Dave's "oh, for the love of God please kill me now" expression is priceless. All that's missing for this to be a Late Night parody of a musical number is Larry 'Bud' & stupid pets...
"I was awful, I was horrible, I was horrible, I was horrible. I dreaded it, I was lucky to have a job.... I couldn't stand it.... The humiliation was instant."
Dave figured he only has a few late night shows left, so he let Michael Keaton show part of this clip on The Late Show the other night. Took me hours to get to sleep after watching it.
I just saw it & dave hid under the desk for only 30 sec that they showed. Micheal said for years the talk show people wanted him to show it & he felt bad for dave & did not want to do it to him bc he knew how much he hated it at the time. Micheal is actually into it dave is so stiff rofl. He got the choreography right. I guess they are singing live.
This is hysterical! You can see Dave laughing and turning his face downwards right from the start and then throughout. Even beats his forays as a Gong Show panel member!
Carol Burnett was the first woman to star in an hour long variety show on network TV, and she did it successfully for 11 years. By comparison, this Mary Tyler Moore variety effort was frankly embarrassing. I am a great admirer of Moore's contribution to Television comedy through two all time great sit-coms. But it is not easy to pull off variety, and evidently Moore is not one of those blessed with the gift. This is pretty bad.
The context is the 1970s, not a gracious decade in America. When people get cynical, shows such as this reek of "that cute stuff was yesterday" and the channel is changed. Also, it is impossible to assemble a cast with people like the young David Letterman and then sound like a barbershop quartet.
This is very indicative of Mary. Publicly, a trouper who goes to work rain or shine with that optimism like this version. But behind the scenes, the Wings version is how she really was. Optimisism fighting darkness, constantly.
Oh my god I've been a Letterman fan for around 32 years and I never knew this existed! Dave talked about it on the Norm McDonald Netfilx show which led me here. Holy crap this was painful to watch!
Hi, thanks so much. As as dedicated Letterman fan, I knew of this clip, and his work on MTM, and it was neat to watch it. THis was not his preferred type of entertainment format, and you can see it by the embarassment on his face
For real. This show (called "Mary"), which was purely a variety show, got cancelled after only four broadcasts. I think it was the first show of the '78 fall season to get the axe, although CBS allowed MTM to come back a few months later and try again with "The Mary Tyler Moore Hour," which was sort of a sitcom/variety show hybrid. That show, I think, lasted 11 episodes.
That's James Hampton, who was in the star-studded great junkfilm HANGAR 18 w Gary Collins, Robert Vaughn, Joseph Campanella, Darren McGavin and...hey, I said it was star-studded! www.manoronmovies.com/Hangar18.htm provides a review.
Lisa Johnson Watching Letteman here is just hilarious. I can't stop laughing. You can just see his mind working "I just need to survive this number to get asked back next week and get that paycheck". Oh my. Tears in eyes.
+Lisa Johnson You can detect some embarrassment from Keaton too just before he has to walk up and say his stupid line. Definite deep breath taken for that walk of shame.
I have probably only seen the Letterman show probably less than 10 times in my life but one of the times I watched I saw a clip of this and thought it was hilarious. I tried searching for it years ago but wasn't uploaded. Thanks for the upload lol
Agreed. Particularly painful for Letterman, but not necessarily everyone. Btw, I'm not a fan of this skit or show. But I do love MTM. And some people do like this kind of entertainment.
Yeah, but they cheered him up after the show was over by telling how much fun he'd have on his dressing coach of his own show in his own theatre with dozens of naïve little interns. OOPS, I meant, Bill Clinton. No, wait, I didn't. Never before realized that these two creeps are almost identical.
That person who tried to blackmail Letterman by threatening to reveal his affairs should have threatened to reveal this tape instead. Dave would have paid the money!
Geez, couldn't the producers have shelled out the entertainment union minimum for some starving singer/dancers to go out there for this? I'm sure that was what Letterman and Keaton were thinking. But I guess it was obligatory. Either way, very funny to watch, and thanks for posting, joycollector!
I simply adored Mary Tyler Moore. She was a great interpreter. I only wish that someone had had the guts to see in advance, that this was crap, and tell her. She was not Barbra Streisand or Judy Garland...she couldn' t sing or dance. She was a serious comedy/drama actress, not a show girl. Why nobody could avoid this mess?
LMAO! I remember watching this back in the day, couldn't believe one of my fave Wings songs was being butchered. Watching Letterman in this is classic.
Butchered is putting it mildly. Didn't care for the song myself, but once I realized it took me more than a minute to even recognize it, I felt a little of your pain.
It seems to me Dave would rather discuss the "missing border between Indiana and Ohio". Very interesting; I've been looking for this period of Letterman
I wish I could go back in time and be a behind the scenes person on these 70’s variety shows. I wanna see the beginning to end process of an episode of shows like this. To have grown people do those cheesy renditions of great songs. The silly dancing and costumes. When the stars of these shows were presented these idea, did they ever object? Or since it was the 70’s it just seemed like the thing to do?
Omg!! no wonder dave & micheal seem so friendly when he had him on the show. How the hell did dave of all people get in this ? Lol. Damn 1978 singing & dancing with micheal Keaton behind Mtm this is why you tube is so amazing. Please tell me to screw with dave they played this on his show. Rofl hey when ur starting out ull do anything to get a credit on that resume. Micheal is pretty good & so cute !
Why can't I stop watching this? (I came here after searching for MTM stuff... MNDOT is having a contest to name snowplows & she's in the running... Yes, there may soon be a plow named Mary Tyler Moore on Minnesota highways...)
"Cool, Calm &Contentious" are the collected essays dipped in sardonic venom, written by Merrill Markoe, who evidently felt a great need to delouse herself of this awful self-inflicted legacy of unadulterated gollygee pizzaz (even if only due to guilt by association. She is NOT in the video above, according to CBS: --- www.cbsnews.com/pictures/michael-keaton/6/ ).
I don't find this cheesy at all, it's just pure entertainment. If any of the "future" "stars" are embarrassed by it, then they've gotten to arrogantly big for their own britches! Mary was a sweet, talented and classy lady!
Dave I swear I did not release this tape you paid me my blackmail money the first of every month for the past 40 years know I will have to find a job unless I can find if you made a guest appearance on the Brady bunch variety hour
This was at the very very beginning of his career. He came out to LA, started at The Comedy Store... and was getting some notice, so started taking whatever gigs he could, not knowing where they would lead. TV show? With MTM? Sure.. He was still doing the Comedy Store then. A great book, I'm Dying Up Here, a must read. Chronicles that time frame back then. And the backstory on this, is in there.
I looked up the boxscore for this clip. "#14 Letterman, stage R - 0 damns given" He probably should have gotten at least one for the jump at the end, the scorer ripped him off.
Dave's "oh, for the love of God please kill me now" expression is priceless. All that's missing for this to be a Late Night parody of a musical number is Larry 'Bud' & stupid pets...
This is amazing. His face...he just looks so embarrassed.
"I was awful, I was horrible, I was horrible, I was horrible. I dreaded it, I was lucky to have a job.... I couldn't stand it.... The humiliation was instant."
This has to be one of the worst shows ever
Dave was closer to death in this moment than he was during bypass surgery.
No I get why Letterman and Keaton are good pals, they've been through some terrible things together.
That was fun. Not terrible.
@@Miketv79Nope.
Dave figured he only has a few late night shows left, so he let Michael Keaton show part of this clip on The Late Show the other night. Took me hours to get to sleep after watching it.
I just saw it & dave hid under the desk for only 30 sec that they showed. Micheal said for years the talk show people wanted him to show it & he felt bad for dave & did not want to do it to him bc he knew how much he hated it at the time. Micheal is actually into it dave is so stiff rofl. He got the choreography right. I guess they are singing live.
This is hysterical! You can see Dave laughing and turning his face downwards right from the start and then throughout. Even beats his forays as a Gong Show panel member!
Get real, dear.
This happened. We allowed this to happen.
I tried to stop it .
Mary Tyler Moore was so adorable! Loved everything she ever did. Miss her
I sure appreciate Carol Burnett and her contribution to TV history more than I did 30 seconds ago.
How do you mean?
Carol Burnett was the first woman to star in an hour long variety show on network TV, and she did it successfully for 11 years. By comparison, this Mary Tyler Moore variety effort was frankly embarrassing. I am a great admirer of Moore's contribution to Television comedy through two all time great sit-coms. But it is not easy to pull off variety, and evidently Moore is not one of those blessed with the gift. This is pretty bad.
This isn't her fault. The producers and the writers must have been the raincoat-only guys strolling around in the kindergarden park.
The context is the 1970s, not a gracious decade in America. When people get cynical, shows such as this reek of "that cute stuff was yesterday" and the channel is changed. Also, it is impossible to assemble a cast with people like the young David Letterman and then sound like a barbershop quartet.
I know talent when I see it. That number 9 and number 14 are going places.
Letterman taught Robert Reed how to dance for the “Brady Bunch variety show “.
it's funny, after watching it 15 times , it's still pure agony.... well, here goes 16....
When I'm depressed and feel like hurting myself I watch this to do it
That was great! Very 70's tv show! (I didn't know that David Letterman could perform! Good job Dave!)
RIP Mary. Thanks for a million laughs and a lifetime of memories.
Holy crap, Batman! That is the most awesomely cheesy thing I've ever seen in my entire life!!! Two huge thumbs up!!
This is very indicative of Mary. Publicly, a trouper who goes to work rain or shine with that optimism like this version. But behind the scenes, the Wings version is how she really was. Optimisism fighting darkness, constantly.
This is Dave ' s Star Wars Holiday Special.
This is probably Batman's deepest, darkest, most embarrassing secret
I think that this is when he danced with the devil in the pale moonlight
@@comanchio1976 LOL, The Joker knows his biggest secret
Oh my god I've been a Letterman fan for around 32 years and I never knew this existed! Dave talked about it on the Norm McDonald Netfilx show which led me here. Holy crap this was painful to watch!
mary is so hip with the kids! nice choreography letterman....so funny
Letterman is hilarious on this. Michael Keaton is pretty funny too.
I believe that is James Hampton #42...he just died yesterday 😪
Hi, thanks so much. As as dedicated Letterman fan, I knew of this clip, and his work on MTM, and it was neat to watch it. THis was not his preferred type of entertainment format, and you can see it by the embarassment on his face
To be fair, *this* is nobody's preferred type of entertainment format. :)
For real. This show (called "Mary"), which was purely a variety show, got cancelled after only four broadcasts. I think it was the first show of the '78 fall season to get the axe, although CBS allowed MTM to come back a few months later and try again with "The Mary Tyler Moore Hour," which was sort of a sitcom/variety show hybrid. That show, I think, lasted 11 episodes.
Letterman has the "somebody kill me" look through this number.
This song is about 9/11 dip shit..predictive programming and The 'sell-outs' letterman and Moore are playing their part..they're ACTORS
Oh look, a troll and/or a dumb conspiracy theorist.
Miss her so much
dobbs from f troop-was in sling blade as well
That's James Hampton, who was in the star-studded great junkfilm HANGAR 18 w Gary Collins, Robert Vaughn, Joseph Campanella, Darren McGavin and...hey, I said it was star-studded! www.manoronmovies.com/Hangar18.htm provides a review.
he was very good in sling blade
Life is pain. Reminds me of DeNiro's talk show in Casino, it's so bad.
"Aces High!" 😊
Right up there w/Bert Parks' "Let Em In" & Shatner's "Rocketman"
And Vince McMahon’s “Stand Back”.
Oh Dave I feel u man
Ha 😆
My life is changed forever.
Dave's not even trying. He knows how silly it is.
Makes it even more funny.
Lisa Johnson Watching Letteman here is just hilarious. I can't stop laughing. You can just see his mind working "I just need to survive this number to get asked back next week and get that paycheck". Oh my. Tears in eyes.
Lisa Johnson Dave looks like he's stepped out of his body and is watching in amusement at what he got himself into.
+Lisa Johnson You can detect some embarrassment from Keaton too just before he has to walk up and say his stupid line. Definite deep breath taken for that walk of shame.
Lisa Johnson He certainly wasn't a song and dance man. MTM could do it all.
Daniel!!!
Letterman looks to be in pain. Love it...
I have probably only seen the Letterman show probably less than 10 times in my life but one of the times I watched I saw a clip of this and thought it was hilarious. I tried searching for it years ago but wasn't uploaded. Thanks for the upload lol
i remember a little of this show when it first aired, it was this time I first heard of Letterman. I was a teen when this aired.
Wow! Letterman laughing/smirking during the skit at how absurd and painful this is.
Agreed. Particularly painful for Letterman, but not necessarily everyone. Btw, I'm not a fan of this skit or show. But I do love MTM. And some people do like this kind of entertainment.
amazing.
The only male performer that pulls this off is Keaton. It is a crime he hasn't won an Academy Award yet.
Wouldn’t have been surprised to see the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse enter suddenly from a boiling thundercloud and stampede over all of them.
That might have worked.
RIP Mary Tyler Moore
RIP James Hampton (#42).
Mary Tyler Moore can sing wish she'd do an album
Of course she can sing. She was Happy Hotpoint.
@@rubnsracn I know
This is fantastic!
wow letterman does not want to be there.
Yeah, but they cheered him up after the show was over by telling how much fun he'd have on his dressing coach of his own show in his own theatre with dozens of naïve little interns. OOPS, I meant, Bill Clinton. No, wait, I didn't. Never before realized that these two creeps are almost identical.
This is all you need to know about the 70s, right here in this video.
The '70s was a strange time.
Hard to believe this didn't catch on. 😂
That person who tried to blackmail Letterman by threatening to reveal his affairs should have threatened to reveal this tape instead. Dave would have paid the money!
Geez, couldn't the producers have shelled out the entertainment union minimum for some starving singer/dancers to go out there for this? I'm sure that was what Letterman and Keaton were thinking. But I guess it was obligatory. Either way, very funny to watch, and thanks for posting, joycollector!
I simply adored Mary Tyler Moore. She was a great interpreter. I only wish that someone had had the guts to see in advance, that this was crap, and tell her. She was not Barbra Streisand or Judy Garland...she couldn' t sing or dance. She was a serious comedy/drama actress, not a show girl. Why nobody could avoid this mess?
I feel myself slipping into a diabetic coma after watching this.
Dave is utterly mortified, but he would do anything for Mary. Who wouldn’t?
LMAO! I remember watching this back in the day, couldn't believe one of my fave Wings songs was being butchered. Watching Letterman in this is classic.
Butchered is putting it mildly. Didn't care for the song myself, but once I realized it took me more than a minute to even recognize it, I felt a little of your pain.
Lol I love this clip. Hilarious.
Poor Dave. Poor, poor Dave.
Thank you Grantland.
It seems to me Dave would rather discuss the "missing border between Indiana and Ohio".
Very interesting; I've been looking for this period of Letterman
Keaton is 9. He and Letterman looked like brothers back then. Check out Facebook dot com slash Mary magazine.
_With a little luck_ no one will ever see Dave in this!
MTM doing a McCartney Wings song. Oh the 70s.
Yes
I wish I could go back in time and be a behind the scenes person on these 70’s variety shows. I wanna see the beginning to end process of an episode of shows like this. To have grown people do those cheesy renditions of great songs. The silly dancing and costumes. When the stars of these shows were presented these idea, did they ever object? Or since it was the 70’s it just seemed like the thing to do?
Omg!! no wonder dave & micheal seem so friendly when he had him on the show. How the hell did dave of all people get in this ? Lol. Damn 1978 singing & dancing with micheal Keaton behind Mtm this is why you tube is so amazing. Please tell me to screw with dave they played this on his show. Rofl hey when ur starting out ull do anything to get a credit on that resume. Micheal is pretty good & so cute !
Why can't I stop watching this? (I came here after searching for MTM stuff... MNDOT is having a contest to name snowplows & she's in the running... Yes, there may soon be a plow named Mary Tyler Moore on Minnesota highways...)
Letterman lasted one show. After this routine, he had enough. This is a fact!
I recognize Mary, Dick, David, Michael, and Swoozie. The other 2 are James Hampton and Merrill Markoe.
"Cool, Calm &Contentious" are the collected essays dipped in sardonic venom, written by Merrill Markoe, who evidently felt a great need to delouse herself of this awful self-inflicted legacy of unadulterated gollygee pizzaz (even if only due to guilt by association. She is NOT in the video above, according to CBS: --- www.cbsnews.com/pictures/michael-keaton/6/ ).
It's amazing that there are no dislikes.
UA-cam doesn't show dislikes anymore 😅 everything is all good.
This should be used as a punishment in traffic court
This was not MTM's best showcase for her talent.
yes.
Letterm, cool. Future Batman, very cool. Wait a sec, was that the guy who played Dobbs on
F Troop?
She is talking about explosions. The jerseys are 9 and 11. Always be t to each other
Good eye🔥
Show only lasted 3 episodes, but the psychological damage still lingers...
I think Letterman missed out on his true calling
I'm now recalling why variety shows fell out of favor..............
Mostly older people watched them.
Ah the 70’s - no other era like it. Bad variety, bad cartoons, disco...but it was innocent and fun.
Could have been worse if the Brady kids were singing backup😂😂😂😂😂
Mary sold it. Dave didn't. Dick Shawn: A true professional, giving it all he had.
If you want to here a butchered Wings classic type in Guns and Roses Live and Let Die Mary and company rocked it
She had a pretty Voice.
I Love MTM. RIP
But this song was ruined completely
I don't find this cheesy at all, it's just pure entertainment. If any of the "future" "stars" are embarrassed by it, then they've gotten to arrogantly big for their own britches! Mary was a sweet, talented and classy lady!
Did this last even one season? I hope not. Seeing letterman on this is priceless.
It lasted three episodes.
is this supposed to be cool by having them do a mccartney song?
liverneck jones
Who knows? In any case, David Letterman actually looks embarrassed to be there.
closing browser now
I have a lot of good memories of the 70's, but this is definitely NOT one of them!
Say it isn't so Dave!!! LOL!!!
Dave I swear I did not release this tape you paid me my blackmail money the first of every month for the past 40 years know I will have to find a job unless I can find if you made a guest appearance on the Brady bunch variety hour
With A Little Luck is a Paul McCartney song.
you're welcome Sylvie
I bet David Letterman is embarrassed and blushing every time he sees this clip.
Gilmore Guys sent me here!
dave doesnt wanna be there so funny
What a humiliating experience that must have been. Was Mary Tyler Moore insane?
Is 42 the dad from Teen Wolf?
LOL yes!
1:42 seconds too long.
Letterman& Batterman
Hmm 911 🤔
I would have loved to be the fly on the wall in Letterman's agent's office convincing him to take this gig.
This was at the very very beginning of his career. He came out to LA, started at The Comedy Store... and was getting some notice, so started taking whatever gigs he could, not knowing where they would lead. TV show? With MTM? Sure..
He was still doing the Comedy Store then.
A great book, I'm Dying Up Here, a must read. Chronicles that time frame back then. And the backstory on this, is in there.
I looked up the boxscore for this clip.
"#14 Letterman, stage R - 0 damns given"
He probably should have gotten at least one for the jump at the end, the scorer ripped him off.
I'm Batman!!
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