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May 26, 2012

Letterman goes classic tonight too

by Bob Sassone, posted Dec 10th 2007 9:01AM

Late Show logoOK, I'm not sure if this Late Show with David Letterman episode that airs on CBS tonight is the purest definition of the word "classic," but at least it's not from two weeks ago like most repeats are on late night shows nowadays.

Jay Leno has been showing episodes from the 1990s lately, and now Letterman has reached into the vault. Tonight's show is from December 17, 1998 and features Angelina Jolie, Jeff Goldblum, and Third Eye Blind. I'm trying to figure out what was going on in Jolie's life at the time. She wasn't with Brad Pitt of course. Was this the Billy Bob Thornton/blood vials era? Here's the rundown on the show. Dick Clark makes a cameo (with a sketch about his New Year's Eve special), as does Casey Kasem. I wonder who got top billing back then, Jolie or Goldblum?

The Late Show web site hasn't posted what the other shows will be later this week, but this is a good sign. I've always wondered why the late night shows haven't gone back further when they air reruns. It's too bad it took a writers strike for this to happen, but these are episodes I actually want to see. Since Jay Thomas' annual football toss at the Xmas tree will probably be interrupted this year, I hope they show a rerun from one of his past holiday appearances.

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kevin

watched the "classic" episode tonight and the first joke in the monologue was about the iraq war, which thru me off since i knew it was going to be from '98...then i situated myself to the times as the impeachment jokes started.

after jeff goldblum's interview and before they go to break, letterman says the show will be back with tonights top ten list. there was no top ten list when they returned...so i went searching for the list on his site:

http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/top_ten/index/php/19981217.phtml

was it edited out bc it was about a war in iraq? also i was wondering if they edited out the bumpers of the world trade center, bc the nyc skyline was usually of the empire state building.

December 11 2007 at 5:48 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
brett

1993-1999 letterman was still top notch. last nights episode was very good. it was like what current conan tries to do, with audience members shouting and cheering and dave not really giving a crap what he said (he didnt even know jolie was getting divorced today the publicists would have that on his card and questions would be planned out). A bad letterman is still better than a good leno though. Jay Thomas and Darlene Love are my favorite holiday tradition so i hope they show that episode too.

December 11 2007 at 1:30 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Brent McKee

Jolie hadn't met Billy Bob yet, she was just in the process of ditching her first husband, Johnny Lee Miller. Her movie "Playing By Heart" would be released the next day, which would win her the National Board of Review Breakthrough Performance award. Big thing though is that this is one of the last episodes Dave did before Christmas that year. I'm guessing that when they dip into the vault for classics it will be for the holidays.

December 11 2007 at 2:47 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jack

Letterman lost his edge when he went to CBS. His only good shows were on late late night. Those are the shows I wish I could see again.

December 10 2007 at 12:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jim

Goldblum would have had top billing, as he was coming off of Independence Day and a Jurassic Park sequel. Jolie was still relatively unknown.

December 10 2007 at 9:50 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
David

I know it's probably unlikely, but I'd love to see CBS air Dave's first episode after 9/11. He had Dan Rather and Regis on to discuss the recent events. Great stuff.

December 10 2007 at 9:36 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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