okay, were you in there where they were because obviously there was a lot of comp compartmentalization. you know, there'd be assignments for the day, everyone goes off to their offices and things like that, but then they kind of get back and it it sounds like the fun time might have been after the show that when when that that sounds like it would have been um the time where more action was happening. Is that accurate?

Um you know, they that time was when they kind of kicked us out. So after the show when they would review everything and talk about what worked or whatever and talk about everything for the next day, they had their little blue cards and all of that in the writer room. Once they were set up for dinner, we went to the old triple in and ate French fries and drank beer, you know. So,

is this the $1 beers? Is this the This is the intern's beer spot.

This is Yeah. I mean, this is how you gain a lot of weight in a short period of time on a French fry and beer diet. Yeah. But we I mean, and we would all talk about our experiences and what we did that day. And we were such a It's like going to summer camp, you know? We were such your instant group of people doing something so exciting and we're all doing something a little bit different and then it comes together for this thing that that is a a thing, you know, like that we we had that exists forever that we had a hand in which is what was a very exciting time.

I love how you talk about the idea of us.

Well Well, yeah. and and and a lot of the interns have talked about that like we're we're going to have a reunion show on here at some point if somebody can figure out a way to herd the cats. Apparently there's a there's a there's a there's a couple of a couple of different group chats that are out there and whatnot.

Have your arena.

Oh. Oh, I'm wearing the Of course we're wearing the ring the whole episode. Of course. Of course. I've almost I've almost dug into the Skittles three times, but I've been too

fascinated. I still have more candy to show you.

Okay, you got more candy.

Oh my gosh. So much more candy. Whenever you're ready, let me know.

Yeah. Okay. But I want to get this point like you you you bring up a really good point like because there was kind of the interns bar and it wasn't because it was a segregated thing. It was cuz the interns didn't have any money compared to everybody else. Everyone else goes to mcgnies, that sort of thing. Okay, that makes sense. But also you as a group and I don't know how many there would have been. Maybe nine or 10 of you at that time probably something like that. Handful of you. I talked to Janice about it and she said it was I think she said it was I think she said it was like eight or nine and then it expanded out a little bit

about eight like eight nine small amount.

It expanded over the years but a little bit but but you're in this weird spot cuz all y'all are are are helping this machine do its thing. Not paid anything for it. That kind of thing. But but at the same time you're all kind of in and you're all in different departments. So, I can imagine it would have been kind of fascinating at the end of the day going there and and and creating stories about things because you've all witnessed the same event from completely different vantage points

and uh and and that must have been a lot of fun as well. It was it was very cool and it was you know and with some of the some of the like receptionists that had been interns that weren't quite making you know so and they had a little more experience and um

and ye old TripleN is directly across the street from the old Studio 54 which was like to me like

what you know like just just being there and like being having this group of people who like were from all over Michigan, Indiana, you you know, like Arizona, Colorado, you know, it's like all over with different experiences and we're all kind of like, well, not everybody, but like when I got there, I was pretty terrified, you know. I I moved right into the Barbazon Hotel for women because one of my friends who is a model recommended it for me. Um, so that was a wild experience. So, my first place was the Barbazon Hotel for women. Okay. Where is this place? And I've never heard any I've never This is never touched my radar at all. What is this place? This is where you ended up living while you were an intern there. Or was it the whole time or just part of it?

Oh, no. That was only maybe a I I lived in four places during my internship. Um

um but that was the very first place where I landed where I had like you'll be safe here. It's for women. Like there's no men. You can go right there or go in. and you have a safe place. It's cheap. Um, and basically it's like a very old hotel

in Midtown. Is it in Midtown Manhattan?

Um, it was south um a south of Midtown. I don't subway in the 30s. Is that okay? Exactly.

Um

and um

so it was and it's been there forever and it's been a hotel forever and I don't know if it has anything to do with like the Barbazison School of Modeling, but she was a model in New York City and all the models used to stay there. So, she recommended it and there it was. I have I was trying to find my journal, but it's so packed away because I actually have drawings of like the the women that I met there because it was there were women that have been living there for 30 years and like the bathrooms in the hall kind of situation and

it was very interesting. But there's no telephone or television or you know in the bathrooms in the hall and I was like oh boy I am very alone here. So

but that's like okay I think about us Gen Xers and you think about what you just described here Andrea that's like a that's a that's a that's an old school New York experience

is what that is. There's something uh romantic and nostalgic and and and all of these things, all these words kind of put together about that that you're you're you're working for Letterman, you're paid nothing, and you're living at this place that uh you know there there could be a movie an old timely timely movie about it on TCN like that that that that's that's to me that's really really cool that you have that memory as well. Well, then I moved into um after that. So, I'm like, "Okay, I'm not staying here." And I um looked at because I I'd gone to Parson's. I um looked at the Parson's, you know, um board of of available, you know, people needing roommates or whatever.

And I met on there there was someone who needed a roommate. The price was right. And this place was just south of Grand Central Station. and um literally a lean to between highrises. So, it's um I don't even know how it could be lingual.

This is the first time, by the way, that the word lean to has been used with the Letterman podcast. So, congratulations on that. You've got that.

I know there's like a ding like a check box at the bottom. Yeah. So, it was a place that was someone had built

like a onestory place. Yeah. I don't know how much of these stories you want, but I'm going to keep going.

No, I love it. I love it. Keep going.

So, oh, I still have Ted Teddies in the other room. Um, I had um moved in with this woman who who uh was leaving immediately. I think she was going back home to Korea. And so, I was going to be there and she was going to live in the front room and I was going to live in the back room.

And um I'm like, "Okay, this will work for now." And there was no furniture in the back room and like burlap kind of um

flooring, you know, like the carpet was like

industrial

and it had a barrel light bulb with a a string on it and all I had was my teddy bear, my suitcase and like a baby blanket. So it must have been the first night I was there. I paid the deposit and it smelled very very kimchi. like very kimchi, which is not a problem, but like I like you don't want to smell kimchi. You don't want to smell like kimchi.

Not when you're walking through the halls of the Ed Sullivan Theater. No, absolutely.

Not all the time. I mean, once in a while, maybe, you know, but not all the time. Um, but I um I was sleeping on the floor using my teddy bear as a pillow.

Mhm. And uh I've told this story to a lot of people, but I hear a like literally this close and I'm like, "Oh, what the [ __ ] is that?" And I jump up and turn on the light and I see the tail end of a rat. A rat. The tail The tail um going into the furnace. Mhm.

And I'm it was had just been this close to my head

and um

and so at that point I got a little upset and the poor woman I I she got my entire deposit but then I ended up moving in with Sarah eyed for a short period of time.

Oh, that's cool.

Yeah,

that's the rat story is unfortunately also another unfortunate right of passage New York story,

you know. But yeah, Sarah and I like had talked because they gave us a whole yellow list which I still have and just uncovered of all the interns in our class and their contact information. They encouraged us to reach out and make friends before we started. And she and I connected um I think while I was still at the Barbazon Hotel and I was like, "Oh my gosh, like this place." And she was like, "If you need me and I'm like, "I need you." and she was generous enough to come let me stay with her for maybe even a month. It was a while. I um that she let me stay with her um and and that was we stayed at the um it was on Central Park South uh with a door man.

Yeah. So that was an experience I'd not ever been privy to and that was pretty amazing.

Yeah. And what was doing for the show at that point? Do you remember?

She was in the mail room. She started in the mail room, which is wild because she was there until the end of the show.

Yep.

Yeah. And and um she

I haven't had Sarah on here, by the way. Are you you and Sarah are still in communication?

Um via Facebook. Um a little bit, not not a lot. Um

that's another one I'd like to get on here. I'd like to get her and and Bob Bordon for that matter. I'd like to get them both on. Great.

That would be amazing. Yeah. Sarah uh she's good people, you know, she she was really great to me and it was we were both so like freaked out and brand new and um and we were both having our own experiences. So like we were like monkeys clinging on to each other for a moment. But then I met Tony um and Tony introduced me to one of her friends who had an apartment on the Upper West Side. Y.

And so I ended up the most of the time I was there living in a really beautiful brownstone across the street from a fire department.

Yeah. Like between Columbus and Amsterdam.

Are you kidding me?

Yeah. I got very lucky.

Yeah.

I mean I I lived in in the bedroom there, you know. It's not like

But yeah, this woman that I lived with that Tony introduced me to was

she was an actress. She was very actressy and a lot of fun. Um, and the apartment we had was I believe it was her boyfriend's apartment, but I was just telling someone recently like she had real Picassos. Like he was an art dealer and she had real Picassos, real like she had like it was his apartment that we were in. Um, and uh, she was a tanker girl, so she would be out every night doing the tanker girl stuff at the bars. And we had this kick-ass apartment.

You've got some pretty awesome uh, stories in those memory banks of yours. Like, you've got some pretty amazing memories. Memories that a lot of people

uh, would live vicariously through happily. Like, you've got some pretty awesome experiences there, Andrea.

Pretty lucky. Yeah. Yeah. It was an amazing thing to be able to be a part of and and I don't know how I got so lucky. So, I'm forever grateful.

Of course, and and I can feel the gratefulness. Uh I can totally feel it. Now, that being said, I I I've gotten to the point where I I barely ask the question anymore from staffers if if if they had a Letterman encounter, because the vast majority, of course, uh the answer is no. Um you know, and and and and that's right. It's it's it's it's it's a lot of staff, hundreds of staff. it's comp compartmentalized of what not and the star needs to be the star focused on this while also you know there's a worldwide pants is there and all these other projects and that sort of a thing um but I know the answer on this one and uh and and and not only that it's an answer that kind of creates a little bit of precedence um because before the show one of the things that Dave loved to do of course was get himself energized and there's all sorts of ways he would do it you know the Hershey chocolates and the coffees and all that sort of stuff but also physically like we would see it on screen. You know, ladies and gentlemen, David Letterman, um, you know, a man now a man who blah blah blah blah blah blah.

David Letterman, he runs across the screen first and then he comes out through. Dave liked to run around a lot. Um, and there was a rule that was created because of you. And I when I found that out, I was like, "Okay, what? Really?" Because this is like the thing of lore that that people are always like, "I got to know about this." Um, I'm going to again, just like the supernazi, I'm going to I'm going to just basically hand it off to you at that point.

Yeah. Well, we were I I being one of the writer's interns, I think that we got a little bit more access than some of the other interns because we got I had I had to go into through the green room. I had to go on stage sometimes and hand notes off, you know, if there would be like they would be upstairs watching on the closed circuit and I would be like they would be like you need to run this note down and it'd be like

no, you know,

and when you do write it down, you're running it to the podium.

Um you I went in through the green door onto the stage giving it directly to Dave.

Okay, there we go. Yep.

Yep.

Yeah. And so like depending on the urgency, you know, depending on what but yeah. know, go in, depending on the emergency, they would tell me. I'd be like, and I don't know if they called down, but they would know and I would come with the blue card and give it to him and get out of there, you know? Um, so, and there was sometimes I was like, he would look at me and he would be like like, "What are you wearing?" Like I felt like like

perhaps he smelled the kimchi.

Perhaps he smelled the kimchi. Yeah. I don't know. But I I remember a particular outfit he was probably like but um but we got lucky enough um that they I mean the bands would would rehearse you know and that was always like one of the things one of the jobs I was jealous of was the you know the booking the bands and um and getting to know the music. I'm such a music lover. And so if there was a band that we wanted to see, we could go watch them rehearse and we would pretty much let ourselves down there, you know, and go through the back and down the elevator through the little hidden thing and and sit in the back and watch them rehearse. They may or may not know that we're there. Um, and um, I don't I I don't quite remember if if it was I think it was Alana Morset or Hoodie and the Blowfish.

Um, God,

but I have another Alanis Morset story, which is funny. But, um,

Canadian royalty Alanis Morset.

Oh,

the queen of Canadian alt rock, Alanis Morset. And this was so poor Sarah listened so had to listen to me listen to Lana Morset on repeat at this time. Poor Sarah. So I'm guessing it was Lana Morset because I was a fan like sing it at the top of my lungs all day long every day on repeat fan. Um and uh so we all went down and I was probably so enthralled I didn't realize everybody else had already left to go back, you know, so I was like still watching and I'm like, "Oh, everyone's gone." And so I was a little bit straggly

and I'm going back the way that we come through the catacombs of the Ed Sullivan Theater. And uh

am I allowed to talk about those? Oh yeah, I mean the statute of limitations is is long long past. We're fine.

Okay, good. So, um, I'm all by myself and here comes Dave barreling through top speed. Top speed and he's coming at me this way and didn't see him and I we almost collided. I had to jump out of the way and we definitely uh like there he was not there were if I had slower reflexes we might have both had some injury. It was very um a very uh

Yeah, cuz he would run at top. He would run through the like he would run like that,

right?

He was running.

He's getting his energy up. He was literally taking his vibration up physically

by running. And he wasn't he's David Let's athletic guy. You know, we've had people talk come on the show and talk about

I didn't even know this happened. We didn't even know that. I mean, so I had for him like I was completely unexpected to see him out of his office area, you know, like he was very contained either in his office area or on the stage or in the writer's room, you know. So when me being completely startled by David Letterman running at 30 miles an hour in my direction was something I will never ever ever forget. But I um he kept going.

Yep.

And then um I went up and I was like, "Oh, um something just happened. Uh I might get in a little trouble." And it wasn't very much longer before. I I don't know if it was I think it was Lori that actually called and asked if I was okay and um wanted to make sure I didn't need any medical attention or anything. Um and uh I totally fine, totally okay. Um and then um thereafter, no no interns allowed in the catacombs. My

keep the hallways clear. Sorry.

You got to see Atlantis.

Oh my gosh.

So, here's the story about Atlantis,

please.

Are you ready for So, Doug Mitchell.

Where is Doug Mitchell? Anybody know where Doug Mitchell is?

No. Do you know Doug Mitchell?

I don't. I don't know Doug.

He was the receptionist uh while I was there.

So, for the writer's floor

and he um he went to Bowden. very smart man. Very very smart man. Um and I lost we kept touch for a couple years after but he was he he hung with the interns a lot and I don't know

where we lost touch. I don't know what happened to him.

Kate

um what was I going with Doug?

Doug Mitchell Moriceette.

Yes. So he um he was backstage and this was the same time during their performance. So, it was probably the same day and he must have had to run some notes down and he was backstage waiting and oddly enough he at the time Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters, God rest his soul, um was Alanis's drummer and they went to high school together. So, Taylor

Taylor comedian? No, he's from He's from California. They grew up in Lagouna Beach.

Okay. Yeah. Gotcha.

So, he and Doug grew up in Laguna Beach together and knew each other from high school and ended up not knowing they were going to see each other backstage at the Late Show and randomly being like,

"Doug, Taylor,

man." Yeah.

And and I remember Doug saying he was like, "Good to see somebody else in the biz." How wild is that story?

That's so great.

I know. That stuck with me. And I'm a huge And I'm a huge Foo Fighters fan. And Dave was a huge Foo Fighters fan. That moment he was listing the Foo Fighters on 11 on repeat. And that's like where my love of the Foo Fighters came about.

Oh, I love hearing that. Yeah. I I uh I've had I've had quite a few of the band on here and every time like Tom Bones Malone has been on this show and when we bring up Taylor, you know, he starts to starts to to tear up and get emotional about that. Like the con the connection with some of these people and that show um you know cannot be understated. And the Foo Fighter is right Foo Fighters is right near the very very tippy top of that list. I mean, I think the Foo Fighters have done two or three top tens. Like, they were just, never mind,

all of the appearances leading up to, of course, the very final moment of of of late show that we got to see, which is the montage um set to live. Uh, you know, unbelievable piece of of uh unbelievable piece of video that thing is.

The fact that the the pictures themselves, but also curated to a live version of Everlong is just absolutely nuts. and Taylor like it's so funny how sometimes with a band some members of the band are just subdued and then some members of the band who are not the lead singer are a huge focal point of the band themselves you know like Lars Metallica is that way Taylor was very much that way for the Foo Fighters you know

and their friendship I mean what a beautiful story

yeah what a loss what a loss

oh absolutely absolutely I uh what a wonderful story okay let's cuz I'm a music guy, too. I'm a I'm a big music guy. Um and and and and so many people have come on here talking about the fe watching the feed um of of what's going on on the stage all the time for rehearsals and things like that. But the musical rehearsals is one of those things where I just um I'm in awe of some of the memories that some people have where they were able to see the bands, you know, loose and figuring out what their set's going to be. Were there any other ones that you saw that that come to mind that were um that that were special to you?

H you know I wasn't we were always so busy with the writers until the very end that unless it was somebody that I was really really wanting to see um I was pretty busy until you know even until after the show had aired you know because we had to be available um to they were making changes until the end and then through and then you know so so we didn't always have the luxury of doing that as the writer's interns. Um, but usually if it was someone we wanted to see very much, they would we would figure it out with the other intern or whatever. Um, and I was a little hyper responsible maybe or you know um so so I didn't take advantage of of it as much as I maybe should have but but um so nothing really specific comes to mind and I'm going to have to think about it when I sign my journal like

Yeah.

Yeah. It'll probably be like this and this and this and this and this. But yeah, I mean our time with Bill Murray is something that I will never forget.

Tell me your time with Bill Murray

was amazing.

I want to hear this story.

Um, he was there for a week. So that was I mean he was at the show for a whole week while I was there and he knew everyone's name. Like he knew my name. He knew every intern's name. He'd joke with us. We were pals, you know, like I'm like Bill, you know, be like Andrea like Bill Marie just said my name, you know, like like and he was just like he had this excitement and energy and this openness about him and they were they were all busy because they did a lot of, you know, pre-recording and all of that kind of stuff. But, um, but that was really exciting when he was there.

Did he hang out in the in the writer room for a lot of it? Not while we were there. Maybe after hours, not while the interns were there. Um

um you know, but he did he would be in the green room when they were going to be doing pre-recording and we would have to bring stuff to him or, you know, and he would be in Dave's office and I would have to bring stuff up to Dave's office, you know. So, uh things like that, but it's not like he was like hanging out in the writer's room or, you know.

Yeah. Uh there there have been there were previous encounters and I'm talking back in the day like long time ago where where Bill was known to spend a little bit of time in the writer room uh or with with a few of the writers and so I was just curious if it if that had translated over. Um you were there right around the time like uh so Dave's front office you mentioned Lorie Diamond Casey was there when you were there.

Yeah. My my hotel phone is ringing for some reason. I'm going to go see if it'll be take it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Dogs trend very well on her. What's the name?

Kismmet.

Kismmet. Oh my god.

Yeah. You got to look at She is half Muppet. Come here, Kitty. She is She is in training.

You good?

She looks full Muppet to me. Oh my gosh.

I know. Yeah, she's she's a little blurry. I guess I got

Oh, no. She came out of the blur a couple of times. She goes in and out. She's

I don't know what settings these are, but she's she good girl.

How old is Kismmet? She is four. She's 14 months. She's 14 months and she's upside down now.

Um Andrea, one of the things that seems to be just really consistent um from the people who were interns at the show and talking to them now these years later, so many of them have said um first off the gratefulness. I can feel the gratefulness from you right now. Like I can feel how grateful you are that you have have this experience. But they talk about how how it did shape them and it's one of the greatest, you know, greatest kind of times of their lives and and and whatnot. Um it's clear you feel that way.

You still have a lot of pride that you got to do this.

It Yeah, it's one of those things that um has given me um entree to a lot of when I came back looking for I was lucky. I I at first I I um interviewed a lot for television and I ended up in radio and in Phoenix and um and uh worked in radio for quite some time and um every and advertising and it's one of those things that everybody wants to know about. So they find out that you had this experience and they want to know all about it and it's um you know both Dave and and Steven Copar like changed changed the a lot of people's views on a lot of things and informed a lot of people about a lot of things and late night is um a cornerstone of broadcasting And um I am privileged and grateful to have been a a part of something that is a foundation of who I am as a as a human because I am a 70s baby that was raised on television.

Yep. Um me too. and and late night um has this special place in my heart and one of the ways that we connected and it's been happening with me uh this past as you can imagine this past couple of weeks uh it's been happening a lot where these people that have have have been um you know affected by this thing that is so important in our lives late night television and again it isn't just it is it does mean something

and and the idea that um because the landscape and technology and all these different things are changing. Um, late night television is is it's it's in danger. It it really really is just from a from an economic standpoint and and from a a format standpoint, technologically um people's habits that that that kind of a thing. And for people who are in our age group or feel this this way that we do about it, it is um it's un it's extremely uncomfortable. Um, and I don't, you know, and you look at the time that you were there, late night was white hot because of Letto Le uh um Leno Letterman and and and the expansion of late night television. It expanded, expanded, expanded. 2009 2010, you know, the circus showed up again and it became this thing with the Conan uh Leno Tonight Show, you know, and it became white hot again and everybody was talking about it.

And it looks like and I don't know if it's going to be a final bang or or not or if it's just going to be something that saves the genre. You never know, but it looks like we're in a place where it's happening again. Um, one of the ways I became aware of you, um, was was just you commenting on what's going on at CBS and you are a part of that history. CBS didn't have a late night franchise when you and I were those kids growing up in the 70s. They didn't have it. Letterman and and and that crew that that company early on created that for CBS and now they've just announced they're ending the run,

ending the Late Show and um, you know, all sorts of people looking at it. We just had Robert Morton on um you know, he's he's talking about going there, yeah, there's no way that show was losing money for the network. Um and and but here's people like you and I sitting here going, "Oh my god, this thing that we love so much that we almost like depend on like it's it's one of those things where it's like just like the running water." It's like, "No, no, no. I need to know that that late night television is doing its thing." Um how do you feel about the current status of what's going on out there? Well, um disgusted to be blunt. Um um you know, honestly, uh it's a cornerstone of broadcasting. It's like the news. It's like the editorial section of the newspaper. Um, you can choose how you consume media, where you consume media from, but freedom of speech is important and having different opinions is what makes us America. And um, censorship at a grand scale um, like this is disgusting.

Certainly feels that way, doesn't it?

It does. And I um I have a lot of opinions about it. I have told you that I I try to be apolitical. Um I I have not watched general broadcast news since our current president was elected. Um

because I feel like it's manipulation

um

for the most part. I read my news and from reliable sources um and from sources from other countries but from you know sources that are I don't watch the news at all because I'm a very visual person and tending to get distracted. Y

um

and then I get my news from comedy and from the comedians and people that I trust and Steven Coar. Um, we talked about trauma and loss and um, and I have his his episode of Anderson Cooper's All There Is

Mhm.

when I lost my stepmother,

and I'm going to cry now. um changed the trajectory of my entire life and it changed my relationship with grief and religion and faith in such a profound way and I recognized Steven Colbear as a hero and a man of God.

Yeah. And the fact that somebody who clearly does not have the greater good on his radar

um concerns me greatly

and makes me want to stand up for what I believe in. um and and the idea that people could be inspired um by by what what's going on. You know, we can look at it as as as profoundly and deeply as what we're talking about here. Uh we can also bring it right back to the fact that, you know, it's funny to you listen to John Stewart and you listen to to Steven Coar and how profound um their comedy is. It's so profound that people look at them like they are like a a professional pundit when they would quickly point out, hey, no, we're trying to entertain. We're trying to make fun of. We're going to make fun of whoever, whatever.

But it's making us think. The comedy is making us think. And to me, the best comedy has always been

comedy that makes you think. Monty Python used to make me think, you know,

um and and and and I go to that. But then you look at inspiration. So we can go as deep as as the well of inspiration will take us if we want to. or we can stay near the surface and go, okay, when the Tonight Show and NBC kind of screwed Conan over, it led to a springboard that Conan could then go and do whatever he wanted to do and he created this culture of his own. My hope is that Colbear over this next 10 months, at the time of this recording, there's 10 months left in in in in the late show. And how weird of a sentence is that to say? Um, you know, but my my hope is that he will be able to springboard, use this 10 months,

it'll be crazy, silly, and those of us who love this thing called late night will be able to just rejoice in all of the insanity as all the pieces on the players on the game board uh uh take their turn and uh and and after this, Colbear will be able to springboard into something really really cool, just a similar way to Conan the way that he did as well. That's my That's the Canadian optimist hope hope that I have out of this whole thing.

You're going to be a lot of fun getting there, though.

Canada. That's why I'm happy to move to Canada. Yeah. No, I am I'm currently practicing my Canadian side and trying to focus on the positive because he's not going anywhere.

Maple syrup and cheese curds and you'll be just fine. That's all you need. Maple syrup and cheese curds. You'll be you'll be you'll be just fine.

Maybe a little whiskey.

Oh, no. No, no. Lot. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. You're risky, too.

But no, he he's not going anywhere. He's a strong person and he's got faith and morals and um and and a huge following

and um he's beloved by people in his own industry. He's beloved by people. He was invited for an audience with the Pope. Like this is a man who has a sense of humor,

is incredibly intelligent,

and cares.

Um, I want him to run for president. I'm just

got my vote, but I know he's going to land on his feet. He's, you know, and and I know that our country is going to be in a better situation soon.

Yeah. Um, and for the for the

our country, the the our other country.

Hey, you know what? Yeah. No, no, no. You're my cousins and and and I mean, you know, my I'm a Canadian. My very favorite hockey team uh plays in Los Angeles. So, you know, I'm a huge Kings fan. I'm a gigantic Kings fan. So, so

how did that happen?

Marcel Dion, it's it's a long story, but but but essentially I was sitting in the uh you talk about Montreal. Um you know, Marcel Dion growing up. Uh, I was sitting in a in a in a in a in a la lazy boy recliner with my father. Um, early on my dad, these Edmonton Oilers with this guy Wayne Gretzky were going to take over the whole hockey the whole hockey world. And and and they were facing the Los Angeles Kings in a Stanley Cup playoff game and and and uh uh they were losing 5- nothing going into the third period. And in five in in the third period, the LA Kings came back and they kept scoring and scoring and scoring and scoring and scoring. um at that the great western form at that point in Englewood was on Manchester and they call it the miracle on Manchester. LA ends up winning the game uh 65 in overtime.

During that part, my dad's just sitting there laughing and laughing. He's a Leafs fan, so he didn't like these young Oilers. And and and so he was looking and he said to me, "Michael, you see number 16 there? That's Marcel Deion. He's the greatest Canadian hockey player to have never won a Stanley Cup. He is one of the greatest goal scorers in history, but he's been playing for the Los Angeles Kings and he is making hockey, the game of hockey, which we love so much, grow and grow and grow. I'm like an 8-year-old kid sitting in his dad's lap watching hockey. My glue is very, very sticky. So, I see that, oh, okay, that's cool. Los Angeles, there is I'm going to be a Kings fan.

And I became a Kings fan. And so, to this day, I'm a gigantic Los Angeles Kings fan. And so, awesome.

That's how it happened. It happened because of Marcel Dion and then Wing Gretzky came there a few years later and I was the only happy Canadian um and and the rest is history. So yeah, um but that being said, uh you know, watching what's going on for u my American brothers and sisters down there and and and and particularly like we're talking about how much of an impact being an intern inside that theater for you was and how all these years later it still brings up that smile that you just it comes from within. And I'm watching you and you're just the light that's coming out of you, that brightness from within all these years later. And I think about the couple hundred people that are working there right now knowing that in 10 months life's going to change, whatever that looks like.

And I can only imagine what they're going through and and some of the scarcity and uncertainty and all that stuff that sucks. But also though this mainline of adrenaline right into their arms about how how can we go and go out with the biggest bang that we Yes. There it is right there. Yes. Right.

And you're thinking about that and so I as as as somebody who is a a passionate observer of this stuff am very very excited for the next 10 months and I hope that all these people can can land on all of their feet. Not just Stephen himself but all these people. But uh I'm glad that we're talking about it. I'm glad we're talking about late night. I'm glad that it's in the news and it's becoming a thing again and and and perhaps if the circus is going to come back to town one more time. Uh it's going to be the greatest show we've ever seen. So, um Andrea, I just can't thank you enough and you're in transition. You got all this stuff going on right now and all this stuff. I just can't thank you enough for for taking time out of your day to come on here and share some memories with me. Um when we do the intern reunion, we'll definitely make sure you're included in that, whatever that looks like. Uh was there anything else that you wanted to get out there before we we close up this installment?

I don't think so. No, I I I do want to show you my bag of candy teeth.

Show me. Oh, yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. We got to do that. We got to do the candy teeth

because now that I know that there is such a thing as candy teeth, like how can I not show them to you?

Yes. This is fun on multiple levels, including delicious ones.

Yeah. And I've been dying to see what they look like on

Absolutely. Oh, yeah. No, no, no. This is the way you you clearly worked for the greatest body of broadcast work in history. You know how to finish a show. This is what we're doing right here.

It's good.

No, no, no. That's That's it. It's It's great. It's great. You got the gum. You got the gums perfectly.

I do. Okay.

The gums anyway. Yeah. Like like uh you know, It's called candy teeth. What kind of an experience did we think it was going to be? I mean, my gosh. Are they Are they yummy?

They are. They're

Okay, that's good.

Marshmallowy?

No. I actually um gave some to the kids this morning at breakfast at the hotel.

Uhhuh.

Don't tell their parents. Okay. Yeah.

And we decided they were strawberries and cream.

Oh, there we go. Oh, well. I mean, you know, grand slam home run. Um, Andrea, you are delightful. Thank you so much for this. This is a lot of fun. And, uh, and yes, certainly if I can connect you with some of the old intern friends and things like that. Let's do that. And because, you know, I got a lot of them. Like Dave Plamer's been on the show like like I've had him on already.

I love me some Dave Plumber.

Love that, man. Uh

um

love him.

You're you're fantastic. Thank you so much. Uh this is why we do the show. We love reminiscing. We love telling these old stories from back in the day. Um the all whatever back in the day means. And I mean it's generations of it now. I mean gosh, it's the greatest body of broadcast work in history. Uh this has been another episode of the Letterman podcast with Mike Chisum. Coincidentally, I am Mike Chisum. Thank you and good night. Overcoat and underpants.