is is the Assistant Director, or Assistant TO the Director? Technical Tim Kennedy tells us all!

yeah hi I'm Paul schaer I'm will Lee and you are watching the Letterman podcast9 8 very that's it all right no cake for b no cake for you welcome once again to the Letterman podcast my name is Mike Chisum today's episode another episode of somebody in the control room I just love the Symmetry that is happening with this show that is not intentional I swear to God it's not intentional um you know we get writer ERS who who who cross over and and take over for each other or write at the same time that kind of a thing sometimes we get people who are in the similar departments uh and then and then there's Echoes from that we just had Amy's podcast on um the assistant to Jerry Foley now we've got the assistant director who sat to the right of Jerry Foley for years and years and years Tim Kennedy amazing episode really fun conversation talking about um the technical side of Late Show with David Letterman and how much it actually did uh you know how much creativity and and and and and and uh an energy that had to do not so much with straight lace stuff had to be in that control room because you never knew what was going to happen a bag of tricks I think was one of the phrases that was uttered uh Tim is just a fantastic guy just appreciate the heck out of him for taking time out of his day to be on the Letterman podcast so we are proud to present our episode with assistant director to Lea with David Letterman for a long time uh and many many other things as well you'll hear about it in the show Tim Kennedy Tim uh your email I'm not going to obviously reveal it here but there's a tww uh which makes me think that your middle initial might uh start with a W is that is that the case yeah uh yes yes is it William that's my guess you're correct sir you gonna move on to my weight next no I no I think I I think I'm GNA quit while I'm ahead Tim thank you so much for taking time uh you know and and and using this as as a as a leverage point to help fill some time during your retired life these days thank you so much for taking time to come on the Letterman podcast my pleasure oh this is gonna be a lot of fun um let's get the audience uh up to speed what years were you at Late Show with David Letterman I was with David Letterman from 1995 to the final show 2015 okay yeah 20 years yeah 20 years yeah what a run what a run yeah yeah it was awesome what uh what were the series of events that brought you to be under the employee of David Letterman well I was employed um I started at CBS in 1984 and did a multitude of different shows Sports and uh actually before I right before I came on to Letterman I was the technical director for the E news with Dan Robin for six years y and and um I was the backup uh TD for uh for Letterman I remember going over to NBC to meet Hal uh gy uh because they threw my hat in the ring CBS and how how always how's how is the best he goes well I just want you show me the S because I'm probably gonna be my own guy who was Jerry Foley who ended up being the director for 20 years so when Foley got anointed and elevated to director he uh gave me a call and uh said uh Hey Kennedy never called me Tim always called me Kennedy talking about that uh he goes Kennedy you know you want to come over you know it'll fit like a glove and uh I said yeah so I jumped at the opportunity I about ready to get you know move on to something new and uh yeah tried into a great run a great relationship and uh yeah it was uh yeah so 95 to 2015 then rolled from that into Co bear for um four years yeah um you know lots to lots to unpack there you know one of the thing that strikes me about um uh the technical uh guys and gals who were part of this production um is the idea of how unphased they could be um you know on this side of the camera or this side of the control room uh uh uh what's going on at the other side of it you know it could be it could be chaos it could be something completely entertaining it could be shocking information and and you all are are are just cool as a cucumber uh and that's the job now that being said uh you have this call with Jerry come on over you know Leo with David Letterman at the time you know at the Zenith of really its popularity within pop culture um does that is that lost on you or is it another gig oh no no I was very excited about I was a little nervous you know it's like anything else I I knew I knew a good handful of guys on the crew um some I didn't know so it's like establishing those relationships and making sure you know they go well because I also came out over when I became the TD I also was made the tech manager so I kind of ran the crew but also took care of building the stage build you know adding on the Capital Improvements what have you so it was a little bit more on the plate uh but um yeah I was nervous you know I walked into a facility and we we used different kind of switches over in the broadcast Center that I worked on you know the button pushing they had a different one there and uh uh yeah so yeah it was I was a little little nervous but uh you know excited for sure yeah absolutely okay that's cool and and it seems to be that that's the case uh for for for many especially of the long-term staffers that were there uh they were such fans of of of Dave or the programmer or whatever obviously you know having to subdue the fandom or the the level of excitement because of the gig itself because uh you know it wasn't cool to be such a fan of the show but but a lot of you seem to be that just that um it's uh it's serendipitous I'm talking to you um I literally just had a conversation yesterday and I think these two are going to go out uh you know within a week of each other uh with Amy Sharon Humes uh you know Jerry's first as he ascended up uh you know to take the big chair from from the legend that is Hal gurny um you know he got an assistant well what is an assistant to to you do I don't know and they they built the job together and and and so having Amy on and then the very next day recording with you you um it's very cool I I I dig it um when you were with the uh CBS news with Dan Rather uh broad out of the out of the CBS broadcast center right yeah 57 stre yeah broadcast Center yep okay on 57th and then you move over to the Ed Sullivan Theater I'm super curious as to your perspective on the two you know you're at the this legendary broadcast Center you know uh the a hub and then you go over to this theater legendary theater that's sort of a broadcast theater or a broadcast Center for one it's its own kind of control room and all that uh was the uh was was there anything jarring in the facility change or were all the knobs and buttons pretty much the same well I really had never been in the edivan theater all the years that I worked at CBS prior to leading up to um so obviously how iconic it was you know Elvis The Beatles and we can name all the people have been on the stage um from the technical standpoint you know it's a control room um nothing uh nothing shocking you know a couple we moved a couple things around when I got there I kind of changed a few things but but uh you know for the most part it wasn't um daunting other than it was uh you know it was Letterman that's you know it was like it was and and and the um Edan theater was sort of like a centerpiece for for CBS I mean so yeah it was it was pretty cool it's um it's funny looking at the way that I mean gosh the the evolution that you have seen in broadcasting um astounding over the years from where you started to compare to where we're at now you see all of these and I'm not just going to say CBS you see all of these uh corporations that own these broadcast companies that are selling off these pieces of real estate uh and it's happening all over the place it's it's it's so weird seeing that um I can't imagine a time that CBS wouldn't own the Ed selan theater and use it to broadcast but boy is it uh it's weird seeing this happen out there isn't it yeah it is well they CBS sold the theater at one point and then bought it back yeah oh yeah that's right that's right they bought it back for Dave yeah they bought it back for Dave and you know ransack the place and took a theater and uh turned it into a studio and then on the other end Co be came in and took a studio and turned it back into a theater uh so it's been through a lot of Transitions and what Havey and was happy to be part of both transitions but uh uh yeah it would be a sad day when they finally get rid of if if they get rid of um you know I I don't know long how much legs Stephen has I'm hoping he's got another 20 years in them like theyve did but um yeah i''d be sad to see that go away but things change you know and that that's I was there on Friday night actually uh yeah sorry I missed that oh man a couple of the uh the union guys that uh are still there from The Late Show days they uh they threw us into the VIP line and and and uh and and we got a chance I got a chance actually uh took part in the Q&A with Stephen I asked Stephen a couple questions about Dave turns out he likes this show which is uh which was astounding to me that uh that he he knew who I was and knew what we were doing here um and it was funny because one of the um commercial breaks after we'd had the Q&A and all that one of the commercial breaks before they were about to come back up he was looking around and he caught our eye again and uh and and he was he was doing one of these and and I looked up and it was I think he was pointing up to the Dome to me and that was obviously H having not been there uh since the Letterman days and going in there looking at how the theater was restored I swear to God the sight lines seemed to be better from the like the the reconfigured seats or something they did something with it but the Dome taking away all of the stuff they had brought down to make it more of a a television Studio when when uh late show was there when it turned into the to The Late Show with step coar they brought it all back what a gorgeous gorgeous place um that you got to call home for you know decades unbelievable yeah yeah it was quite a trans transformation I mean we figure we and quick we we went off the air on the 20th of uh May in 2015 and less than little less than four months uh we were doing the first show for Co bear and uh it was quite a quite a quite a lot that came out of there the stained glass windows everything had to be stored uh for uh Landmark preservation reasons we had to keep the stained glass on site they let us move it off but um and then they did uh we worked on getting projection mapping on the Dome so we had uh four four projectors on the Dome and two on the wall and then all this La the technology leaped from Letterman to coar was was amazing it's pretty daunting but it all got done I love um I love Echo uh you know cultural Echoes things like that and I think about when Letterman and Company and you weren't there for for that restoration but you were with CBS so you knew it was very much it was happening for for all I know you were down there and watched some of the construction the Breakneck speed of Letterman's announcement uh the official you know Ovitz and and his team get Letterman you know the gig at CBS um and and the announcement to to first show in August of 93 a similar Pace happened at the Ed Sullivan Theater you know it was crazy where how how how far the theater had descended and what they wanted to turn it into um and it's it's interesting that both versions of the late show or late show and The Late Show uh had that similar uh leadup break next speed trying to get this uh impossible Construction done of the Ed theater yeah it was and I'll tell you all all uh Kudos go out to the CBS um construction uh Department I mean those guys came in and wired and rewired and wired and rewired over the years but the transition coming into the the the the um uh Ed Selvin theater in 93 there wasn't a control room in the basement the the control room was up in the theater um you know the seats were a mess there really was old wiring so um those guys are pretty amazing construction shot and nothing would have gotten done there without those guys and of course the main construction the the riggers that came in and built the scaffolding and well for Stephen we had scaffolding all the way up to the ceiling to take everything out but but the construction CBS construction Department could do there's hey I only got one gripe and it's it's whoever it was that uh that tore out Letterman set and put it in the dumpsters that's the only thing that was negative about that that must have been really weird for you to see that that day that night we did they started ripping out the seats that tonight we got done with the final show and um the uh props guy you know Pat farmer and those guys just started ripping things out and putting stuff into the dumpster and then they realized people were doing a lot of dumpster diving and then they had a kind of had yeah there you go there one right there yeah he had to secure the dumpster um but um yeah that was weird just seeing it all get ripped out and uh stripped down to its uh nakedness I mean everything was gone the you know we had the iconic red uh catwalks up in the ceil and um they you know it was a lot a lot of metal came out of there but they got it all done it's just amazing nobody got hurt did you keep anything um did I keep anything I actually took um the we've called them the staff photos uh from 1995 when I started the show so I got that downstairs and then I also yeah and I kept the when I left the coar I kept a um a uh picture good siiz picture was hanging outside my office was uh Joe Walsh and Joe Walsh uh grew up in the town I I live in and I met him a couple of times so I said I I'm going to Tanya who was the executive in charge I said Can can I take this with me she was sure so I got that and uh yeah I don't think I have anything else really I you know but uh yeah yeah so I got I got I got a little bit of something I got some pictures and what have you all that's very very neat I uh I love hearing that um yeah that was a that was a crazy transformation and and and um uh you know it was it was interesting Dave was talking about it he was on um Stephen's podcast uh the strike Forest 5 podcast last week and or two weeks ago I guess now and um he actually talked about they they they the two of them talked about that and it was pretty Monumental Stephen told the story about how he got the gig and he you know um he wanted to confirm some of some stuff with Letterman on his side of it it was it was fascinating uh the television history the broadcast history that you got to be a part of is astounding um let's bring it back to the beginning again so so you end up working directly with Jerry Foley he said it was GNA fit like a glove um the the pace of that show just absolutely break neck um but was it so so too is is is Evening News it's break neck to was it the same kind of pace um and the same kind of uh of urgency or was it a different kind of urgency well um depending on how the day went I mean on news you know you're scripted you're know you to go with Dana Den what have you but you know something goes wrong in the world you know the script goes out the window and next thing you know you're dialing remotes from Riad or wherever you're wherever you're going so that that gets a little that gets a little craz but for the most part it's all pretty well scripted uh on the Letterman side um it starts out scripted and then Dave goes off on a tangent you don't know you know oh we want to go up to the roof and throw pumpkins you know we want to go out on the 53rd Street you know we want to go you know so um I could get chaotic you a lot of people just say ah it's just punching cameras you know TVs that are out there you know the talk show it's a little bit more than just punching cameras you don't know what he's going to call for at the last second you know split screens or you know we had we had to have all these things in our back pocket ready to go at a moment's notice if you want to the glist and all that stuff top you know top 10 well top 10 are all all pretty much scripted but yeah yeah it was depending on the day you know David D would start off the show sit at the desk and he we have a whole thing lined up for the First Act and he would just start talking about going to the grocery store and running into people in the aisle and the guy guy would walk up to me and say hey Jimmy obviously his name was Dave but anyway yeah so it could change it could change from day to day to say the least so yeah two different things I had a lot of laughs on the evening news as as sad as some of these things could be but yes um I had a real lot of laughs Letterman I chuckled every day oh I love hearing that very very much um you know the bag of tricks that that that that you had to have at your disposal was uh in my viewpoint one of the highlights and and of course led by the legendary Hal gurny from the very beginning you know introducing the idea that the director and the control room was actually a character in the show you know with this you know as it evolved over the years the sound effects and the different things um the ability to react to something real time okay so let's get a camera over there let's get a like I think about like one of my very favorite moments of late show ever was the night with John McCain and I mean I've talked to a couple people about it I talked to Vinnie fali about it I talked to other people um I just want to confirm during Showtime you're in the control room or you're on the stage I'm in the control room I'm sitting to Foley if you know anything about a in the control room I would sit at the switch or J call the shots I put them together okay so you know one two like you're you're the guy actually executing okay perfect yeah uh the the John McCain Knight I'm thinking about that and your switchers were going to to different spots than they normally go to but this is that that bag of tricks that you have one of the things that you have is uh you've got the feeds that are coming in from CBS uh you know you know fed into the control room and when you realize that McCain stiffs you guys and suddenly he's sitting there with Katie C on the evening news is that an easy switch for you is that just yep no problem like that or is there a couple little things you got to do to to make that happen does that or is it basic you know I don't know how that whole thing played out um I don't know if Randy picked up on it Randy the ad Randy did pick up on it for sure yeah Randy Randy picked up on it and um you know we had four lines coming in from the broadcast Center that I could dial anything up and uh they said hey McCain's in 47 when he was supposed to be here with us and he was doing the interview with so dialed it up you know fley you know called for it we put it on online and it was yeah it was and you guys look like Masters you guys look like you look so good because you nail it with the perfect timing and the perfect yeah it just it was seamless to the point where people like my favorite moments of Late Show were when it was like okay was that planned or was that not planned and and that one of the Delights of this this program of the Letterman podcast has been finding out how many of these moments that looked spontaneous but they were either planned or you were able to react to it so it looked like it was planned and it blurred the line it was it was unbelievable how you guys did that yeah that was that was definitely not plan that was sort of like handed to us that was a that was a that was a comedy gold it's like oh my God look at this and they went right off and then mcain came on I guess uh I don't know how many a few weeks later C and kind of did the Maya Copa yeah I I screwed up I screwed up it's pretty good it pretty good oh and that's a that's a that's a prime moment but you think about all the other times like um I can't wait to have anybody who did the sound effects on here too like like you know Dave saying something and and everyone realizing yes and then the game show ding going off or of course you know the window you know that that kind of stuff um yeah and I mean that's the stuff of that control room that just probably wouldn't have existed at all at at the evening news right yeah yeah well no no that would thingss on the Evening News would be a little bit of a problem we had our own mistakes but they weren meant to they were meant to happen yeah de no I was going to say mistakes um and he come to mind right there well oh yeah uh well I had one actually was uh it was pretty interesting um I don't know when it was what we were doing but we were coming back from a commercial break yeah and I I don't know how I did this but I dissolved when I came back from the break I dissolved up they was um they was Center Stage for something I forget it was there for and um but I kind of dissolved up to a machine that what we call Ed it's kind of looking at the control room looking at the output so you're getting this feedback and Dave you know did this with his arms he had you like these flaring arms and he was like whoa yeah I scrambled to you know fix it so we wouldn't be there anymore um and you know called up the right setup you know on a button uh and then he said he wanted to see it again and the hardest the hardest part of that was you know redoing a scre no idea what I did I'm like go you know FY goes come on Kennedy he wants it so but we finally figured it out but um but uh any other screw-ups now I think that's probably the only one I kind of laughed about but um probably many of them I just can't pull any back at that's a great example though of how of how Dave would uh you know and I mean the early Narrative of late night was always that they celebrated failure it wasn't that they celebrated failure in my mind it was they celebrated life and life includes little moments like this where you know most TV shows try and come across so polished and and and that that screw-ups would never happen whereas when life happens hey let's let's focus on life for a second like you said right you know there's a comedy piece but he's goingon to talk about something that happened over the weekend or whatever like that's one thing that I think that so many people resonate with it was one of the ways that we kind of felt like we were part of the club as the audience uh because the crew was part of it everybody was part of it um and I mean a family safe to say I mean and she's told me so much about how tight you all were in that control room you guys were such a family yeah Shey you know just a digress of Shey I've watched a couple of the podcasts I so could when people uh calling him Rick and yeah I don't think I ever heard anybody during the when I was at Letterman call it was always Shey he Shey would just like saying that name but uh he was a he was a kind soul Shey good man um miss him but uh anyway I I digress I just want to mention mention abouty no there he is right there he's always here episode he's uh this this show would not exist if it wasn't for for for Shey and I just appreciate him so so much but yeah and and and he would tell me about when you guys would you know get together afterwards or whatever like just the the the family that it was in that in that control room specifically I want to go back to what an average day looked like for you um because as the assistant um you know it's a different different uh um portfolio than the the director but like would you be called to go out and be director on Extras and things like that as well or were you like what was an average day for you as chaotic knowing that there's chaos but like what time did you get there what time did you leave and um what was some the ordinary kind of flow events oh it's just you know it's like any other TV show you you get in I I think for Letterman know the schedule kept changing over the years sometimes you're doing five shows a week and Dave would go out on remotes and then next thing know Dave wasn't going out on remotes and next you know Dave wasn't coming rehearsals um but um for me you know I get in well it's actually pretty decent hours for Letterman I get in like a 10:30 11 yeah and we would uh do we call a fax check we check all the microphones we check all the cameras we check all the videotape machines you know just both through a f i called it fa fail check you making sure the facility is working um and then uh we would you know the music would be loaded in whatever band it may be which is always an exciting part of the day what what music was there for that day because we had some pretty iconic acts on uh music are you music are you a music fan Tim oh yeah oh yeah no I just you know that was my favorite part of the day I think is um uh we would um block music I think after lunch trying to remember because look Co bear we did it different can't remember all no that sounds right Chris shakai was on here and Harvey Goldberg was on here and they that sounds about right we block after lunch um and we would we' have the band run it um because when when when the band came in in the morning when the Ries came in we would load them in we would line check them we' get sounds yeah but then know the bands with and then when the the talent would come on uh we let them run the song like three or four times just to get the monitors correct or their in ears correct and make sure we get the right mix for Harvey and for the front of house and monitors everything is all working properly uh and then we would sit down and block it and get unblocked we push it up stage and do them for the show but I would always go up uh when FY wasn't really we weren't really blocking it for cameras yet they would do it two or three times and you know could have been CR STS and Nash it could have been uh what do we have Foo Fighters Pearl Jam it's just I mean it's it's endless you know so that was my favorite part of the day sit in the audience and watching these watch these band for hers Play the song have you ever seen the f fighters I said yeah I've only seen him do one song but I've seen into a concert you know I you saw yeah one song I saw them do Everlong eight times it was amazing exactly exactly but that would be it and then we then we'd uh come back we' you know sound check again we'd rehearse the bands and then we would uh uh Dave would come down back in the day and we'd rehears for maybe half an hour we get done rehearsing go over and play the drums a little bit and then he he would leave um and then uh later on uh he uh just had our our floor director would do the rehearsal and the writers would sit at the desk and read through the script and we'd send a tape up to Dave and then the the 5:30 I always appreciated about they you want to talk about the similarity between news and Dave is news you came on rather you came on at 6:30 no matter what you are hot to the network yep with Letterman same thing 5:30 is out the gate and if you're not there doesn't matter he's going to run out on that stage you better be ready to go so it was a really well oiled machine controlled by chaos but um it was um it was you know on on the button till the end then he would take a little bit more time because he' come out and talk to the audience for yes two and a half minutes with his microphone smacked in the lens on the camera and Y uh uh but he would talk for literally and then we Jessica or Ry would give the queue to uh Paul music would start in 5:30 or 4:30 on the dot depending what the day of the week was and then towards the end he would take a little bit more time and next you know we're we're going at 5:35 I'm going wow this this is you know this is weird but um yeah he was very rigid what he wanted to get done hey you know whatever whatever he wants we're gonna give him a couple things about that the first thing is is is having that energy um the energy transference it certainly came through uh the airwaves there's no question about that because when you play Live or you you basically play like we're live and in some ways I think I think you guys were more live than Saturday live in some in some respects even though it might not have been broadcast live the way that you presented um inside that house with you know uh again we've talked about this Paul and the band uh treating it like it's a Concert Experience you know playing through the commercials none of this we start the bumper okay we're out end the bumper we're back in none of that stuff they play the whole time um and and and there were two- minute breaks like we're live and we're back right and and um that translated um the other cool thing though to bookend it was uh Dave getting looser at the end you know um you know I think of that you know closer to the end like I think about that that episode with the the the Eagles music I don't know if you remember that that that particular but I mean the whole show went off the rails at that point and and and this is a result of okay we played it like it was live for so long with this intensity and presented it now near the end we're going to get relaxed every once in a while and that will translate as well and I think the viewers saw both of those things right right yeah yeah oh the Eagles thing was I remember that because it was they wanted to play some Eagle song I remember cath go it's gonna be it's gonna be like $100,000 if they play that song and tell them no don't do it don't do it I don't know did we ever play it I can't remember I remember the whole what ended up happening which is even cooler um and actually I'm going to throw this out there uh uh uh one of the writers told me that um he was collecting these songs and he wants to get them all CBS had access to them so CBS had a list of songs that sounded like other songs oh oh okay and this writer went and actually meticulously cataloged all of the songs and what their counterpart was so there was this one called supercharger That was supposed to sound like Life in the Fast Lane okay and so what they ended up doing is they didn't play an eagle song Paul didn't they didn't do anything but they that Dave comes back and he says okay well I'm told we have this song that sounds like an eagle song and you guys played that and again that's one of those moments it's like okay yeah so so you've got uh one of the writers up in the writer room watching the feed going oh my God this will be hilarious and he is phoning I think he phoned bill shef right and and and and and and phoned him while this is happening and then you guys somehow someway find this song called you know supercharger or whatever it's called you find it somehow and you play it and and and again looks like the entire thing was planned when in fact of course none of it was planned and and it looked so good that moment is around uh on the official uh Channel I'll send it back to you it'll it'll give you some PTSD it'll be great yeah I love this I guess I saw it but I don't remember it but that's the type of stuff you guys are doing there um I derailed you at the music so so after music rehearsal um at that point uh at that point I guess you're yeah it's it's it's uh regular rehearsal stuff right like extra bits uh you could you know run stupid human tricks it could be pet tricks it could be um just a bit out on the street um we could you know if we're GNA throw stuff off the roof we' block that yeah um any Specialties that we're going to do yeah you know to Li the tee you know on the hard wire and you know so we go through we go through all that and then um by 5:30 we're we're out the gate yeah so uh yeah was always something different you know and a lot of sophomore humor you know like I said thrown stuff off the roof um we had the fireworks on the roof we had the Civil War uh re reenactment on 53rd Street you know we blew up a soda machine for rehearsal we blew up the soda machine it was so loud and so dangerous they wouldn't let us do it for a no kidding yeah it yeah bom yeah oh man there's a shout there's a bunch of shout outs coming here shout out to Glenn borders for that stuff shout out to uh to Bill Palumbo for the building of everything out there and then all the other crew all the unions who were all involved in the production those types of things um did you ever have to go offsite or were you mostly in the theater uh we took the show on the road a few times we did um they when they came back from London uh Jerry was the TD and that's uh that may uh they made him the director uh so and actually I think that may was it that may I think trying to think we went to LA um and then the next week we went to um uh San Francisco the Palace of Fine Arts and then we did the fourth city tour and after the 4 City Tour I think we uh we tired Dave out he was he was done with traveling somebody said you can't get the jet close enough to the hotel um so uh we pretty much stayed it put and and actually the next uh Four City Tour we did we um they flew the whole uh City in they flew 500 people from I where we did it with with four cities we did and we drop a backdrop behind them and flew them in they get a hotel stay or free flight uh to New York City bunch of city city dir dirty water hot dogs and you know a whole city experienced and put them back on the plane and send them back but but yeah so those are the only times um I traveled for the show okay and so you never went on remotes or extras then you were never the guy out shooting outside uh in a park or somewhere on the street you were always in the control room always in the control room if we were doing remotes into the show I was always in the control we would send somebody out to uh Tech manager technical direct that wherever it may be we might hire outside crew sometimes we you know send out you know guys from the CBS broadcast Center to go out and set up whatever remote we were going to do I can't remember some of the Roes we did but anyway yes we would I would stay yeah I stayed put in the theater which is fine by me yeah no absolutely you're you're you're you're part of the nucleus of the machine itself that makes sense um oh I had one and then it just disappeared based on what you said it doesn't matter um okay so oh when Jerry Foley was otherwise uh you know if he was Ill or something like that couldn't be there were you the guy that jumped in his chair I directed two shows for okay for for uh um yeah two shows I did do you remember uh yeah sorted it was actually it was a it was a it was a double show it was Thursday so we did two shows and uh and I think it had CBS mailbag it was pretty busy to it had two bands we had Todd rungren and um I think what's the band was called the exies I think they were called okay so had two bands you know top 10 uh CBS mailbag uh yeah yeah it was it was I think I stood up the whole show the got to sat in for me said hey you haven't sat down once I was just so nervous about it but uh yeah yeah yeah it was it was and then you know ho came back and which is all good yeah um I I find that precious that I directed two shows and you're able to tell me specifics about each show obviously a big deal you know you know going from one to the other even though the job itself I mean you work hand in hand you kind of know exactly what it is but the perception though when you when you end up sitting there there that's very interesting yeah yeah it was uh you know the the the the beats in the show the open this this this and this one thing but then anticipating Dave you know calling for something sort of that kind of but you know you got a great team you know Andy and R Andy Randy and Jessica were awesome you know had a great I mean everybody kind of knew actually some things people would just say what Dave was gonna say before he was goingon to say because they just we've been there so long and it's still was funny but um you know just anticipating him that was always sort of like you know where we going with this you know top 10 you know is one thing uh but you know CBS mailbag I got a little complicated but I think I got I got through on Skate um was there and I mean I asked this to uh to Amy I think it's a it's it's a valid question for you too like I think about some of the moments where that were you know kind of Hallmarks of the show that Hal had started so so for example uh I you know and this happened to me I had my Q&A moment moment with Dave and then and then you know Dave comes out and right before he does the monologue he says something about it and and suddenly there's a shot of of me and my family in the audience you know and and back on Dave like they would do that if there was a call back of some sort did you have one camera person who was kind of sort of a Rover and their job was to was to was to shoot that kind of stuff and then you had the other three camera positions or or whatever like how did you uh how did you set up for the random well something like that if it's it's a call back to the audience um you know some cameras are locked what they're doing you know camera 2 was always on Dave yeah uh depending which side of the theater it was on if it was on the stage left you know audience right camera 3 would you know kind of focus in on that person you know I think there's going to be a call back uh we had two uh two trying remember we had one hand we had look at this I can't remember had three hards a chib uh and a mini you know roing hand uh roing handheld so uh we were pretty flush with cameras to cover what we needed to cover but um uh you had to be quick for it because they might not be on the whole time he might also pull it back and the camera's got to swing real quick and the video guy see Dave never let us put the audience lights on Stephen kind of kept the audience a little lit Dave never da Dave he always made us keep the keep the lights down uh so camera guy had to you know crank up the game so you can see the person and yep uh but um yeah the camera guys are great as you know Foley said you know he iied on upon them so much you got I was more like a a traffic cop you know I know where they take that take because the camera guys are they're on top of it really sharp BR I haven't had a camera operator on yet I know I want to I wanted desperately to talk to Steve coffin unfortunately he he yeah absolutely that was a heartbreak absolutely and and so but I I very much want to talk to these camera operators because right um the reaction speed and like the person who was holding the the the the the that camera that you were talking about the mini you know like that is that's a Highwire act right there of that job you got to react quickly but again it's funny you know you talk about the differences between the two between late show and the late show and um you know to me a Hallmark was oh something's happening there's a camera and then the the audience actually sees the light turn on for it that actually sort of became a stylistic part of the of of of your show because of that process but yeah um that is that is a differ Stephen does keep the audience uh a little bit lit I saw that last week what are some of the other differences that you've uh from like a technical standpoint between the two shows it it's very interesting that you were one of the few people that was there to bridge things um right and I'm fascinated to know some of the your your thoughts on that well I mean Stephen was a little more heavily scripted I didn't I don't think he really went off script that much I mean just to clarify uh when Stephen came over um from Comedy Central like Dave you know he he brings his key people with him you know he likes seeing the same so they brought over you know a few camera when we kind of filled in some holes as we went went along and uh they he brought over uh the director brought over his own TV did what I did so I kind of got out of the seat and I assumed more of a managerial role you know just kind of making sure everything is working y um so uh the inner workings of Stephen was totally different than the inner workings of Davis for what I I I took in you know uh uh you know Stevens was more uh Stevens more like a new show I guess at the top a lot of you know graphic teleprompter versus cards like just that there you go well right right there exactly um so yeah Steve's a little more heavily scripted um and Dave was uh he could just fly off the cuff at any moment like lack of better words maybe a little more organic or whatever just you know you didn't know where he was going to go coar was more um structured which is great and both great guys absolutely oh yeah guys yeah yeah personal goes without saying but ironic for you in your career you started in news and then you ended up at a place that that had a a more newsy type type flow to it you know the the the desk with the you know with the graphic behind Dave of course never did anything really like that um but that's you know you look at Seth Myers you look at you know coar John Stewart all of that they're they've made their Mark in broadcasting with you know the desk kind of format newscast and so so so yeah interesting that that's that kind of happened for you in your career how one came back to it sure yep it was uh it was an interesting um two shows to work on yeah uh I gotta ask um now that you're on this side of and we're kind of going all over the place but that's okay I love that I love that it's just a organic conversation I'd much rather that than than structured questions um do you still dream about either show oh I have uh the old anxiety dreams or you know I can't get to this or this is going on how come I don't have this ready and you know know get out of my dreams you know Stephen what are you do to my freaking dreams you know D what you you know um but uh yeah absolutely oh no I have him from time to time you know but uh I guess because maybe I miss it a little bit you know I kind of do I miss you know I miss I miss the old man you know when he was on it was great uh Good Times made a lot of good friendships there and same thing with Stephen I try to stop every once in a while I don't get to go in anymore well now the co protocol is kind of breaking up but um uh it's always good to see the crew but uh yeah definitely definitely filters into my my nighttime dreams at time why why the hell was David my dream last night what was that all um You are not alone my friend there's a lot of that going around um absolutely um did you okay and this is an interesting question that it's it's funny it seems Elementary uh for for people who have just started sort of watching this show but it's not it's a it's a complic at question um because there are people who worked for Dave for a long long long long long time that I've never actually met him or had any contact with him um but you and Jerry obviously in a different spot uh did you have very much contact with Dave in a given week well uh yeah I mean I'm in the control room so uh I would see um I would see Dave in the hallway yeah uh you know coming back from the show want to have you I had a couple of couple little running well here here's a here's a funny little story so I started the show in May of 95 and uh uh I saw day time got bouncing around maybe crossed his path you know here and there but yeah never really met him and every year we had he has a Christmas party and this one year he had the Christmas party at the wman ring yep and he would serve mashed potatoes and meatloaf that would be the dinner love it some beers what have you but comfort food my friend comfort food exactly stick to the ribs food but um I uh I was out skating probably with my wife and maybe my my young son at the time and uh I saw an opportunity da was kind of you know leaning up against the boards there at wman rank I said go up and thank them because we get we get the nice jacket like you have on so I skated up to him I said said hey Dave um you know my name is Tim Kennedy um I'm the the technical director on the show I'm in the control room that much you know our pths don't P our pths don't cross that much and he looked at me he goes let's keep it that way was like I was like okay I got a good laugh out of it but every Tomy saw me the hallway he always said hey Tim you know how you doing and you know came down you know thank me for the when I did the show had to directed the two times and R trated cigars for a little bit but um yeah my you know my interaction as I said to people I probably interacted I interacted with Dave maybe five times and probably the conversation about five words long but um you know he was he was a good guy is a good guy uh haven't seen you're ahead of the average Tim you're ahead of the average um I have another question that seems inside and it might seem odd do you remember when the microphone got stolen oh I do oh oh yeah no that's see he just gave me just that's a trigger I just gave me the he gave me the yeah yeah I you know that was that was a dark day that was a very dark day that was a very like what happened because it was always in the same cabinet uh and um yeah yeah that that was something that they you know they got from NBC and had a little plaque on it yeah it was a nice little momentum for Dave and I wish we probably would have taken with him uh into his retirement you know I don't think he's up at night you know upset over it but I was upset because it was like you know was on my watch you know what the heck happened so it was yeah it was like but you know things happen people people have Sticky Fingers people have no conscience and you know I don't know who has it now and who he or she is showing it to or but um yeah there there there is a story with it um and and and hopefully it's going to turn into a story of redemption uh and it's not my story completely to tell but what I'm going to do is I'm going to point you in the direction of some of the thing of of of of where it is and it is public it's out there um oh yeah and and the goal is to get it back to Dave so yeah great that's great that microphone is historic Dave and the night of when the new microphone showed up and then the you guys figured it out figured out what to do it was so funny Dave's reaction to it he's like well you know but that microphone was stolen and the whole audience went silent and then he looked around and goes but then I figured well we stole this from NBC anyway so maybe that was the way but that microphone goes all the way back to Jack par um it was one of the hanging mics I believe uh par show and so yeah um I I yeah I wanted to ask if you remember that day okay no no I I remember that one vividly that was uh yeah like I said that was like I I could feel I just felt it in the pit of my stomach when you mentioned it like oh yeah I forgot well that's all right you know forgot about that one but uh oh no be great it'd be great if they find it you know that'd be you know but things happen I had one time I came in and I was I think it was I was Letterman I think it was Letterman it wasn't called Baron yeah it was Letterman because I had my office on the seventh floor Y and I remember coming in and my window was next to another building there's a building roof there like 10 feet below and uh I went into my office and I thought I heard Street noise what a street noise I realized my windows a little cracked I said I looked and then I realized there were some things that were on my window sill that kind of been moved I'm like what the heck is because I was one of the first in the office I'm looking around I and I went into our equipment crib and somebody had come in through my window from that other building and stole the camera and next you know my God next you know the New York City you know the CSI group is they're in my office they're fingerprinting me because they want to R me out and everything I'm like like holy crap well it's the same office as the city of New York is in the is in the building too right so a security is this is a no this is an apartment building that's next to I see I see I see yeah yeah yeah but yeah that was H it kind of reminded me all the times we got the the heists that went on in the theater that was the only Heist but yeah the microphone was microphone was yeah that was that was some day I'll definitely send you the uh the the the story about the microphone since then and I love to see um yeah love to see H what is the this is an interesting question for for for some some it's a boring question any what's the oddest thing you ever had to do for the show oh boy wow because I assume you had like maybe you did some people they were pretty straight laced and they saw some cool stuff they saw the chaos but sometimes though there were people who were straight lce that had to do something odd for the show because there was nobody else you got to dress in a costume or you got to go in oh W any of that that stuff yeah yeah well I I I didn't have many on air appearances I had uh couple that were pre-taped but I did have one that was just awful um where it was a mailbag piece yeah and uh the bit was that um somebody wrote In and said Dave wouldn't it be cool um if uh what you say uh about XYZ a bubble comes out of your head a little bubble thought bubble which really says what you think I forget what the comedy was behind it y great great premise though that's a great premise right the payout was uh uh he he wanted to let people how know how that effect went and he I think he he said I've haven't seen the tape playback he said uh oh that's done by our our technical director in the control room and this is me and so just to get the setup he calls me down the control room he's at the desk I'm in the control room now mind you I'm sitting at the switcher and I usually look this way at the monitor I got Foley over here but for this thing the camera is over here shooting me yep I got Foley in this year I got Dave in this year I'm cutting the show I'm looking at the camera and I'm doing the effect putting the bubble in and out how I did it and not looking what I'm doing and I think it kind of got screwed up a little bit but the best part was when we finally ended the segment we went back to Dave fully leaned over to me goes hey Kennedy you look like a real jerk I felt like one yeah yeah so uh that was the last time we did anything live with me on the show but um that was probably the oddest thing yeah the shot I go back to is uh is is the last show of course and I mean I was gonna ask you about the last show but you know we'll probably get to it again uh the last show when when when Dave's thanking everybody and then the the the cut into the control room let's keep it to two drinks tonight shall we go everybody and um showing you guys I love how grateful that Dave was for um for the the company of David Letterman and Company there's that that we always talk about the book The Last Days of Letterman that talks about the last six weeks uh Scott Ryan wrote that book and and and um Dave's note allegedly the note that Dave had about that book was he was so happy that somebody had taken time Scott had taken time to focus on the staff because he was so grateful and and and um so heartfelt in wanting to hire the best crew and the best camera people and the best writers and the best of everybody the the company of David Letterman and Company um cannot be understated that's why we do this whole show and I loved in the last episode how much time he took uh everything from in the show itself you know went long screw it who cares we're gonna thank everybody and the and the the final credits as well of that last show uh were were were fantastic um and uh you know you guys did a great he did a great job thanking you guys for that he was very he was his funny joke was like the crew hates me you know that's time one of his long running joke and we didn't you know we he was great to the crew he was you know always there for everything he you know supported us um but he would say at times you know when something went wrong he'd like you know go he looked down at the go hey NASA calling the control room NASA always bring your kids to the control room night you know or something would something go wrong and and the Florida director would do this point because we were directly below him so um but uh yeah he afforded me a lot of laughs and uh yeah yeah yeah so yeah he was very appreciative and we were and turn we're very appreciative of of him and the things that he's done for us along the years and your your office was on seven for uh Letterman was on seven yes I was directly did you ever take the freight elevator you know uh I did with George he let me drive at one time uh yeah but yeah yeah yeah I I didn't do too well on it but uh now that was Dave's Chariot but um uh yeah I've taken the fre fright a couple times we Ed it a couple times we used to do uh um we started doing music up on the roof of the theater we'd have to get as many elevators as we could up and down and if Dave wasn't using it we'd be bringing God knows what up to the roof uh for whatever concert we're going to do uh the the one that always comes to mind first for me uh was the Jay-z Eminem shoot up there that was uh you historic moment unbelievable moment on I loveed that so much uh I don't know if you've heard this story you probably have heard this story but I don't know that we've talked about it on the on um this show here um I would love to have been a fly on the wall when Dave taught Stephen how to use that elevator um there's a moment where Stephen came I guess about two weeks before Dave was done he wanted to talk to him while things uh as Stephen says he was still in the saddle and and and um you know we asked Dave some questions about you know marks and different things about the the studio and all of that and then Dave taught Stephen how to use that elevator taught him how to drive it taught him how to what the process was and thank you for much DAV goes yeah well I guess this is yours now and what a what a sweet moment that is I don't know did did you know that story I I have I I don't I mean you know a lot more than I do I that one I do not know about but I don't find that hard to believe yeah you know that they would do something like that yeah it's a great way here you go kid here's the keys to the car you know yeah yes yes exactly that's that's itang on um can we talk about Mr rather for a second did you uh Did You Know Dan Rather when you did the Evening News at all did you ever interact with him directly Dan never came in the control room you know camera guys everybody knows the camera guys that God uh but you know the control room control room is uh kind of like Dave came in the control room twice yep when I was there you know one actually when he came in one time uh I didn't know he was there it's actually we did the we did the HD conversion he came down to find out you know ask him how much money were we spend I said about 20 million goes good um but I didn't know he was behind me and uh I turned around I like like what are these things he's you know he never in your space like that yeah but um but Dan no Dan I don't think Dan um I don't remember I I don't I I met Dan a couple of times but uh you know six years on the show yeah I guarantee he doesn't know my name which is fine for sure and and I mean you know and again that's that's just that's how it goes that's that's the television business um I I more think you know you see him every day for six years and then right you'd see him drop in to Late Show including on you know if there's a a famous or an Infamous uh you know 911s show yeah yeah yeah that was touching I watch it every year that's my that's my tradition since 911 I have watched the entire show and it's you know the show it's an entirety and I mean don't get me wrong Dave's cold open incredible um prolific uh you know unbelievable leadership and courage um but I don't know when the last time watched Dan rather's appearance on that show you know people remember okay he got emotional okay and yes but of course he did uh but it was the discussion afterwards that went to the end of the segment um that was fascinating to me and it just shows I just anytime I have the opportunity to talk about Dan Rather because 20 years later you watch it and it was like he was prophetic he talked about uh do we have the stomach for this do we have the you know the the staying power and all that what's it going to look like when we leave what's it going to look like and when you know the book end of that knowing how it ended or or or whatever and and listening to Dan's words that night absolutely astounding and that was a moment of of of history that kind of combined your two histories with CBS and kind of put them into one evening yeah um Late Show after 911 it took a while to kind of find its feet again some changes permanent uh you know some things obviously relaxed Tommy rup going out of his mind trying to remember you know when's the next time we can make fun of bush that kind of a thing right oh there's a comedy right there do you remember that transition did the show from a technical standpoint um less music you know the cold open with the flag that kind of a thing um did the show change very much from your standpoint at that at that point or was it pretty much the same just with a little bit different content obviously it's a little more somber I mean and indeed that that 9911 show is probably one of my wish we never had to do it but one of The Shining Moments you know when Dave really spoke because I'm just gonna speak because I need to hear myself talk yeah and uh that was yeah um that statement alone comforted me because I you know a lot of people had a lot of things in that weren't sure you know and and yeah it was an important show anyway sorry I didn't mean to interrupt no that's okay uh but um you know a lot of it's kind of a blur I mean I know we wouldn't do the big whizbang open for a while I me know when we started doing the uh uh started rolling the opening uh opening credits um but uh you know I think we're all shell shocked at that point and um obviously it's a time we won we don't want to forget about you can't put behind you uh you know it's a good question Mike I uh I I really I really couldn't tell you I mean it was really in the writer's hands and Dave's hands about how the show is going to play out was you know what kind of energy is it going to have you know what do we going to do who we going to talk to uh but um then we got back up to speed again and you know we had Bush it was that was comedy gold that was comedy gold but yeah yeah that that that was definitely one of my one of my most mble shows that he did yeah it was important what you all did and I I try and when it does come up I thank you I thank you all for being a part of something that was so important I'm from western Canada um I don't know that there was a more important um television show other than of course the news telling us what was going on and that kind of thing I don't think there was a more important uh television broadcast moment than that moment at that time so thank you for being a part of that uh you know absolute television history you got some Emmys behind you um how many you got those are actually my wives she's got the she's got the whole shelf here she's got she got like 20 um I have like five I think four five I think but mine don't mine don't fit on the Shelf they're a little little taller so mine are in the basement this is I love the segue on this is beautiful obviously I would not be good at my job if I didn't say what wait what okay so Emmy Envy uh in the Kennedy household right right let's let's talk about yours and then let's oh look at them all oh my God dtim you're killing me that's amazing yeah well she's amazing let's let's let's go into you first because you are the you are the subject of the show um what are your five for uh well two for Letterman yep uh one for rather for graphics what did I get there that's three one for two for sports I don't know I think two for sports two for NFL today I think I don't know I don't know what the other I got I'm think over there I got one two and I got three three downstairs I got three actually I got one with a somebody told me the national enemies the bigger emmies are actually the same size as Barbie and for my 50th birthday party a friend bought me a Barbie gown for my when one Emmy is dressed with a uh with a bar sh it looks fabulous but I would I would think it looks fabulous uh that's the for it um you have received Emmy Awards working on the Productions of two of the greatest broadcast ERS in history um you know when I say it like that it sounds really cool because it is really cool um you're grateful for this that obviously you're you know yeah yeah yeah it's it's actually one one of them funny story one of them is so old uh you know they're not real gold um they the gold plaque and the gold kind of was worn off of it it's kind of like silver now and I mean somebody come in one time they looked they said they saw the gold they said the silver they said is that second place they said yeah God that's a great it's second place so that's I tell people now but there's an old there's a story somebody told one time that somebody came in and saw and saw the saw the emies I guess didn't know what it was and said you know who's the bowler oh that's fantastic too oh that's so good um let's let's let's get to the uh let's get to the other half now I I'm not going to say better half but the other half um who's your wife and how has she won darn Emy she is a executive producer for WABC y uh in in New York and she had her own unit so she would go and do specials everything from uh two Broadway specials a year um she'd do two Oscar specials with Joel seagull uh Marathon special so she did a lot of specials here and racked up a bunch of Emmy wins for that but she's very sharp she's a sharp one in the family has she had any uh any contact with uh with with Regis philin oh yeah no she knows Regis and Kathy very actually she was just telling a story about Kathy Lee the other day um that uh when she was pregnant at the same time as my wife was with our first son Kathy was a little bit ahead of her so she um gave Nancy all her maternity clothes so Nancy said she was the best dressed pregnant woman in Essex County but uh no she you know F memories are reges and Kathy and uh and Kelly and what have you but uh yeah she's yeah yeah yeah she's been around there for a while but yeah she just she retired uh two years ago so we're um she producing me now that's herob oh that's good thank goodness yeah um work in progress my wife produces me too that's that's great I'm gonna teach you that word she'll she'll she'll sub it for bossing around I'm producing you that's perfect I can't wait for that um tell candy about that uh um so that's interesting the WABC connection did she she must have known Brian teda then as well no no teda teda was Network side uh doing the view I she she knows people on The View but she was on the local side the only Network on she did were syndicated with Joel or Sandy Kenyon or you know some of those shows but uh everything else was pretty much local uh and that that was that but no no she doesn't know teda okay I gotta shout out to Brian Ted I saw him the other day yeah rert de we're gonna be having him on the show hopefully sooner than later but I mean that's story like stories like that um it was funny at the at the at the at the dinner the other night or at the Rupert's thing I was talking to Rob Bernett and and a couple people were Tommy was speaking Tommy Rupa was speaking I looked at him I said this has got to be kind of like seeing you know your kids doing adult things now like like you know up and doing that um you must have had a lot of those types of moments where you've seen people show up as an intern they end up doing something and then they end up moving on to something something else uh have you seen much of that in on your side of the uh of the camera uh you know um I gotta say the interns were usually there for three months four months and you know so you do three sets of interns a year over 20 plus years that's 60 sets of interns and it's like you know it's a long time and half the time um I I just kind of blank with I hate to be that way with because it's uh I have a hard enough time remembering my own kids no kidding uh no no no no but but but even people in the control room who have moved on to other things you know like what Rand what she's doing now and and all of that um uh well I think well Mary Barkley was one of our was our controll room inter and he interviewed with Pam n rosney she was a controlman intern and now she's at NBC y uh Dana um boy I'm forgetting Dana's actually she's over at NBC a big muck muck um Pam wears a mean hot dog outfit as well by the way yes she's the best nasni oh my God remember she told me one time how many credit she was getting for her for uh working in the controlman said what you're getting how many credits to be with us I said you got but uh she was always a lot of laughs she was and still is I saw her well I saw her at the at the Shey Memorial and um it a sad moment but it was nice catching up with everybody uh but uh yeah you know I um I really don't know uh well those are a couple of pretty major names any way like I mean my goodness maryan pan like holy smokes um yeah I uh the reunions are something that I think um you know since since the rert uh video has surfaced it and Walter did such a good job Walter and and Jay shot that but Walter really put on that um one of the things that uh like rert was I said this in the the the tribute episode we did for him a few weeks back but uh his you know he was his plan was to write off into the sunset like his plan was not to do anything and and um when he kind of told Walter that Walter was like are you kidding like the only time we get together like you talk about she's Memorial and I mean it was an amazing event I I told Kathy it was produced with love and Randy I told them they produced it with love and you can tell yeah yeah oh they're good people oh such good people uh um and and and and what Walter said to rert was um when we get together it's usually for something sad and that's unfortunate we want to get together when something happy and I think it I think it triggered something I certainly hope that there's some sort of a reunion of of some kind I would love to see um you know the band get back together for one night at at Radio City or Carnegie Hall or something like that like a one night only show do you think that that's something that like if if if he ever said Jerry would you come out of retirement for one show Tim would you come out of retirement for one show would you ever would you do something like that to help out with a with a one Letterman reunion absolutely yeah no questions asked absolutely you know I don't know how long it to take to do it I remember I remember how to do it but oh yeah a heartbeat absolutely and that would be yeah that'd be cool they do a show like a special be great like I mean you know Netflix has got lots of money they could you know let's let's uh let's let's open up a a Brink truck and and and get the band back together um it'd be so cool to do something like that I know there's certainly a a ground swell of support for that I I haven't brought that up here on camera very much but now that after that event happened I think that there's a I think there is a hunger for it and um I hope it could happen at some point and and and everybody could kind of come back together and and because what you guys did was really special you were part of something um really really special and and I think that showing how many people stayed in that control room for as long as they did um you know a lot of those seats were the same seats for a decade or Beyond um in that thing I think that's a testament that you all knew that you were part of something special is that safe to say yeah yeah and and you know and and looking back on what what you would like to see happen I don't know if we could ever get that you know that was something in time to time to move on I mean get get out while it's good um but uh if he asked I would do it I don't think that's ever gonna happen I hate to say that I would I mean yeah the odds are are astronomically low that that could happen but I mean I think about the idea of like you've watched daon um you know the the the Kennedy Center award and the Mark Twain Prize and all that stuff those are great they're fantastic but they're not produced in the same vein or voice and the segment that they have with the people who come out and Kimmel comes out and John meany set killed on that that was great and you know you see Dave up in the Box imagine though like something like that except completely Letterman like where it's an Adam Sandler and there's Bill bur and there's Chappelle or something like that the people who grew up on him kind of giving it back but yet be involvement I don't know I just see it in my mind's eye so clearly that it could be something really really cool um and and maybe Dave wouldn't have to lift too many fingers for it you know like and and just be perfectly um the tone of what you guys all did and and and you know certainly it's never been replicated um right I don't know I just see that get a treat get a treatment written up and then pitch it let me know how it go hey if I knew what a treatment was I would do it in a second but I uh I don't even know what that is I don't even um I'm being a little bit naive on that or hyperbolous on that but but yeah like yeah I think I think that I don't know I just from a from a from an audience standpoint um I certainly know it would be welcome and and and I think the world needs a little bit of that you know and and no offense to the other um late night shows at all they've gotten really a lot of them have gotten really political and all of that you know I think we just need something zany again um it doesn't have to have a message except let's have some fun do a whole show throwing stuff off the roof I'm in take my money I'm in we can do that yeah yeah no problem with that um Tim I appreciate your time so so so much here uh before we I I I have a couple ways that I want to lead out um but before we leave the Letterman stuff um we've been talking about this year for for for a week here or so uh were there anything else that you had kind of thought of that oh yeah I want to bring that up is any poper sitting there that stories that we might want to know about Letterman days not really I think uh I think he kind of touched on all you I didn't know what you're GNA ask and someone like oh I gota pull back the old memory banks because kind of I kind of you know bulk erase things every day like oh you know some of this stuff I was interesting hearing what you remembered like going oh yeah yeah I remember that um no I think we I think we touched on everything I don't know uh I don't know what else anything uh any hidden secrets um the uh no bodies buried in the Ed suvan theater um no bodies not lot of rats maybe some old rats laying in there somewhere but that always get sneaky you found a dead rat and that's George have to take care of the dead rats but any um and and from an audience standpoint we would think it would be George would be the guy who would be the guy taking care of that that that sounds about right actually good man Georgie yeah Haven seen him since he retired oh you know who I uh I saw at the um at Rupert's thing I think we're gonna have him on the show is Bild the lace and I mean there's a guy whose story Chief absolutely I called him Chief and it the smile that went on his face when I called him Chief right out of Central Casting he was the best they put him in bits oh my God he was hilarious his voice just alone way he talk like this all the time yeah yeah I love the chief I see him every once in a while if I'm in the city I walk by there in the lobby as people are coming in so I get to stop in and see him and ask how Jess is doing or like up yeah yeah yeah the chief good man absolutely time what's thate I said he's been there a long he's been there oh he sure has yeah and he was it was so perfect for Rupert's thing on Friday he was he was the he was the bouncer there like that's the other thing you talk to Bill and it doesn't take you if you have any sort of intuition whatsoever or or or empathic type traits it doesn't take very long talking to Bill to know that that guy's a guy you don't want to mess with oh yeah well yeah yeah I've seen I've seen a couple of times he had to take take care of business um but uh yeah yeah good man and yes you want him on your side as they said they always came in they always came in uh was Foley line the security guys always came in dress for Easter they always look great they had their suits on and they they're very professional you know they dealt with a lot of high-end you know Stars some of those Stars would roll in off at 53rd Street you know Tom Cruz uh you know your you know Julia Roberts I mean it gets it gets crazy crazy out there so they got their job they got their job cut out for them the last night I was there I wanted to secure um getting my picture behind Dave's desk this is a month before Dave retired and uh and and Vinnie was supposed to be the guy that I was supposed to ask and and uh and it was funny because I went to talk to Vinnie and and and uh they said no he's on Travolta duty tonight you know because Travolta was there and so Travolta got Vinnie the whole night and it ended up being mik that got us back behind the desk but um those guys I mean if there were stereotypical New Yorkers you know you take those three guys in the way that they talk you take you take a guy like Bill you take a guy like Mike or Vinnie and whatever you know Vinnie with the Pencil Thin Mustache and the voices and all that stereo they those three could have been characters in The Simpsons being stereotypical New Yorkers and it would have been perfect good men all three of them all three of them great guys Vinnie yeah I haven't seen Vinnie in a while or Mike I think Mike is gone Mike is Mike's in Florida apparently you know you know everything everything but yeah yeah the Good Men good men for sure um I guess I here's how I kind of wanted to end out um I have mad respect for for for for Jerry Foley and and talking to Amy the other day and and and of course uh you know talking to Rick all the time um and and uh I guess I wanted to finish off by by here's the director everyone talks about HAL and of course they do Hal is hallowed uh no pun intended how is just one of the greatest um you know impact players when it comes to direction of uh of any type of show late night show variety show whatever you want to call it uh but at the end of the day pal also I just find it so amazing um how when David Letterman started he surrounded himself with Hooligans with no experience and people with massive massive massive experience guys like Hal gurny guys like Jack Rollins uh massive business in in in in you know show business experience and and he kind of combined it and then as it went on you get a guy like Jerry Foley to take over for this legend that is Hal gurny and now guys like me come along and look at Jerry Foley and go that guy's a Legend um you got to work with a legend for a long long time and finish the run with Jerry um I just wanted you to we I wanted to finish off today if you had any words to say about Jerry Foley and then and then the last show I wanted to finish on the last show um if that if that's okay Tim and that's where I wanted to go and that's all I had prepped well I would say uh about Foley first of all he's a good friend dear friend I mean I sat to his right for 20 years and Y you know watched his kids grow up I watched me watch my kids grow up uh so we've got a real good Bond there um he was uh very good to me and very good to the crew um uh he always took it uh if anything went wrong on the show could have been my mistake or camera guy or Graphics what have you he would always um assume the responsibility he never threw anybody under the bus um so he was very dedicated to the crew um and uh you know funny funny uh had some great great lines made me laugh a lot I I think one of my favorite lines were were uh I think who was on the show was Pierce Bronson was on the show and they've introduced him he comes walking out and Foley goes Kennedy he looks a little like you very little so you know uh yeah he's just he's a good guy I don't want to say too much of him because this might get out to him and you know I last thing I need there's a lot of Bad actors out there and I think I might be tortured I'm going to be tortured by by what's going on here so let's just say um uh it was a good 20 years and uh I think we'll be friends uh until we uh fade the block ourselves oh beautiful that's not gonna say anything else about that um let's go home let's talk about the last show the last show in my opinion the last six weeks of of of The Late Show with David Letterman is the greatest six weeks on television in any period in history it's the great no offense to Mr Carson's lead up with The Tonight Show but um you guys absolutely to to take a phrase from Dave blew the roof off the joint or off the do you guys killed it those last six weeks how was the uh the last show unbelievably emotional as far as I'm concerned a perfect show uh even though behind the scenes and the editing and getting it on the air and all that there was a little bit of drama but a the show itself was absolutely perfect what do you remember from that night oh boy um I remember the Afterparty which was great yeah um at at MoMA that was a good time uh you know you I can't remember I remember the Foo Fighters I remember the closing credits the Montage like yeah the Montage yeah I remember that got edited and re-edited and first it was moving video then it was just got down to quick shots um uh and I tell you the truth Mike I can't even tell you who was on the last show other than the foood fighters I I can't remember who he rolled up J my memory I can't remember um no no no because there was no guest per se it was the the celebrity presence in the very last show was the top 10 list right where you had right everybody from Tina Fay to Steve Martin to all yeah right so that the big star studed top 10 list but no guests the whole show was right right the top 10 with the Mannings and I actually got a picture of the audio board that all laid out with the Seinfeld and I think uh Julie Lise D has had the funniest line once again I'm on another she made fun of the last show like she yeah that was that's the best one that went right out of right but yeah look you a picture of that I I have a picture of the audio board the because we marked the audio you know top 10 got 10 microphones so he had the audio board Kevin Rogers our audio guy had the uh 10 you know man paint manning you know Jerry Seinfeld was Chris Rock Chris Rock was there absolutely yeah Jim car Jim car yeah had it all uh lined out I'll send it to you please do I think we just found what the thumbnail for this episode is going to be I think if you send that to me I think that's going to be the uh sure the the picture for this episode um absolutely yeah that was a that was a you that top 10 list but again it goes back to Dave at the desk just talking to us and and and you know that my favorite segment of of of of Late Show with David Letterman was after you guys got comfortable to that place where you changed it from a um you know let's play Dave over to the desk to okay we're going to do a commercial break and then we're gonna have act two where Dave is at the desk already uh that was my favorite part because you never knew what was gonna happen and and and that show was just a lot of that with some clips um the documentary that uh that that Jay and Walter played right yes yeah the back behind the scenes y Dan in the Life y y that I should have watched the last show before I got on here with you it no no no no but but okay standing invite though like and I mean I'm saying this to all the guests now um if ever a story comes up and there's a story you ever want to tell like we even just do it in three minutes or whatever do it in chunks if ever that happens you have a venue to do that here sir and we're going to collect all these anecdotes because they're they're just gold and a lot of people really appreciate them um Tim I just I can't thank you enough for taking time to do this and and from the bottom of my heart as a a representative of the Enthusiast Community who loved as the audience Who Loved what it was that you guys did thank you from the bottom of our all of our Collective hearts for everything that you did U on Late Show with David Letterman in your career it it meant a lot the show was made with love and and we're seeing some of the ingredients right here talking to you today thank you very much it's great being here I like I said it a little apprehensive at the beginning and there are some bad actors out there that might make torch me with this but uh it was a nice time talking to you nice about bringing back some good old memories I I get that a lot I get that a lot a lot of folks at first are like he what's this going to be like and then afterwards it's like okay it's good and no it's uh this is a celebration and and that's what uh that's what it's all about and I think that's what the reaction is going to be uh I'd be very shocked if there's anything other I will say a quick outro here and then we'll say our goodbye privately um you got it yeah thank you Tim I just uh this is why we do the show unbelievable episode there um just appreciate Tim Kennedy so so much for for for being on here and sharing of his time and of his memory banks uh the Letterman podcast says one sponsor one sponsor only and it is I can't say it's Rupert G and the hello Deli anymore I can just say it's Rupert G formerly of the hello Deli but he still has hellodd deli.com if you want to buy the only place you can buy license Late Show with David Letterman merchandise hello- deli.com go get yourself a mug go get yourself a shirt um because it's the only place that you can buy that stuff and uh we love rert so much and just hope that his first few weeks of retirement have been really good so far that has been another episode of the Letterman podcast with Mike Chisum coincidentally I am Mike Chisum thank you and good night overcoat and