MovieChat Forums > The Late Shift (1996) Discussion > David Letterman said The Late Shift was ...

David Letterman said The Late Shift was accurate...........

posted 15 years ago by Musicfan1223
18 replies | jump to latest

You can find his radio interview with Howard Stern in 1996, he admitted and was laughing that he bumped Higgens. The only COMPLAINT he had was that why did they get someone with RED HAIR, he said they had hours of tapes to see his hair is brown. I LMAO when Howard and Robin, asked did he wear a hairpiece or plugs, he said No, that IF he did he have the biggest lawsuit in history, because his hair is a mess. He told them to pull it, yank it or lick it. They pulled it and saw his hair was real.

They asked about Jay Leno, and he said he has NOTHING TO SAY TO HIM EVER. Howard said did he really love Johnny Carson like he claimed, and David said he did for his whole life, that he was his hero and still is.

He said the portrayal the parts with him, that were wrong was that Morty was NOT the valid asset he was portrayed but he was laughing so I don't know if he was joking. I watched the movie, and it was stupid for them not to tell Higgens to dye that hair, or do something, because all I kept focusing was that was it was bright red. David admitted that the actor looked like him, except the hair. and he did go "Hee Hee" all the time.

[–] Milkyway123 15 years ago

Where might one find this particular radio interview?

[–] Musicfan1223 15 years ago

ON Youtube. Just type in David Letterman on Howard Stern. I think its part 2, they talk about Jay, the movie and his hair. NOT Howard on David, but David on Howard Stern, it was a interview that he did in 96, it was pretty good.

[–] smoko 15 years ago

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XifMedvrdUU

[–] Zach126 15 years ago

I vaguely remember both hosts talking about this movie on their talk shows right after it aired on HBO & unsurprisingly, they seemed to disagree with how they were portrayed in the movie. Jay scoffed at the scene where he supposedly spies on the NBC executives saying something like "Yeah, I hide in the closet all the time so that I can take notes on what they're saying about me." "Give me a break!". Letterman complained that he had never ever had red hair in his life & that he couldn't ever remember lobbing softballs at a target in his backyard. LOL But they only complained about a few minor details so my sense is that most of what we saw was probably close to what actually happened.

[–] mcfly-31 15 years ago

Well, of course they're going to deny some of the allegations. But Leno got his information somewhere, and why would Littlefield lie about Jay's story (he recounted it for Bill Carter in the book)? I do remember the Letterman/baseball target story, and also him saying they had him swearing like a sailor, which he said was untrue. That he swore, but not to the level they portrayed. The notorious Higgins snub actually pissed me off because I was dying to see Letterman and his doppleganger face-to-face. If Dave liked the performance, I don't really understand the hurt feelings. But you could just see his people brewing it up: "Hey, let's invite Higgins on, make the show run long, and bump him!! Huh-hah! It'll be great!"

Maybe he'll have him back if he takes part in Late Shift II.

[–] jennlevy1 15 years ago

I am somehow remembering a bit on Letterman where he played himself as Higgins placing him -- in a bright red wig and throwing baseballs at a target. Anyone else see this?

[–] kristy978 13 years ago

hhahaha. yes! i totally remember dave doing that on his show.

[–] MrBlondNYC 13 years ago

Leno himself told Bill Carter that story and was proud of it at the time. It wasn't until the book came out and people were shocked at his behavior that Leno backtracked and said it wasn't true.

George Carlin: It's all bullsh-t and it's bad for ya.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] MrBlondNYC 13 years ago

You haven't heard from Helen Kushnick since because she's dead. Haven't from Abbott and Costello lately either.

George Carlin: It's all bullsh-t and it's bad for ya.

[–] akingofcomedy 10 years ago

her lawsuit against the producers pretty much spelled out her feelings, naturally pre-mortem

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] a_l_i_e_n 13 years ago

They asked about Jay Leno, and he said he has NOTHING TO SAY TO HIM EVER.

Dave apparently changed his mind when he asked Jay to do that Late Show Superbowl ad with him. Still amazes me Jay agreed to do that, too. Show folk are funny.

[–] sandman81 12 years ago

That was also literally in the immediate aftermath of the Conan/10pm debacle. His public preception had taken a huge hit and he was desperate to do something that people would like and show that he can be a good sport about things. Remember Dave was killing him everynight in his monalogs. Oprah being there probably helped, since Jay had been on her show the week before.

Also worth noting that its very possible that Jay would have gone on Dave's show if NBC hadn't given him a new contract and let him go to ABC.

"If I'm wrong, I'll pay for it. But if I'm right you're gonna hear about it."

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] sandman81 12 years ago

Bill Carters book made it sound like Jay would have been willing to go on The Late Show, had NBC not resigned him. Actually it even sounded like Letterman might have been more hesitant to do it, out of respect to Conan, who he had a good relationship with.

"If I'm wrong, I'll pay for it. But if I'm right you're gonna hear about it."

[–] danmankp37 11 years ago

And his reasons for bumping Higgins were what exactly? That he had the nerve as an actor to take an acting job? Gee how dare he do such a thing.

[–] MurphAndTheMagicTones 11 years ago

I don't know what Dave's problem with Higgins was. He played the Chief of Staff to Anne Bancroft's Senator DeHaven in G.I. Jane, and the voice sounded almost exactly like Dave's...for a role that had nothing to do with Dave. He also has a similar height (only 3" shorter) and build and picked up a number of Dave's mannerisms in the movie.

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