John Mcdermott And Mike Discuss David Letterman In The Comedy News

hi I'm Paul schaer I'm will Lee and you are watching the Letterman podcast welcome once again to the Letterman podcast my name is Mike Chisum this week we have John mcdermit coming back he's a friend of the show uh host of The Daily comedy news and other podcasts on his podcast Network he's got a boutique podcast Network and he's uh I very much appreciate John and what he's doing um you know from a business sense I mean he was a Serious XM and in radio for so long entrenched in the world of Comedy uh we certainly talk about comedy in this episode uh it's but it's not just comedy we we we do a lot of talking about Letterman of course it's been a big week um week and a half uh the the the fast Network on Samsung TV plus we certainly talk about that we talk about Dave's interview uh on GQ and uh uh if you haven't watched that um Heaven's you'll you'll you'll if you're an Enthusiast of David Letterman uh the way that I am you will have a lot more fun watching Dave's G interview that just came out uh then you will watching this show certainly it was really really good but then come back to the show because John and I talk about it um I just uh very excited to present my uh conversation with a friend of the show uh host of The Daily comedy news John McDermot John when uh I'm so glad that every once in a while when something happens in comedy you'll you'll you'll just throw an email out to me and it's like oh yes John and I got to connect and it feels like two comic books doing the crossover thing when we do this I'm so glad that you're back on the show so much to talk about in the world of comedy in the world of late night in the world of of of Letterman lots of stuff this week even uh when it comes to David Letterman thank you so much for coming back on the show I really appreciate this and I'm I'm just looking forward to just conversing with you my friend no happy to be here uh I'll tell you when you just sent me the link my podcast daily comedy news is just audio so you've got the high pressure video so I'm like oh let me check my hair now I've got the David Letterman Gulf of Mexico thing that he had in the 80s so I gota like make sure I moose it up um otherwise I have that thing going so I have that in common with Dave but it hit him about 20 years earlier than it's hit me the hairpiece is securely in place it looks fantastic you're you're you're doing very well sir I know there are days I'm like William Shatner and I have the same hair mine is natural um but his current piece looks pretty good good Canadian Boy William Shatner you know one of the secrets that he said to life people always ask him because he's like freakish uh elderly compared to how he looks and I mean don't get me wrong I I I don't want to you know uh I don't want to be an aist or anything like that but but he he looks fantastic for his age and somebody uh frequently has he's been asked how he looks so good and he says every single year he puts five pounds on and uh that was his you know because I think the the the the the five pounds uh Smooths out some of the things that would be wrinkles otherwise but uh no this is this is great um how's how's daily comedy news going I mean I love your podcast I I cannot endorse it enough for those of us uh out there who love this thing called comedy uh the daily comedy News podcast is fantastic it's a nice little bite where every day you kind of get caught up with what's going on in the world there's lots of little inside jokes if you listen to it along the way kind of like Letterman there's ongoing little jokes that that you put into this thing it is such a great great uh show how's it going for you you're have like, 1400 episodes in something like that yeah I've been doing it probably five years or so I feel like it's really in a Groove that I have my creative voice and where I want the show to be uh the show kind of comes out to the same length every day without me checking the clock it just it's got a rhythm in the a block I do people you've heard of Chris Rock and then then you know take a break and on the back end do a little more esoteric stuff like you said there's in jokes we have an a joke that's a year old now about Joe Koy um which might get J yeah the Taylor Swift joke so just to catch everybody up uh if you saw the gold Globes year Taylor joeoy Made a joke about Taylor Swift and I've just turned it into a recurring gag while I'll set it up and the audience knows it's coming and I'll be like you know I don't know if you remember this one time Joe Coy made this joke about Taylor Swift yeah let's listen to it and I had the some audience members are like will you stop and other people are in on the joke I actually have the joke shaved down to it's 4 seconds but the 4 seconds sounds like an eternity because I've played it you know 90 times out of the last 365 but it's a good recurring bit I I like that kind of stuff it'sit silly very much a letterman uh you know from the from from from the beginning he always had these sort of things and even up to the very end you know um somebody was I I saw somebody commenting on one of Dave's most recent it was either the you I think it was the you on the YouTube and uh and he was talking about Letterman and drummers and and I mean when you watch the end of Late Show The Run of The Late Show the last few years you know every other musical performance as he would come out and thank the band after they were done he would look at the drummer and say hey are these your drums and and it was just this thing that just kept going on and on and on and and people who I I get people who ask me hey what's up with the with the with the drum thing that let and and it's kind of like that and and there's so much of his humor uh that has permeated everything that gets done right now um and and uh you know a lot of people have talked about the idea that oh it's going to be lost it won't be credited back to Letterman well maybe not so fast see what I did there see what I did there with the not so you did I almost missed it I'm glad you said did you see what I did there that's by the way should be stricken from the record completely did you see what I did there is one of those phrases that I think has been used enough uh that that that probably needs to be stricken from the English language um Letterman launched a fast Channel this week and uh I thought that was that was really exciting news for me I I don't know what did you have you covered that on the show already I don't I don't I heard it there yet it it depends when we air this ah yes we record this no but but by the time people hear this probably yes I love time travel so so like just explain that um production wise I tend to record the weekends in advance and I think this story appears on a Sunday episode gotcha um you know because like look I I deal the audience straight like I I don't do this seven days a week I do it four days a week and it's pretty predictable and there are predictable events in comedy like Netflix specials come out every Tuesday or you know when is New Year's Eve this year so you can pre-tape some of these and as a as a Creator if uh you know something I don't want to jinx anybody but if somebody of note passes away I run down to the basement I put out a bonus episode um and and and it's appreciated how you how you do it I love it and and is it's it's predictably unpredictable when it comes to that because it does stay spontaneous with the time it's just like Letterman's YouTube channel you know you can expect a clip every day uh sometimes those clips will be um timed perfect like for example when Wicked opened here's uh the clip from when the cast of wicked showed up and did a number at the Ed Sullivan Theater and then um you know sometimes it's just something that's that's funny from the show and sometimes it is uh you know an extra clip comes out when somebody has passed away and it's interesting how the folks who run Letterman's digital uh wing of worldwide pants I mean really at the end of the day part of their job Walter and his team is obitu Ares and you kind of have that mantle as well where where um you know the guard is changing I think we talked about maybe we talked about this last time um with newart I know we did off camera anyway you know when when some of these people are passing away it's kind of up to you to to comment on it based on the brand that you're building I'm talking about the The Changing of the Guard and this teased me up perfectly because I did want to talk about Jay Leno so when Jay had his eye patch incident yeah I teach college class and I was asking the students and just talking about Jay Leno and one of my favorite students he sits in the front row he asks who's Jay Leno and I looked at him and I said you just murdered me like absolutely and I and I stopped and I'm like um how do I explain who jayena is he hosted the tonight's show before Jimmy Fallon was my best answer so that brings me to uh it was just in the news Lena was talking about why he stays in Hampton inss and what went down and know uh he was pretty funny about it explaining this was on Spike fist's podcast Y and and Jay was explaining that no the mafia didn't come to Pennsylvania to find him and throw him down a hill which once he pointed it out I'm like yeah that you probably if they wanted to get to him they could get to him in La you know he's around um but I was thinking about this so here you have a college student who has no idea who Jay Leno is y now Jay doesn't have the most generic face the way say Ste like if Steven coar took off his glasses and passed me in the airport I might not recognize him y um you know J has a more of a a character's face definitely but that said if he checks into a Hampton Inn at 1:00 a.m.

in nowhere Pennsylvania there's a pretty decent chance that the person working is Young and just goes Mr Leno you're in room 332 and like he could probably check in as Jay Leno yep yep absolutely um it's it's we just did an episode actually I still got on the desk here you know uh we just did a review episode a couple we're talk about Carson the Magnificent because the zi book just came out after all that time and we've been talking about Johnny Carson and and it's funny um there it's almost like there's not a day that goes by where I'm like well you know what why we do this show one of the reasons we do this show is because Johnny car people are forgetting who Johnny Carson was and he was the biggest star in the world and people look at me so quizzically and and and even you know two years later after starting Letterman podcast people will say to me sometimes they know I'm a financial planner by trade and and they'll be like yeah yeah but he's got two podcasts too and they like oh what kind of podcast do you host and I'm like well yeah I host a men's mental Wellness podcast and the other one um and I ask this question now I never used to do you know who David Letterman is wow yeah and to me that is absolutely baffling that I have to ask that question and even more baffling are the answers I get back because even I it happened to be yesterday uh yeah yeah uh that's uh I'm like you know who and I do the exact same thing that you do uh and I don't even lead with coar I say do you know who Jimmy Fallon is because I feel that he is the one that that of all the late night hosts I believe he's the one that speaks to the youngest demo at at this point yeah um than any of them even more than Taylor I think even and um oh yeah I knew who Fallon is I said okay well he has The Tonight Show right Letterman's one of those guy oh yeah that's that's that's who that is baffling to me um but at the same time I believe that worldwide pants you know come they're in kind of legacy mode in some in some respects uh they're combating that by creating this fast Channel I'm really excited about the fact if you're a Samsung TV owner you can go to Samsung TV plus and I think it's Channel 1,000 yep is all Letterman all the time it seems to be curated I'm trying to get some answers to see exactly uh you know what what the hunks are going to look like when the hunks are going to change it seems like most of the stuff on there right now is holiday holiday stuff um and I don't know how that's going to go but uh it's very cool that we have an opportunity probably for the first time because Cavit and Carson and uh what MV Griffin which just been focusing on M Griffin the last couple of weeks here um a lot of their cataloges are inaccessible or completely erased they're gone here we have Letterman who owns all of his own stuff and they're going to put it out there it's going to be very interesting to see how much of this new generation who is a throwback generation attach themselves and ReDiscover Dave's comedy yeah I put it on during halftime of Thursday night football and they were doing chunks of uh either pet tricks or human tricks and they seem to be programmed in I don't know half hour blocks of compilations of that yeah and I I have a Samsung TV I rarely use the fast channels and I'm I'm sure I will now more um both because my provider just raised their hikes hike their hike their prices and um you know and Letterman Channel but as I was looking at it you know same thing I talked about last time I was on some of the clips were 1984 my Dave and some were older Late Show Dave and some spoke to me and some didn't you know it's interesting how do you curate that 30-year career and and are things like Netflix part of it yeah and you know there there's the the late nights s stability and the the other than the first year and a half The Late Show grown up mature dat sensibility they don't always mix too well no uh well and it's funny let's throw Don Gill's channel into this as a as a you know because he in my opinion has a very unique voice in how he um decided to take his massive massive collection and kind of assemble it and give it to us and the idea like again I I went through U MV Griffin's compilation not too long ago because I was I was boning up for the for the episode where we focused on him and and you look at Don Giller and how he would take chunks of um one particular topic or guest and then go from the entire run some of which being like MV for example the David Letterman show the morning show was mv's first appearance all the way up to uh mv's last appearance on Late Show shortly you know fairly fairly close to to his passing and you got to see if you watch the whole thing you get to see the evolution of things and that is a uh to me that's a beautiful progression and there's links there but yeah you're right it's jarring when you see one clip from from 84 I maybe I something isoteric versus uh something that is um created more for the masses more pop music for the masses and and and and Late Show certainly didn't go as far as Leno did when it came to that but he really really did change the sensibility um yeah it's it's going to be interesting mixing it that way I I'm excited for the channel you I'm sure you recall there was used to be a Channel called Trio and Trio at some point was this the '90s earlys dusted off the late night shows and I think they were running them at 10 p.m.

Eastern and yeah I I would have had a to then now I'm dusting it off so early ODS probably and I was like wait I can just watch 1983 Letterman episodes this was amazing and I I took them all in so I I like that it's there the random factor of you know if I tune in and I'm not into this guest it's a little throwback where we're here in the age of on De man and streaming so a fast channels a little bit retro but how great that all this content will be surfacing again yeah I'm really excited for it and I and I I hope that uh I I hope that the people who love this thing that we love so much which is comedy I hope that a lot of these people will dive into this and and and take a look at you know some of the architects of what we have that is mainstay right now Dave being a you know uh and and the writers of course and all the producers like it Dave is the first to say that it wasn't just him he was the tip of the spear but the support system and the team that he assembled behind him um how they changed comedy you know I they they they really really did um and yeah so it's great to see that I love I hope that we can uh see more of some of this old content that we might not have seen before and and it gets utilized but it's so difficult because of the red tape that exists rights I mean how many of these things that we loved so much have changed hands from a rights perspective because this conglomerate has swallowed up this conglomerate and now it becomes really difficult worldwide pants is in such a unique spot because Dave owned his show he owned his content and uh that's a yeah that that's it's a very unique spot that Dave has uh you know given himself in the industry a lot of this estate stuff gets tied up in an absence of rules like so for example if you wanted to I don't know license a clip of Steve Allen for use on a video podcast that you're going to stream on YouTube is there even a rule yeah great Point great Point especially if you're talking over it and you're now kind of repurposing it a little bit is there a rule is there not a rule and are they gonna yeah that that's who gets paid yep yep that's very complicated absolutely so anyway good stuff for that also um coinciding uh you know the Letterman um you know the digital is one thing but then there's you know what new stuff are we putting out um by the way Dave won an Emmy uh you know we haven't talked about that isn't that isn't that a neat thing how his uh my next guest with John meany won on Emmy um so you know his current offerings are still current enough that they're being awarded things um I was I was very happy to see that yeah it's funny um you know it happens to everybody you start out as the counterculture and if you put in your 30 years you're the culture and there there's some new guy looking to take you down yeah it's uh it it was neat to see that and it's interesting because uh my next guest on Netflix and I I I I I wonder about the Strategic value I was talking I had a conversation with Morty not too long ago we were talking about the Strategic value of you know okay we're going to put out a season which is going to have a few different episodes in it but then we'll put out a special one that uh is outside of the season and it's titled differently even and the melany episode was specifically titled different it wasn't in with the season with Miley um um and uh and the other one which I I I it's it's it's escaping me right now but uh it was its own like it was a special my next guest with they because John meany's name was actually in the title of it as well and that's the one that won the Emmy um it was a powerful powerful episode really really cool he's doing the Tom Snider thing and and getting the stuff out of John the the the dinner with his dad it was just such a powerful episode I'm glad it was it was um uh recognized but then you got daveon Neil um giving an interview that I mean one of the best interviews I've ever seen and then recently have you had a chance to uh watch the GQ uh story of of David Letterman and and and Zach Baron interviewed him it was a phenomenal phenomenal outing I thought I I I read the article and I I don't want to take over your show and start dragging you around but I I do want to discuss the part where uh Letterman talked about not being able to live up to Carson and then talked about today's host and kind of threw them a bone as if I think he may have caught himself on the Fly realizing like oh I'm going to say sound like a jerk saying these today's hosts aren't as good as Carson which they're not let's all be real no one is abut that was Letterman's Original Part Point yes but then he started um talking about well maybe some of them are as good as Carson I and I'm not here to be negative but like I I you know who who could that even mean like clearly Jimmy Fallon is not Johnny Carson no Co bear is doing something else and not trying to be Johnny Carson so is is Jimmy Kimmel today's Johnny Carson I I could maybe drag it up to Jimmy Kimmel's today's David Letterman but I don't think Kimmel's today's Johnny Carson yeah I I I I heard that as well and I think I don't know he was talking about like when you think about somebody uh because I listened to that as well and I was thinking okay well that's very interesting throwing them aone is a fantastic way of putting it uh but I thought about Johnny's skill set and I've been I've been down that hole for the last month probably I've been watching a lot of Carson Clips again with the zi book and talking about that um Carson had a skill set that Letterman never ever even tried to emulate when he did his show number one because he wanted late night to be very different and late night had to be very different than the Tonight Show but also because um you know again they just celebrate celebrated I don't know if that's a they highlighted on Dave's YouTube channel on the on the barber gain show just highlighted when Dave was on Mary's variety show and how how much he hated the dance number and to the point where he did he didn't only had to do it a couple of times and then they said okay you don't have to do this uh being on that variety show Johnny Carson had a skill set that very few people kind of had at that time you know from the magician the singer uh a little bit of actor sketch the sketch stuff he would do as well as the host game show stuff and then broadcast P all of these things kind of won and as I heard that Dave talk about that to me I thought he was talking about Fallon from that perspective because I look at Jimmy Fallon like him don't like him that dude can do a lot of stuff he can he can he he is very very like I hear him sing Neil Young imitating other things and I you know you know doing the Fresh Prince brella theme is the one that comes to mind but he does he does these very interesting things whether you like him or don't like you cannot dispute the talent that that guy has um and the and and the enthusiasm he has the little Sparkle in his eye the way Johnny kind of did and when I heard that I thought oh he's kind of talking about Fallon and his skill set but it was interesting hearing Dave talk about that on uh on that interview also uh his dad and Paul Schaefer both organists that's one thing I took from from that uh that was a interesting story about his dad with the organ that was that was really compelling to me whenever Dave goes into his past and and and pulls out these little nuggets uh there's a story uh that that Zach I don't I don't even know why it came up or how it came up but Dave revealing you know uh a story about his dad and maybe some comparison there um but it was a very very good interview I thought well let us be fair to Jimmy Fallon yeah Jimmy Fallon's job is to host the Tonight Show at 11:30 on NBC that's a specific job where you're playing to Middle America for example David Letterman at 12:30 was I'll just use the word weird he goes to 11:30 puts on an Armani suit and after a year kind of goes towards Middle America you have Conan O'Brien being weird at 12:30 he comes to 11:30 and tries to be weird and we know what happened there so you bring Jay Leno back and you play back to Middle America now you and I and fans of this podcast remember the young J Leno in a leather jacket that would show up on late night and be edgy I would describe Jay Leno as edgy now some people might be like Jay Leno edgy you're crazy I'm telling you go back and watch the clips they're on the fast Channel he's there he's edgy so Fallon he's executing The Tonight Show he has a lot more to his game but that's not what the job is that is exactly right um I'm glad that you said it that way because even people who sometimes you know sometimes watch this show the dozens of fans that we have of the letter podcast uh a lot of them are still in that team Dave versus Team Jay camp but when you watch the two of them together and again on Don gillard's Channel you can go and you can see the entire compilation the entire Evolution and run of when Dave and Jay used to play off each other and it you're right that's exactly right um um um I wouldn't necessarily compare him to Burr but he might be that generation's kind of comparison there there was some there was some observance that was there that had bite to it it had real bite to it um compared to what we saw and and uh yeah yeah it's just it's it's a fascinating Evolution watching this stuff watching how there are so many late night hosts and because of that um it's had to be oh I hate to use the word homogenize I don't know if that's the right word but it's diluted it certainly is diluted compared to what it was now let me let me ask you a question I've mental exercise I've never actually done that and I haven't done it as I just thought of it 30 seconds ago it it's 1992 is that the year y David Letterman takes over the tonight's show Jay Leno maybe he doesn't get a show at all maybe he gets CBS maybe he gets Fox but David Letterman is hosting the Tonight Show yep what do we actually get do we get the CBS version do we get a guy throwing pencils through a window like what do we get and do you and I like it yeah and and I mean like I have I said this to Bill Carter I've said this to I think I said it to zinaman um and some of these other people too I am so grateful that he didn't get the Tonight Show obviously at the time sometimes it's one of those things sometimes a bless comes like a kick in the teeth you know but but I'm so glad that he didn't get it because again we're talking about you know Carson here um Carson was so powerful and he had evolved his place he had he had he had he had worked the way into the seat that he was sitting in in the groove was so uniquely suited to him he was so powerful that was his chair to the point where he had ownership and Letterman walked literally into being able to leverage himself to move over to CBS got to take take basically the blueprint of what Johnny had the idea of of of owning his show the idea of the next time slot in his company being able to do that and continue it on for 20 some odd years um you know if he would have gotten The Tonight Show suddenly ownership for the first time in well over a decade would have come back to NBC which they were very excited to have and you think about the network executives and Dave's relationship from late night at that point how cont uh contous it was imagine what would have happened if he would have then moved into the big chair yeah with all these networks now trying to poke and prod oh hold on I'm just gonna do a quick uh the the power cord fell out I'm just G to put my power cord back in one second I'll be right back sorry about that we're good now no good but you know what I'm saying like like that would have been I don't know that we would have liked you know I think I think personally if he would have been awarded The Tonight Show um from everything I've kind of looked at and read I don't know that NBC was ready to bring the Tonight Show back to New York I feel like uh that that the way the tea leaves have kind of been written I feel like Dave would have moved to Burbank I feel like that's what the uh what would have had to happen to me New York City is a character in Dave's show I I just I I really think that that that huge Factor the The Late Show set is son of the late night set and if you're in Burbank you probably wind up with something that looks more like maybe not the purple J Leno set but something more like that certainly lots of plants yeah yeah but but all that stuff plays into it I'll just repeat myself you know a guy in sneakers versus a guy in an Armani suit a guy sitting in front of a bridge silhouette versus a guy sitting on a set with a bunch of plants these things do matter yeah they they really really do and tone is everything and and and Dave um you know it's interesting in that GQ interview too uh uh Zach again Zach is just incredible I I I I live vicariously I don't know that I'm ever going to have the chance to have a a conversation on camera with Dave and I live vicariously through the people who do I know the questions I want to ask him and and the questions that these guys ask him that Neil brenon this did and Zach just did they're asking him questions that I wouldn't ask him just out of respect if I talked to him today I'd want to talk about just current things that he sees I wouldn't want to go into the past because of the reputation of how he doesn't like talking about that stuff these guys are have have have theum and the esteem that they're able to talk about this stuff and um you know to me Dave is a New Yorker but he was talking about hey Indianapolis we're here this is your hometown right and it's interesting I want one of the things I want to ask Dave is are you a new yor Yorker or are you a hoser or is it is it a Hooser or is it is it is it a combination of both are you a new hoer it's interesting to me that he's doing press at all was the GQ to promote the fast Channel or is that a coincidence though no I I they talked about it and I mean it was in November that they shot it so um and they did talk about it near the end they did so I assume it was to promote it but also it feels like to me um where they position Dave are in very uh specific spots you know you think about dax's podcast that he that he was on you think about Neil Brennan's podcast um you know the GQ that's a that's a great to me if Rolling Stone hadn't gone through some of the uh I don't know I in my opinion I don't know and maybe I'm maybe I'm way off on this Rolling Stone isn't what it was back in the day when Dave was you know gracing covers and doing a lot of these stories with rolling stone it's a different it's a different Beast now but GQ seems to still kind of have that same I would say the same thing with Vanity Fair still seems to have that kind of um tone and and Prestige to me that's those are the spots that they're putting Dave into to do press with occasional um you know light-hearted appearances here and there but but to me it was very very very classy the piece that they did well there there's also um with the Legacy Media there there's a way you ru so I I've played in you know I'm doing I do a podcast in my basement I've worked for sirusxm I've been entertainment adjacent for 30 years yep so if you do Rolling Stone GQ 60 minutes unless Mike Wallace is sitting around for you you're not going to get um Dave have you ever done crack like that question's not going to happen yeah Letterman's not going to do a random podcast because he doesn't know that I'm not going to say Dave you ever do crack because what does he do with that question he says no and then the headline is David Letterman comments on whether he did crack right so they want they don't want to do that at all and I'm not at all suggesting Dave did crack let me be very clear David has never done crack no my point is um he doesn't know that I'm not going to ask him that and an and an awkward question whereas uh the bigger Brands Legacy Media are more known and it's both sides it's like you don't even have to say like you're not gonna ask Dave about crack right like you just know you just know you invite somebody on your show it's a friendly environment my point being uh you know us basement podcasters we're lesser known yeah so it it's just not going to happen now I would imagine in your case you probably do have enough Letterman Whisperers who could tell him this guy's a right he's he's not going to ask you if you uh you know let me change it up eat peeter butter and jelly for for lunch that's why they haven't had me killed up to this point that's exactly right um but but uh celebrities have Brands and you control your brand and you want to overexpose like if we look at this I reached out to you and went oh my goodness David Letterman actually did an interview that's why I reached out to you and if he were on a podcast every third day I wouldn't have shot you a note that's right and and and it's funny I'll I I don't know that I've said this publicly I've certainly talked about it with with a few of my guests and a few people that are close to Dave and it doesn't seem to be it seems to be the ship of sale the last person I talked to about this um you know definitely inside but adjac but also very you know high up and inside and I and and he said well if you were if you were in Dave's Camp what would you have him do he asked me that question it was like literally throwing a softball down the plate to me and it wasn't recorded but I'll I'll say this to you because I just to me I know that you are certainly you when you um Joe Rogan is so big now we talk about Carson and who's our current Carson to me there is no other answer than Joe Rogan uh the Rogan bump is crazy you talk about Nicki Glazer a lot on your on your show I believe a huge part of her Ascension and people observing her her Talent cannot be understated I want to be very very clear about that but the spotlight was certainly put on to her over the years by Rogan she has definitely been um a recipient of the Rogan bump in many ways Tony hinchcliff same thing um but to me the softball going down the plate I'm like if it's me as a fan and this is exactly how the person said to me he goes boy you are answering that question as as a fan but to me fan service in this day and age is not a bad thing to me if if if you want to have uh a compelling tying it up with a bow kind of a kind of a scenario you have Dave go down to the Mother Ship you have a a KN at the mother ship in Austin Texas which is based on The Comedy Store except let's fix The Comedy Store and make it even better if you look at the blueprint that Rogan has created at Mothership you know the bar is called mits and and and and you know the the the D they taking that blueprint Adam egot is there you know you take the you take Letterman there with guys like dreon guys like Altman you get you bring out some of the people who are who are not doing as as well health-wise maybe and and have one last little Harrah there a tribute to these things you know you have Dave show up on uh Rogan's podcast and then you do a my next guest on the stage of the mothership with Joe Rogan who like it or not he is the and to me that is like oh my gosh would I love to see that but I just don't know if Rogan's too polarizing because of exactly what you just said how well Letterman's positioned himself I don't know that that would ever happen but from a fan perspective my God that would be compelling but so so I love the idea of Dave going on Rogan I I I like listening to Rogan's podcast for many reasons I'd like to listen to podcast as I drift off and Rogan's um audio he doesn't start screaming or get hyper these are very deep conversations y um I am able like I can with any conversation I can take some of it and go I agree I could take some and say I don't agree for example if you said to me petrix is better than a fivestory tower I would vehemently disagree but I wouldn't like dislike you I would just be like well he's wrong about that and I would just move on with my day yes uh if you told me Dave went down there for three hours and 20 minutes and we got a long conversation that wasn't so what was it like when you didn't get the Tonight Show asked and answered he's talked about it exactly Rogan would ask him about you know he might ask him about drones and then that tease it up for Letterman Letterman to be funny and again let me be clear David Letterman has never done crack but if Rogan not a guy in his basement if Joe Rogan said do you ever do crack that would get comedian Dave Letterman to snap to and answer that with a witty remark and that wouldn't be like an accusatory thing you would get the comedy there because it's two people with a body of work who would have the respect of the language of comedy and they are both celebrities and it it it would just be different that if I randomly threw out that question I I would love that and then the flip side of of that I think would make a lot of sense um you also talked about you know what should Dave do these days and I think doing hits on melan's thing is actually kind of perfect it's it allows him to be Elder Statesman but it allows him to appear as the Dave that you and I fell in love with so for seven minutes he can be goofy 80s Dave and let meany be goofy 80s Dave turn meany and and do the weirdo late night show and Dave can show in show up and do seven minutes and be kind of fun and then go back to hanging out yeah that's a exactly I I think Millan show and it up 12 12 more he's got 12 more coming is that the yeah we don't know when or where or what it's going to be called but yes 12 more at some point and that's going to be an event right because the first six six eight whatever it was were very well received so that raises the bar so Netflix has to book a little harder cuz all eyes are going to be on this time time now it's not an experiment now it's John mol's late night show um but you know have Dave back because you know you know what Dave's going to do and he'll do it well for eight minutes and then he can hang out further down the couch which is just a wonderful phrase to say right that's very Carson like move down the couch and and you know it's great we're all gonna watch it yeah well and I think okay so Dave was on the first hunk why put him on the second hunk well no because the idea of friends of the show like we've got a little segment called friends you are one you're going to be invited to one one day we'll bring in a couple Letterman writers or people or whatever and then a couple friends of the show and we all just have a we did our first uh one a couple of weeks ago and it was fantastic um the idea that melany is building Friends of the show and one of the friends of the show happens to be the best the guy who is the best ever at it I think you know again I don't I don't I don't go the king I go The Godfather okay fine Johnny was uh was Don veto uh you know Dave is is Michael um but to have him have these friends of the show come back on and and and have some fun again that's old Carson like you just said like when Frank and Dean would come on and they would do this or or or or or Rickles would come on that I believe is something that Jon would certainly want to uh add as an ingredient to what he's doing in my mind anyway yeah you're you're handing in an entertainment show so whether it's me booking you you booking me we kind of know what each other is going to do we didn't prep at all for this you just said do you want to come on I said yeah we didn't talk at all I didn't ask you what we're going to talk about obviously David Letterman is a subject on your podcast I knew we'd be all over the place like I'm dragging you all over the place thank you please do you kind of know what I'm going to do I kind of know what you're going to do if we go in the other direction so if you book David Letterman you kind of know what he's going to do if I ever had John melany on my podcast I'd ask him a question like you know what he up to and then shut up while he told a six-minute story because I know meany tells six-minute stories and you don't step on them and ruin the flow you let them get to the punchline uh you know that's back to and I teach this um at at my podcasting companies I teach this to host and it's called Johnny Carson Theory and when you have a good guest shut up and let them tell their story yeah that's uh I I sometimes a blessing comes like a kick in the teeth that is something that um I'm constantly trying to get better at I love conversing and I have this puppy dog enthusiasm so much and I love going back and forth with things but many times uh I I do that and that's something that I really am trying to to stop doing and you're right Carson was so perfect at letting somebody go on about something and then would come back with that razor sharp uh you know response that would take it was like a bow it was like that person was assembling a present for them and Johnny just put the bow on it and made made the present look so much better he was so good um at making his guest shine you know whether they were you know at the Pinnacle of entertainment like a Frank Sinatra or or or the gal from nebr wherever it was Nebraska or the Midwest who had the potato chip collection he was just so good at um building these little moments with very very little and listening being one of the Paramount skills and then we see in the GQ article where they brought up the abrasive David Letterman from the 80s where his rep was not a good interviewer not a safe harbor you might go on there to promote your movie and get attacked by this contener host who doesn't want to do guests and just wants to throw stuff of off of a fivestory tower uh you know he did evolve into a really good interviewer but the early Dave almost had you know no time for celebrities and would rather have the wacky guest that showed up at uh 1:5 yeah and he was nervous it was it you know you watch some of the morning show clips and and and he's nervous and it's like um you know I I love watching his his interactions with Tom Snider I really really got into that uh earlier in the year we had Tom's daughter on and and so I went down that rabbit hole big time and I've been down it many times before um but one of the things that Tom Tom Snider ism is he would call people kid you know and and and and he used to call that to Dave he say it's okay kid well you know watching Dave and Tom talk during the uh Morning Show era was very interesting because you could just see reverence but also nervousness that he had and then we have been able to this is the wonderful thing about these Legacy the very very few Legacy entertainers that we have seen we've been able to see their evolution whereas now he turn he completely switched the volume switches you know it used to be that the right uh you know equalizer was turned up all the way the goofiness the the isoteric stuff the the the the the the observational uh with a Twist stuff and now it's still there but it's turned down and the interview was down but now the interview he's what's Dave doing now he's doing the Tom Snider thing he's doing the long form and making someone like me who's 48 at the time it's recording give a damn about Billy ish and I do and and my Gateway I really like I get it I'm a music guy I'm a huge music guy and about I don't know a year and a half ago I was listening to One of Billy songs it just come on and instead of it just being in the background I actually like I get it I'm a fan I'm a huge fan of Billy eyh now um the way I was with some of the bands that I loved growing up and the gateway to that was Dave introducing me to her and it's it's interesting watching that happen and I'm so grateful he's still doing I'm so grateful he views retirement completely different I loved when Zach talked to him about about that um you know Al Franken right before Dave retired he came on for his last Senator Franken came on and said you know before you go off and become an eccentric recluse and I think we all thought that that was going to happen and he's done anything but that and the beard kind of screamed eccentric recluse um you know talking about Tom Snyder there is a guy that if we had an alternate timeline with technology y you know the headline in 1982 would be Tom Snider starting a podcast and he would have been really good at it right let him talk to somebody for 320 yep yeah oh that is a that is a fantastic point I mean um because he took he would be able to take long form anywhere again like you said makes it a little makes it a little dangerous he wasn't afraid to talk about anything you know he's a big man he he he was not afraid to talk to people ask them the hard questions wasn't afraid to say hey buddy I you know I disagree he was he wasn't like Rogan in the sense where Rogan doesn't you know he he he shows interest he's engaged he's he's uh very well read but he doesn't show a ton of emotion where Tom brought that to the table and I love that about him I love I love the emotion that he would bring when he was talking to people I think cavitt would have been a great podcaster bobas would have been a great podcaster you know and they're all doing shades of the same thing long form deep interviews yeah uh without a clock it's what people want um you know I understand the algorithm and what the algorithm wants to make technology sticky to keep people looking at it and whatever and have them kind of you know tune out um I understand that but I think the reason that the biggest podcast in the world and many of the other uh you know Runner Runners up are long form and you know Dave Dave uh during the press conference when they brought Tom over uh one of the ways he introduced him was he said I was one of those people that probably watched 80 to 85% of all of the first run of The Tomorrow Show No VCRs back then he was so so long form and radio of course I mean you know your background is radio as well I mean um so so yeah I I'm glad I'm really glad that long form is showing itself um I think and and not to get political because I I I don't I don't have a dog in the fight I'm Canadian uh so all of my uh Tidings and opinions have maple syrup uh flavor attached to them uh I believe the last election had to do with long form versus sound bites uh down in the states I I I really do believe that long form will win the day because it's what people are craving people want this exchange where we are present and and and uh the conversation will win the day it's why standup is so big right now you have somebody who's up on stage for an hour not being interrupted and the beginning middle and end of these presentations are are are it's leading to Bucks it's leading to Commerce it's been a big year this year um we're at the end of the the year while we're recording this thing I want to ask you I don't know if You' actually released the list yet and when you're going to release the list but you constantly talk about on The Daily comedy news um you know what's going to be in the top 20 and I'm I'm super curious how your list is forming is the the year the is the list done are you ready to go is it uh close the list starts on so this is the list of top comedy specials of the year it starts on January 1st I open up a new note and as I watch comedy specials I rank them so I was joking somebody's that one coming out like January 8th and I'm like well that's going to be the number one special of the year at that point and then the next one is either higher or lower and I rank the specials and uh I'm going to record it after Ronnie Ching comes out because Jason zinaman from The New York Times he has that as the number one special of the year so if he's got it at number one I'm pretty confident it's got to be in my top 20 yeah um although I'll come back to that I'll come back to that in a second um so I'll record it probably around December 20th or so and run it uh in the two days after Christmas I'm going to do top specials and then the next best specials that aren't the top and then a third episode of and here are other specials that exist that I didn't put on the list and here's why you know part of that pre-taping for the holidays even comedy news will slow down um I'm a human it'd be kind of nice not to record an episode on Christmas day so December 26th will be pre-taped um but back to zinaman so I've been talking about this a little bit yeah now before I get letters everybody everybody listen to what I'm saying before I get letters our audience actually throw darts they don't send letters our audience throws darts so anyway continue all right everybody I'll I'll say something that I'll ramble for a second to let you think about it who is the comedian of the Year everybody okay who's the comedian of the year now I'll let everybody think about that on a ramble for a second I could make a case for Joe Rogan some people think he helped win the election I could make Co case for Tony Hinchcliffe some people thought he had cost someone the election and killed Tony's pretty popular I can make a case for Nate brety who has a Christmas special out and a Netflix special December 24th before the end of the year and everybody loves him and he sells out Arenas so Jason zenman named Nikki Glazer and this is where I fear the letters that oh you just hate women I I don't have two daughters um Nikki killed at the roast but I don't think her I don't think her HBO special the critics seem to like it but I I don't see that it had a big impact I didn't see buzz on it even the week after her special came out people were talking about her on the roast and she had probably the set of the year at the roast yeah and the roast is probably GNA be number one on my list and I've been open about that unless Chang knocks it off um I have things like a tell or way up there but the roast was just an amazing television anyway so Zen who has Ron Chang as number one maybe I won't agree with him because he gave Nicki Glazer comedian of the year as I've said on my show Jason zinaman knows more about comedy than I do I I I dip my head in respect bow to the supremacy of zinaman absolutely 100% um but I personally am not feeling it uh and I would personally put Nate as number one this year oh and melany is definitely in the conversation as well mlan should be in the conversation Gaffigan should be in the conversation yep anyway that was three minutes of me saying that I may not agree with Ronnie changen yeah this is why this is this is why you are a friend of of the show this is the I love hearing your opinion on this stuff and being able to like the one thing about bergi like okay so when you say the comedian of the year it's such a subjective um it's a subjective topic anyway because if you're picking Glazer you're picking Hinchcliffe you've got people who have polarized they've done uh what what some of the comedians in the past that would have been called controversial you know in the 80s and 90s you know there are controversial comedians that kind of came along the you know was Sam Kennison in his at the Zenith of his career was he the comedian of the year Well if he was and he very well may have been at the height of when Kennison was doing what he was doing he was dividing a lot of people he was not the family comedian he was not the person um that the whole family would sit around and and and and watch or listen to a a record of um you know and and and Tony and Nikki would certainly be in that category whereas you got a guy like Nate who is literally for the whole family but can kill just as hard it's like nor McDonald going on commedians and Cars Getting Coffee actually saying to Jerry you know what being clean is the harder disciplined um now I personally I love Jerry always have Norm McDonald has such a special place in my heart do I let my six-year-old granddaughter watch Norm no not not unless he's on Letterman then maybe um so I I like Nate I can see why you would say Nate oh my gosh I think the worldwide appeal that he has I think the I watched him that week when the roast happened I was in LA and I saw David Letterman interview Nate bergi um at the Ricardo montoon theater uh which was laced with rich rich cor Corinthian leather by the way um and and and Nate is just he's one of these guys who you can tell is so dedicated to his craft partially because of the things he could say but doesn't say because he wants to stay in that lane he's an extremely talented and and the heart that he has I can totally see why you'd say Nate that is a that's a great answer for me uh for me it's probably Neil Brennan i i i Neil Brennan special this year I absolutely uh loved that special and I love what what Neil is doing um he's probably my my my personal favorite but but when you're going to go and say okay well who's the community of the Year Nate Bazi I think is a phenomenal answer that's that's and and like you say this is all subjective like I'm not looking to arm wrestle Jason Zinman or you no you're wrong N Neil brenn's not the comedian it's all subjective whatever you found funny whatever somebody found funny it's all good it's just a list I'm just pre-taping an episode because I don't want to work Christmas day that's all this is I love that you have the roast is number one because you know would people necessarily gravitate to that towards a a comedy special and here it is something that you know that gives uh Michael Jay and and Colin Joe the shot at the title with the show that they're doing highlighting other other comedians which I love that the throwback kind of a kind of a deal where they they're they're showcasing um you know kind of like Rodney used to do back in the day it's a good but I one thing that I think that um all of us will probably agree with it is a very very good time to be a fan of Comedy oh yeah distribution ability to see people that we have all these Netflix specials now Hulu's jumped in you have the HBO specials anyone can self release on YouTube and this is why I always advise my audience if you go to a comedy Festival go to the Showcase shows go to the local small club/ bar where they have six Comics doing sets don't go see Chris Rock do I like Chris Rock yes um the I at the Las Vegas Comedy Festival one time I saw Seinfeld and rock on back-to-back nights and Seinfeld is justifiably at the top of his game and rock was a very close number two yeah but if I went to I don't know the Toronto Comedy Festival I'm not going to go see Chris Rock because I know what he can do and I can watch him on Netflix I'll go see 10 people I've never heard of I get much more out of that discovering comedy because the big ax Nate will come to your house on Christmas Eve you don't have to go see him anymore and and I'm not trying to not sell tickets for people don't worry Nate and Jerry and Jim and they're all going to sell out very well but for comedy fans go go see a smaller show you never know who you're going to see remember uh Chicago Comedy Festival it was a rainy night we were at is it Zanies um and you know a guy named Hannibal barus got up and crushed I was like oh this is great well you think about how the phenomenon that has killed Tony and I mean for you know these overnight successes right well that's we all know that's a bunch of BS most of the time it's not an overnight success there are people who have been busting their butt for so long in the small clubs and Kil Tony uh who people would go see it or they would watch it listen to it um and they would say this is the funniest thing that's out there right now and 75 people are a part of it you know Brian red Rand and those guys I I you got whether you like them the concept whatever or don't you cannot deny um the success that they've become and it started as as you're talking about one of these showcase things and it's so much fun just like a band when you discover the band that's the next best thing before they become the next big thing um it's it's it's a great feeling oh that's a that's that's great advice you're like a wealth of knowledge when it comes to this stuff it's like you've been doing this for a while stop stop I love kill Tony I I understand the comedy snobbery of it's just a minute and a minute is not a tight five a tight 8 not an hour I get it I get it kill Tony is a show I'm a civilian I just want to sit down and listen to something watch something and be entertained somebody gets up for a minute they're funny sometimes more often than not they're not uh Tony comes in with a sleigh rips them to shreds we all laugh next um one of the funniest things of the year was Shane Gillis coming by in character As Trump and co-hosting the show As Trump oh my goodness was that hilarious oh it's so good so good Shane Gillis there you go okay so we mentioned a whole bunch of you know Killers here who who who who were in the conversation there's a guy right there um you talk about a guy who's dealt with adversity um you know the public perception adversity in a way that just Chappelle same thing you know um people you know up in apparently up in arms and just said no I'm gonna keep doing what I'm doing I'm gonna let my voice be heard and Shane Gillis right now um just a phenomenal talent and yeah that night with where he came out as Donald Trump was fantastic and even Lauren Michaels admitted he kind of blew it and cow out to NBC when they didn't want Shane on the cast of SNL you kind of wish he had Shane here's another reason why I love your show so much uh when I I read one of the quotes because I I I I follow this stuff all the time and you know see the stuff online and recently though Lauren um he kind of did the same thing in my mind that what he did with nor McDonald a little bit he kind of passed the buck over to the to the network and you you caught it too and you talked about it on your show I love that you catch some of these things and and and throw that out there um because he kind of blamed it on NBC with Shane Gillis my old Mentor a guy named David Bernstein taught me this many years ago um he was I was the assistant program director of w New York Dave was the program director and he was teaching me the concept of steinber meaning George steinber so anybody who is familiar with ' 80s Letterman knows who George steinber is I won't have to explain and he said to me you know sometimes George calls you up and go hey I signed a player and he's now the left fielder and your job as the manager is to make that work and then you can go back to your office and you can throw a rock against the wall and be mad that steinner is interfering with the the plays you would have called and the team would have had but your job as the manager you're going to play this guy cuz the owner said so so even if you're Lauren Michael sometimes you got to play along with the network uh we all have Capital that we can use is this a battle you want to fight or not so is Lauren going to use his Capital to defend a guy that had been announced on the cast two days earlier and take on the network for that as opposed to say I I don't want to name names if somebody on the current cast did something Y and I don't know what they would have done and NBC was like oh we should get rid of so and so maybe Lauren goes to bat for somebody who's been on the show for several years a little more than using the political Capital against all right we announced this guy nobody knows who he is whatever we'll just pick somebody else to be in the in the cast whatever it wasn't a big deal Shane Gillis wasn't yet Shane Gillis y yeah that's a very very good point um that's where it differs from from Norm you know this is the current this is the current anchor of Weekend Update and this is happening where Shane at that time yeah so that's a that's a very very good point uh let's talk about sat live here for a second because I mean uh you know everybody seems to be um I don't here it's turning 50 that is a recurring joke on my show inspired by Letterman style humor did you hear SNL is turning 50 yeah I did hear something I still think about SNL 40 I thought SNL 40 was one of the greatest even though it was some people say how long it was yeah well guess what it's 40 years and it should be and let's highlight everybody before they start passing on and in that 10 years a lot have so I I I uh you know I will always uh voraciously defend snl40 um but boy SNL 50 has a lot to live up to because of that and and and I can remember in high school when the SNL 15 anniversary the prime time uh 15 anniversary happened and how much I loved it and how uh being you know just just in high school and seeing some of the stuff from the Chris guest uh Marty Short era that I hadn't seen before uh you know because you know I there were no VCRs at that point as was an elementary school and I didn't my my cast was the Dana Carvey cast so seeing some of this stuff and these anniversary shows were incredible um and they've just gotten bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger SNL 50 is going to be it's February Right comes out in February I think I think it's February that that it's that it's coming out and apparently they're inviting everybody back again apparently they're going to do the same the same uh the same thing that they've done in the past um what a Highwire act Michaels and Company have so I have questions for you let's work work this through let's start with the credits yeah do you have Daryl Hammond do Don parto and announce 200 names like how do you even handle the credits how do you handle that who gets to say live from New York do you pick do you go across the eras so it's somebody from the original cast and Eddie Murphy and Will Ferrell and and Tina or somebody and boow yang like how do you handle that who gets to say like or do you give the honor to one person do 200 people come out on stage and say like how do you even produce that show you know it's one thing to be like okay uh Gary krer stand in the back um that's fine um we understand that part of it but yeah what a show that's going to be an absolute must watch absolutely and and and Lauren um you know whether you don't like I think SNL is is is is is suffering from a little bit of what's going on in the culture here uh I've jokingly called like again the American election the budlight uh election you know where where you've got this sort of just like with Bud Light you got a sort of silent majority that sits there and when something happens they react I think SNL has been trying to figure out its tone as to what should we be putting out there and I think this season because I mean you're it's SNL 50 and the ratings are at a place where it's like okay well is the tone exactly what everyone is looking for because the ratings have been soft I don't think SNL 50 is going to be soft by the way um and I don't think SNL 50 is going to have a political tone or a leaning I think it's going to be a historical look which is why I think it's going to be such a almost a refreshing show because it's not going to be about social commentary in any way um and and I think that that might be something that they're kind of wrestling with right now I think that might be sort of a I didn't want to call it a growing pain because they're full grown but it might be a little bit of a a um a struggle that they're having right now yeah I I have found this season weird so season 49 was not good season 50 has leaned into this weirdness I'm finding now now again I'm a podcaster of the basement and Lauren Michaels is Lauren Michaels so again I've been the knee Lauren um you clearly know what you're doing and I don't yep but as a watcher yep as the audience and I think the audience has a this is why podcasting has blown up the audience gets to speak back sometimes what is the point in season 50 of Dana Carvey opening the show is the church lady what what is the point of that he wasn't the guest host it was just and Dana carvey's sort of on the cast now what is the point of having Jim Gaffigan play Governor walls was Jim Gaffigan good at it absolutely yeah but is that such a complicated impression that nobody on the current cast could take that on like I I don't understand the creative choices of not using the current cast because you're not building Stars so a year from now it's going to be SNL 51 do you still have Jost and Chay do you still have boow and yang and if you don't have those guys you're in a rebuild year off the big celebration that could get ugly really quick yep uh the breakout star next one might possibly perhaps be Marcelo Hernandez but I also feel like he kind of does a one notee character and the same character shows up Marcel's funny but let's see if it if it if he can kind of evolve or whatever Sherman shman my girl I love her I think Sarah Sherman is fantastic so let's put her in some sketches yeah yeah yeah yeah exactly you don't want the last thing you want is to be on that show is the is is the Chris Rock you know there for three or four years or whatever and I mean I loved Chris when he was on the show but then you know he goes and does the HBO thing he does you know he um what was his big special I was gonna say raw that's Eddie Murphy um Chris rocks was uh bring the paint was it bring the pain um bigger and Blacker yeah I mean and and and he he leaves SNL and suddenly oh my God look at the guy um you know you don't want to if you're producing that show you don't want to have too many of those people you want those people to pop like Eddie Murphy did while they're actually on the show um but yeah it's a fantastic time um to be looking at all this stuff uh gosh you and I could do this effortlessly and I love that what haven't we talked about what were some other things that we uh oh we haven't talked about David Letterman isn't this a David Letterman podcast I don't know if you ever seen his show you would like it I'll check it out I'll check it out um I I said I got to go get a Samsung TV now um I wonder if because on the YouTube channel I've had a couple people reach out to me and say hey um it seems like on YouTube they did this experiment a couple months ago where if you looked at the Letterman YouTube channel there was a live Tab and you could just click it and it was going through a lot of these clips many of which hadn't gone on I wonder if that was a test pattern um or uh you know a test balloon I should say for the fast channel it's going to be interesting to see if they put those back on YouTube again I don't know if it's an exclusive thing with Samsung I don't know if some of these other could Roku now also say well oh Samsung did it we're going to sign a deal I don't know if it's exclusive I didn't see that word um in any of the press releases this week did you no I didn't uh you know that they gave a channel 1,000 um yeah says something to me I I know when I was at Sirius what channel number you would get would be a massive discuss you have no idea what a big discussion is what channel number you get really um notice Howard is Channel 100 10 101 Howard yeah and I mean I know that as a Canadian that doesn't even have Sirus and I know that yeah um you know so that was a discussion as opposed to what's the next available Channel okay Howard 134 yeah you know so that was a thing so that it's Channel 1000 makes me think that it's some sort of showcase for the Samsung TV product so I would I have a Samsung TV there's a a button on on the remote that will take you to those channels uh the only time I ever use it is when I accidentally hit the wrong button and that comes on and then I'm an old man it takes me half an hour to figure how to get out of it I wanted to get on my PlayStation damn it yeah and last night I was trying to get to the Letterman Channel and I got to it and I had trouble getting out of it but they did have it showcased in their big advertising Carousel yeah so maybe they're trying to draw more attention to using those service because there is money and advert in I don't know who sells for them but uh as I tell my college students and my producers the answer is always money right like yeah I do agree with you that there's a Legacy Point to this because I've I've um dealt with people in The Hope estate the cavat estate and in those two cases there are definitely Legacy parts of let's keep the name out the Carson estate as well yeah AB absolutely and you and I have talked to all the same people we we you know who who I'm referring to here and it's not a secret I'm not like oh don't tell anyone who we were but Jeff saing nobody knows who that is right um so you know we've talked to those guys so I think there's a legacy play here but fast channels you can't skip the ads so let's make some money so I I don't know but that it's Channel 1,000 isn't an accident yeah I agree I totally agree with that uh also before we finish too and I know it's a it's it's an interesting kind of segue back but you think about Legacy who also has a fast channel is Conan O'Brien he uh he was he was there before hosting the Oscars this year really excited about that but at the same time that guy he he's having a tough week and I just want to throw a a shout out to Conan O'Brien right now um you know I just I I can't even imagine what he's going through losing his parents this week and and within days of each other and um I'm really glad that he's hosting the Oscars I love Conan I've always loved Conan unabashedly and uh I think it's it seems right to me that he's going to host the OS so we want to throw love out to him very very much I know both of us feel that way but Conan hosting the Oscars I love that Kimmel did it I think it's a car I love that Letterman did it of course naturally uh love that Dave only did it once even though it people say it was a it was a disaster it was not it was actually really good then they started immediately creating the narrative that it was a disaster which I think is charming and very Dave um but I believe Conan this is long overdue he killed it at the Emmys um before I I'm I'm excited about Conan doing the Oscars how about you yeah because um unlike Dave where it's Dave's unnatural element Conan will put on a straw hat and perform at a live version of monoral the famous sketch and and walk around and sing and dance and if he's awkward singing and dancing doesn't care and he will do that so I think as a performer he'll do really well uh I think the industry likes him there aren't anti Conan people he's someone that people root for um he's Charming he's been around for 30 years and then after the first 15 minutes unless something wacky happens involving Will Smith the host kind of disappears the back end of that show yeah uh Kimmel a couple years ago came out and did a did a trump joke on the Fly which was clearly written during the show I'll be very interested to see if if Conan's sitting there with Smigel and somehow some way they can figure out a way to add and not necessarily political necessar but but something that would be you know very very current in that moment um and and spontane which which Conan is of course very very good at if you watch him in front of um you know some of these crowds that he would perform he'd go to ComiCon every year and and do his show there and the spontaneity that would happen there obviously also very Lanes letman used to add spontaneity to his programs it would be very cool to add some of that to what could be a very very dull show um I've Loved episodes of the Oscars I have loathed episodes of the Oscars I believe that the Dack is stacked stacked for this to be a love I would caution Conan and Smigel I I I come at this I come at this as a strategist not from a political angle right right if we look at the recent election cycle yep factually Trump won y that's just a fact Happ you may like him you may like him you may not so somebody out there is a fan of trump yep um generally profiling the the stereotypical Hollywood celebrity the stereotypical Hollywood celebrity I if you walk down the street most people would be like oh they're Democrats okay fine yes so if you if you on the Fly start making Trump jokes during the Oscars yes you're playing to the room you will kill in the room yeah but do you kill at home and then my question as a strategist on a celebration of the Academy Awards why are you even going there make a joke about Tom Cruz y well and that's where I was talking about I was I wasn't talking about the the topic so much I was more I just really was impressed with when Kimmel came out and it was a it was something that was done kind of real time because he was responding to something that was happening real time sort of and and and you could tell it was spontaneous and that's more the spirit of what I'm talking about exactly if it's something about one of the ma biggest stars in the audience and something they're wearing or something they're doing something that you can tell wasn't canned and Conan is very very good at that and I hope he does that um when when when he does host the Oscars that's going to be that's going to be a lot of fun I hope part of SNL 50 as well by the way yeah when I when I say make a joke about Tom Cruz too I don't mean say make a mean joke about Tom Cruz you make a joke about his love of doing stunts or how are you so handsome at 6162 or you have great hair or I love your smile you know you make that kind of joke this is not a roast this is not this is not Ricky jvy hosting the Golden Globes this is the Academy Awards you know go down the middle here are some films we all liked let's celebrate them let's do some light jokes and let's get out of here yeah um and I love I love that we can do this uh you know and maybe maybe we finish on on on Nikki uh you know I'm excited Nikki is hosting the Golden Globes I hope that they let Nikki be Nikki the way they used to let Ricky be Ricky uh that is what my hope is watching the commercials for it and the promos for it I'm just kind of shaking my head go oh I feel like they're putting Nikki in a cage um I hope that they don't do that for the actual broadcast because the Golden Globes can be one of those shows that that steals the show when it comes to Awards uh award Banquets as well I I think a a very big key there is the room so she's been doing comedy on Thursday Night Football to five Football announcers and she sounds like she's bombing whether or not the writing is good or she's delivering it well she sounds like she's bombing so back to my friend Joe Koy I'm not his friend but back to Joe Koy in the recurring bit Joe Koy told a joke that's pretty good the only difference between the NFL and the Golden Globes is we have fewer pictures of Taylor Swift That's the joke and then they cut to Taylor who either could have went and I'm making for those listening on audio I'm smiling and holding up a drake she could have done this instead she gave a stone face and killed the room Taylor Swift killed the room Swifty's come at me Taylor Swift killed the room um so if Nikki gets up there and I've read some interviews with her she is aware that America doesn't know who she is so she's got to win America over quickly she's aware that she's not one of them Hollywoods yep so she's got to win them over so she tells a joke and it lands and the room is loose and she's getting laughs I think she can Crush but if she runs into an audience like the Thursday night football crowd yeah it could be a challenge for the same reason it was a challenge for Joe yeah I think she's gonna Crush oh I love hearing you say that that gives me the Goosebumps I hope she does I hope she does I hope I hope it's an elevation moment for her I really really do um Nikki Glazer fan so and and when you know her story again go back if you listen to any of the time she's been on on some of these shows Rogan uh you know being one of them her story is unbelievable and and and to see her where she is now it's it's it's a lot of fun um I'm a big fan of that I'm a big fan of you I'm I'm really grateful that that we've made this connection and and uh uh I hope that uh our paths cross more and more and more um I know they're certainly going to I hope that also that uh you know we're coming up to the 10y year anniversary of of of Dave uh Calling it Quits on Late Show you know that's happening within within the next 6 months the 10 year anniversary is going to be happening we're doing some special stuff on this show uh to to commemorate that um and and again you're a friend of the show so thank you so so much for coming on here again John um I appreciate that you're in my life brother yeah thanks for having me on again like I told you I'll be your Tony Rand anytime somebody cancels hit me up uh it's G to be a lot more than that although that is charming um nonetheless of course uh this has been great daily comedy news and not okay hold on daily comedy news but also um you've got the good news podcast as well and the uh the the meditation one as well I love what you're do you got your little podcast Network there the boutique podcast Network let's let's let's talk about that and promote that a little bit too sure so daily comedy news um I think we've covered what I might be doing on that one I also host one called five good news stories yes it it's inspired by what krinski did during the pandemic and um also inspired by it was my wife's idea so so it's a short show I do five new stories that are all good news or smile stories or as we used to call them in radio kicker stories so I'm not going to tell you about the horrible murder I'm going to tell you about the wacky Guinness record and the dog that came home from 4,000 miles away and what the scientists are up to and and so uh the format behind the scenes is the first and fifth Story tend to be quirky some science in the middle I limited to one I really could every episode could be and another dog found a it way home and then this other dog so I I try to do one animal story maybe one science two quirky ones and then whatever fits my mood so number five number five five good news stories is the name of that show and yeah we have one called five minutes of gratitude which is Monday Wednesday Friday and uh just a quick show I don't host that one but my company produces it uh five minutes of gratitude and just get up and you know think about like all right things are okay here's something thoughtful about and then go about your day my men's mental Wellness podcast that I host um you know very quickly a couple of themes kind of came up we hund I forget how many episodes well over 100 episodes in that thing and uh a few themes came up with with guys who are you know talking about their mental wellness and and and and sometimes struggles and victories and all that sort of stuff and one of the themes that very very quickly came up is that the antidote for many of these things uh that we go through um is anxiety and things like that is gratefulness and and the thing I love about your podcast unlike this one um really short really sweet um you get the points immediately and and and and it really does affect the way that you're viewing the day and I love that whether it is talking about comedy uh whether it is hearing these these good news stories because there's a lot of good that goes on in the world much of it unfortunately just doesn't get uh publicized the way that it probably should and gratefulness is a huge one so uh I wanted to ask you what was the so you you guys produce it what was the Genesis where did it come from I've wanted to ask you that for the last month the the the Gratitude podcast yeah yeah uh real answer yeah we're a podcast business yep five good news stories was doing really well and we brainstormed and said what else could we do that people might like and candidly we could make some money doing sure you know it's podcast business y uh like like I tell my audience daily comedy news look I like talking about comedy it's fun I also run commercials and it pays my mortgage it's it's it's you know that that's why I do the show otherwise I would just email you and be like hey did you watch and get that out get it out of my system so yeah we were just uh five good new stories started to do really well and we thought okay what's kind of sort of in the same Lane that we could do and that's where that came from oh there we go and it's awesome and well it's it's it's water in the desert for a lot of people and and uh I just I'm really really uh excited and I'm grateful for your gratefulness podcast uh we love it talk abouto I would oh would love to do that would love to do that we'll email we won't bore the listeners with yeah we'll do that um I just appreciate you uh very very very much thanks for coming on the Letterman podcast and uh thank you for doing everything you do I'll do a real quick outro and uh we'll take it we'll we'll uh say our goodbye privately one second here I will just do one of bang one of those uh he does the shows so they can pay the mortgage man I am not smart enough to do that I'm uh but at the same time this is why we do this show I love these conversations as as yall know and uh and for again the dozens of you that have have jumped on here and and we talk about comedy all the time this is exactly why we do the show is is conversations like this we love the long form um I'm so so grateful for John uh for coming on here uh we have one sponsor one sponsor only at the Letterman podcast hello- deli.com Rupert may not own the deli anymore uh and by the way the hello Deli uh the successors unfortunately it looks like have closed up shop unfortunately you know rert may ran the thing for years and years and years and unfortunately there looks like there might be a little bit of uh stuff there but he may not own the deli anymore but he has hellodd deli.com and you can go there for Letterman merchandise um one of the only places for official Letterman merchandise you can also go uh to the Letterman official store that has just launched recently as well 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