Anybody remember Chas. Grodin's appearances on Letterman in the 80's

I saw the thread about Leno and it brought back some memories...Charles Grodin used to go on Letterman's show when it was on NBC and be so incredibly grumpy and combative that Dave would start firing back, and it waould always end in a yelling match....Those shows were priceless. I used to tape it every time Grodin would come on the show.

The last time I saw Grodin do the Letterman show was after DDave made the switch to CBS, and the chemistry wasn't the same. You could tell they were just playing around, and the banter was more forced wit than battle. Back when Dave was on NBC, he didn't ahve the effect on his audience he has now, where he can make the audience applaud and laugh just by making a funny mouth noise...He used to ahve to WORK to get laughs; the crowd wasn't automatically on his side. This always mnade for great TV, and when Grodin would be a guest, he'd take advantage of that fact and really stick it to Dave.

I miss those arguments....Anybody remember those shows?

Terri Garr as a guest. The tension made it funny.

Dave and Terri had something going on? Always loved Terry Garr for her sense of humour!

It was priceless when Cher finally accepted an invitation and he asked her why she never had before and she said straight out, "I thought you were an asshole," which barely got bleeped,

I'd say they were memorable, but I don't recall what the arguments were about. Something about how mean Letterman was, or something like that. They were certainly enjoyable, the way Harvey Pekar segments were. You didn't quite know how they were going turn out.

The man is one of my heroes...I remember digging up a copy of American Splendor after seeing him plug it on Letterman, while he as making fun of Dave. I loved the tension in the air when both of those guys used to go on the show.

He's a sneering, supercilious Andy Rooney wannabe now.
Maybe that's his schtick, but it's a turnoff for me.

Could anyone sink so low? ;-)

Tony Giardino: Excuse me sir, I'm with the San Francisco police department, this is official police business. I would like to commandeer this vehicle!
Commandeered Driver(Charles Grodin): No.
Tony Giardino: What do you mean, "no"?
Commandeered Driver: I happen to know for a fact that you have no right to commandeer my vehicle.
Tony Giardino: Please, can I commandeer this vehicle?
Commandeered Driver: No.
Tony Giardino: You're just not going to bend on this commandeering thing are you?
Commandeered Driver: No.


So I Married an Axe Murderer

Other faves from early Letterman days would be Brother Theodore, Pee Wee Herman and Andy Kaufman.

Always weird or wonderful or just plain nasty (especially Dave's remarks to Pee Wee).

Grodin used to be a guaranteed laugh, seems that talk show he had kinda wore away his edge.

Tried to kick Dave in the head wearing giant platform boots! And Sandra Bernhart was always a wild guest.

The Letterman Show used to be so much more crazy and unpredictable.

The. Best. Letter. Man. Guest. Ever.

:thumbsup:

Good chemistry -- Dave played right into him

The sole subject for at least a few of them was "How much time do I have left, Dave?" It was sort of like watching a live version of the "Something Is Going to Happen" thread on GD a few nights ago.