Everyone who ever had their moment with or near David Letterman seems to be posting it on the 'net this week. My pal Jerry Beck directs people to a brief video clip from long ago, back when Dave was on NBC. It happened in 1986 in connection with David Letterman's 4th Anniversary Prime-Time Special, which was taped on a jet en route from New York to Miami.
Jerry, thanks to a friend on Dave's staff, got to be on that flight. On a non-prime-time episode, Dave showed some clips from that flight and in this one, you'll see him identify our pal, animation authority Jerry Beck, as Don Johnson, the star of Miami Vice.
Oddly enough, three years later the real Don Johnson starred in a movie called Dead Bang in which he played a detective named — wait for it — Jerry Beck! How's that for weird? Anyway, here's the clip of the Letterman spot with a quick shot of the real Jerry Beck, and then I'll show you my brief moment on Dave's show…
Okay, I'm back. This is a rerun of a piece I've run twice before on this site so I guess I need to put up one of these…
All right, where was I? Oh, right. This is one of my two little moments of having my face on David Letterman's show for a second. It also appeared for about the same length of time on another episode when he was at NBC.
When I was in New York I would go by the office to see friends and if I could, stay for the taping. I was pretty good at poaching on sets. When I did it on the set of Mr. Carson's Tonight Show, there was an area just off-camera in front of his desk where the producers sat with Fred DeCordova presiding. Mr. DeCordova was known to all as not doing most of the work that his title denoted during the day but during the tapings, he made damn sure he was in the producer's chair where Johnny could see him and he could occasionally make decisions about the work in progress.
People could stand right behind him if they looked like they belonged there. Whenever I was in the building at the proper time and not otherwise occupied, I'd go over and look like I belonged there. During a taping in Letterman's studio in New York, the corresponding spot was stage left near the door to the hallway. Dave or others would often go in and out that door during the show so if you were standing near there, you got to be on camera and I did once. Watching it at home, I didn't think I looked like I belonged there…but then I never think I look like I belong anywhere except the chair I'm in at the moment. Here's what I posted here some time ago about the other time I was seen on the show…
The brilliant comedian Jeff Altman has been a frequent guest with David Letterman as long as Dave's been on TV. They met at the Comedy Store in the mid-seventies and were regulars on a short-lived 1977 variety show featuring everyone's all-time favorite musical group, the Starland Vocal Band. I always loved seeing Jeff appear with Dave, not only because Jeff is so funny — if you ever get the chance to see him live, do not hesitate — but because Letterman always seems so danged happy to have him there. Dave rarely appears pleased to have anyone on but there's always a certain delight when he has Altman in the guest chair. I suspect it's an admiration because Jeff can do all the comedy things that Dave can't: Impressions, characters, physical comedy, etc.
Some time in the eighties, back when Dave was on NBC, his show gave Jeff some money to make some short videos that he could use in his appearances. Jeff decided to shoot some bits where he'd be a "test boy" at NASA, being subjected to various experiments, and he enlisted a couple of friends to help. I was one of those friends. The idea was that we'd tape about thirty ten-second gags and every time Jeff guested with Dave, he'd show three more. They were shot in one long afternoon in a video studio out in Woodland Hills.
Our clip today is a long segment that Jeff did with Letterman and near the end, he shows three of those short vignettes — the only ones that ever aired. Shortly after this, and before the time Jeff was next booked with Dave, there was a huge accident — the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster, I think it was — and someone decided it was not a good time to be making sport of folks who train for NASA missions.
The black guy in the first one is some acquaintance of Jeff's whose name I don't remember. I'm the guy holding Jeff's eyes open in the last one. But the more difficult role I played was holding the leash in the second one, keeping Jeff (a very strong person) away from a friend of mine I asked to come out and put on a bikini for a couple of bits. Her name was Angela Aames and she was a lovely, gifted actress who died unexpectedly one night at one of those ages where you're way too young to be dying unexpectedly. She still has fans and friends who remember her fondly and I'll bet few (if any) knew that that was her in that blackout. So I thought I'd mention it here so that those who Google her name, as so many do, will know.