Name: Staff Favorite Moments: Producer Sheila Rogers | Letterman
Uploaded: 2023-01-17T16:08:31.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Staff Favorite Moments: Producer Sheila Rogers | Letterman' from Letterman on Comedy Buff. Published 2023-01-17. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Staff Favorite Moments: Producer Sheila Rogers | Letterman' from Letterman on Comedy Buff. Published 2023-01-17. Transcript available.

Hi, I'm Sheila Rogers. I started working for Dave at Late Night with David
Letterman in 1991,
and then I moved with Dave to CBS, and I was there until 2015. I was a segment
producer,
a producer, and a supervising producer. One of the most memorable moments of my
time at Letterman
was my very first day on the job. They wanted to do a sketch of Dave showing
the new employee
around the office. So when I walked off the elevator, I was greeted by a camera
crew and Dave
saying hello to me. It certainly let everybody know that I had a new job.
Sheila, do you like frozen yogurt?
Very much.
Oh, man, I love it. Here's how you can get it free if the commissary's not too
crowded.
Okay, right. Turn it on.
All right, Sheila, I don't know if anybody talked to you about your pay, your
salary, your annual
take-home fee, but this is where we determine it. Give me your coat. Rose,
bring me the shot put.
Well, you get the idea.
Yeah, I'll come to our way up to 50. This is how I started. Go ahead. Good luck.
One shot. Here we go.
Oh, oh!
All right, well, it went down just under 10, so we'll start you around 8-5 if
that's okay.
In addition to the remote, I did appear occasionally in other sketches on the
show.
One day I had to wear a coat of cheese. I can't remember why.
Another time I was in a game show called Towel Off.
It's time to...
Towel Off!
Okay, contestants, you know the rules.
So without further ado, ready, set, and...
Towel Off!
Towel Off!
Congratulations, Dave!
What? What? What? What? I won! I won! I won! No! I won!
One very memorable and wonderful moment was when Dave had announced that he was
leaving late night
and there was a lot of planning and discussion about who our last guest would
be.
Of course, our dream scenario was Bruce Springsteen.
He was somebody we'd always wanted to have on the show, and he was a tough get.
He agreed to come on the show. He wanted it to be a surprise.
It was wonderful to go into Dave's office and tell him that Bruce was going to
do the last show.
It was a proud moment for me.
You're going home now. It's the last one. You're moving on up.
If I had known that, I'd have gotten on the piano years ago.
Okay, another memorable moment from late night was not a fun moment.
I had finally booked one of the Rolling Stones. I was so excited.
It was Charlie Watts, and he had a jazz side project.
Everybody who performed on late night performed with our house band who were
magnificent musicians.
Everybody agreed to do it, and it was fine.
And so Charlie showed up. He had his entire band with him.
When I mentioned that our band would be performing with them, he said,
Oh, no, love, this is for jazz, whatever, quartet, and that's not how we do it.
And I said, well, that's what we had agreed to.
He was so gentlemanly, and he said, That's fine, love.
And he just packed up his things and left.
Ladies and gentlemen, we've got a pretty good program.
Gary Busey will be with us, and also Orville Redenbacher will be here,
and Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones will be joining us.
Charlie Watts will not be here.
Charlie Watts will not be here, ladies and gentlemen.
Later that night, I happened to go out with some friends to a bar,
and Charlie Watts was there, and he very kindly bought me a drink.
So it wasn't a total loss.
Prince was such an amazing performer.
We were so thrilled to have him on the show, but he had some idiosyncrasies.
He didn't want to be addressed by our staff.
He wanted you to go to his people, but I didn't know this.
So in the elevator on the way down,
I was telling him something about what was going to happen in the show,
and he just kind of looked up at me and looked to his person,
and then his person told him exactly what I had just said, and he nodded.
Okay.
There's some other, you know, silly things that have happened.
Carly Simon, beautiful voice, great singer, had notorious stage fright.
Getting her to perform in front of an audience at that time,
she hadn't for a long time.
She was really scared, nervous, and just before she was about to go on,
she turns to me.
We're in the wings before Dave's introducing her, and she said,
Hit me.
I said, What?
And she turns her butt to me, and she said,
Smack me on the ass as hard as you can right before I go out.
Come on.
I need it to help me forget that I'm nervous.
So I smacked her, and she went out and sang beautifully.
Lou Reed was always, I think he was a little tough on the sound guys,
but he always left happy, which is a credit to our audio department.
Lou was really into Tai Chi, and one of his last performances on the show,
he wanted to have his Tai Chi master, Master Ren, perform while he sang,
and, you know, we were open to it.
It was Lou.
Whatever Lou wanted to do, Lou could do.
It was a bit odd, but it was well-received.
But the writers, of course, thought they came up with a funny comedy idea.
The next day, there was a viewer mail letter, something,
asking Dave what he did during the musical performances.
What do you do in the dark when your guests are singing on stage?
Mary Goudry, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
This is a good question, because last night, downtown Lou Reed was on,
and while Lou was singing, he had a guy doing Tai Chi.
Remember that, Paul, just last night?
Sure, yeah.
It was fascinating, and I admit that sometimes I sit there,
and I enjoy the performance, but it was a little different.
Watch the tape from last night's show.
Sunday morning
Brings the dawn in
It's just a restless feeling
By my side
Early dawning
One of the most memorable performances, in my opinion,
was when the Beastie Boys did the show for the song Check It Out,
and they had a concept of what they wanted to do,
and it was pretty magnificent.
They emerged from the subway.
It was shot really well by our director,
and they had their creative input,
and it was a big success.
Oh, you checkies and TV addicts,
don't mean to this, don't mean to bring static,
all your Klingons in your grandma's house,
grab your back straight friend to get loud,
throwing doors off in tears,
and back there with the pictures,
and no, I didn't retire,
I'll snatch out with the needle nose pliers.
Like Beachwood or Omaha,
with the Imbro you've never seen before,
just gliding in the glades,
and like low green, you know I get paid,
like a fresh say with the bass,
so not groupie, not daring, I hate so,
I'm the whoo-ha, naked knight,
with dice rerunning, that you know, all right.
Green ain't calm, no more long,
cause the farm ain't bad,
so what's up with that?
I got friends and family that I respect,
when I think I'm too good,
they put me in check,
believe when they say I'm no better than you,
set when the rap, someone guess it ain't true,
like the actual engine, just don't stop,
we guarantee to make a party rock,
check it out,
whoop whoop whoop whoop,
what's it all about,
whoop whoop whoop whoop,
let's work it out,
let's turn this, turn this party out.
Future Islands, well I will say,
we didn't know Dave would be so taken,
with the performance,
we saw the rehearsal,
but he really gave it his all,
during the actual performance,
and Dave was so taken by that,
and amused by it,
that it did become a viral sensation,
we had no idea it would take off,
the way it did.
Buddy, come on!
Hey, thank you very much,
nice going,
how about that?
I'll take all of that you got.
Future Islands,
that was wonderful!
When Pearl Jam's song,
Black, was out,
Dave was really taken,
with that melody,
that,
da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da,
and he started doing it,
every night on the show.
Why?
We gonna hear a little Eddie better,
a little Pearl Jam,
a little Black?
-Got it. -Wah!
-Nee-nee-nee-nee. -Yeah, it's my favorite part of the song,
when Eddie does this. -Wah!
-I have no idea what Eddie's saying.
And then you do what? -Nee-nee-nee-nee-nee-nee-nee.
-That's right. It's a great song. -Wah!
-Nee-nee-nee-nee-nee-nee-nee. -Goes on for about an hour.
-Wah! -Nee-nee-nee-nee-nee-nee.
-Okay, I'm starting to get on my own nerves.
-But one day, I got a call, and it was Eddie Vedder saying,
"I just want to put this to rest. What can I do?
It's freaking me out that Dave's doing this every night."
And I said, "Well, you could come on the show."
So he agreed to come on. It was amazing.
I mean, that never happens, a huge star calling,
saying they want to come on the show.
It just-- and that was really fun.
And then Pearl Jam had subsequently did the show a couple times,
and we've had a great relationship with them.
-Why? -Yeah, cool.
-You know what? -Huh?
-Do you want to really know how that's done? -Yeah.
-Have it done right? -Do it for me. Do it for me.
-Okay, Eddie? -Huh? Wait a minute.
-Eddie? -No.
-That's what I'm doing.
-I know, Eddie? -I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-But why, why? -I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-But why, why? -I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-But why, why? -I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-But why, why? -I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-But why, why, why? -I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-Getting Paul McCartney on the show took probably years in the works.
He agreed to do the show.
He wanted to do something special.
To us, having Paul McCartney on the show was special,
but he wanted to make a big statement.
And since The Beatles had made their network television debut on Ed Sullivan,
it was appropriate for him to come to the theater.
But we put him up on the marquee, so he was performing on Broadway.
And it was just an amazing performance.
And just a wonderful celebratory event.
And he came and listened to the mix beforehand and afterwards.
And he was a joy to work with.
-Get back, not get back.
Get back the way you once belonged.
-Yeah, yeah.
Another band that we had a wonderful relationship with was the Foo Fighters.
Dave loved their music.
They were the nicest guys in the world.
Dave was out for a period he had heart surgery.
Of course, when he was able to come back, we wanted to do something special.
He had a request.
He wanted the Foo Fighters to perform the song Everlong.
He loved that song.
And I spoke with their managers and said Dave would really love for them to be
the first musical guest back.
The management was like, I know they'd love to, but you know, they're on tour.
They're going to be in South America, but let me see what I can do.
And really shortly thereafter, I got a call back saying, yep, they'll do it.
So they literally canceled some tour dates, flew in to be on Dave's return show.
That relationship continued because they were our choice for our final musical
guest in 2015.
We asked them to perform on our final show, to perform Everlong because it was
such an important song to Dave and we all loved it.
On our final show, we were going to have a montage of everyone who'd been on
the show, etc.
So basically I asked this huge band to be on the show performing, but they
would be performing behind a screen showing all the other guests on the show
with a couple shots of them at the beginning.
And once again, because they were such cool guys, they're like, yeah, no
problem.
We get it.
There was no like, oh, I need X amount of camera time.
And it was wonderful and memorable and the perfect way to end the show.
One of Dave's favorite musicians was Warren Zevon, and he was a regular musical
guest on the show.
And he would also sit in for Paul.
But sadly, in the early 2000s, Warren was diagnosed with a type of cancer and
he was not going to recover.
And we were all devastated by the news.
And I was in touch with Warren's people and they said he wanted to come on the
show and perform.
And when Dave heard this, he said, well, if Lauren's coming to do the show, we
should give him the entire show.
It was really one of the most moving, I thought, memorable episodes of the show.
It was real life.
It was heartfelt.
And Warren was such a pro.
And he was funny, humorous and poignant.
From your perspective now, do you know something about life and death that
maybe I don't know now?
Not unless I know how much you're supposed to enjoy every sandwich, you know?
And after the show, equally poignant, was Dave went up to Warren's dressing
room afterwards and they were in there for a long time.
And I just, Dave came walking out holding a guitar case with clearly very upset
and moved and Warren had given him his guitar.
I was born to rock the boat.
The sun may sink, we will float.
Grab your coat, let's get out of here.
Let's get out of here.
I'm your witness.
You're my mutineer.
You're my witness.
I'm your mutineer.
You're my witness.
I'm your mutineer.
Other performances were not always as well received.
After one performance of a band I won't name, Dave came up to me at the end and
he said,
"I hope they enjoyed their nap as much as we did."

Staff Favorite Moments: Producer Sheila Rogers | Letterman

Hi, I'm Sheila Rogers. I started working for Dave at Late Night with David
Letterman in 1991,
and then I moved with Dave to CBS, and I was there until 2015. I was a segment
producer,
a producer, and a supervising producer. One of the most memorable moments of my
time at Letterman
was my very first day on the job. They wanted to do a sketch of Dave showing
the new employee
around the office. So when I walked off the elevator, I was greeted by a camera
crew and Dave
saying hello to me. It certainly let everybody know that I had a new job.
Sheila, do you like frozen yogurt?
Very much.
Oh, man, I love it. Here's how you can get it free if the commissary's not too
crowded.
Okay, right. Turn it on.
All right, Sheila, I don't know if anybody talked to you about your pay, your
salary, your annual
take-home fee, but this is where we determine it. Give me your coat. Rose,
bring me the shot put.
Well, you get the idea.
Yeah, I'll come to our way up to 50. This is how I started. Go ahead. Good luck.
One shot. Here we go.
Oh, oh!
All right, well, it went down just under 10, so we'll start you around 8-5 if
that's okay.
In addition to the remote, I did appear occasionally in other sketches on the
show.
One day I had to wear a coat of cheese. I can't remember why.
Another time I was in a game show called Towel Off.
It's time to...
Towel Off!
Okay, contestants, you know the rules.
So without further ado, ready, set, and...
Towel Off!
Towel Off!
Congratulations, Dave!
What? What? What? What? I won! I won! I won! No! I won!
One very memorable and wonderful moment was when Dave had announced that he was
leaving late night
and there was a lot of planning and discussion about who our last guest would
be.
Of course, our dream scenario was Bruce Springsteen.
He was somebody we'd always wanted to have on the show, and he was a tough get.
He agreed to come on the show. He wanted it to be a surprise.
It was wonderful to go into Dave's office and tell him that Bruce was going to
do the last show.
It was a proud moment for me.
You're going home now. It's the last one. You're moving on up.
If I had known that, I'd have gotten on the piano years ago.
Okay, another memorable moment from late night was not a fun moment.
I had finally booked one of the Rolling Stones. I was so excited.
It was Charlie Watts, and he had a jazz side project.
Everybody who performed on late night performed with our house band who were
magnificent musicians.
Everybody agreed to do it, and it was fine.
And so Charlie showed up. He had his entire band with him.
When I mentioned that our band would be performing with them, he said,
Oh, no, love, this is for jazz, whatever, quartet, and that's not how we do it.
And I said, well, that's what we had agreed to.
He was so gentlemanly, and he said, That's fine, love.
And he just packed up his things and left.
Ladies and gentlemen, we've got a pretty good program.
Gary Busey will be with us, and also Orville Redenbacher will be here,
and Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones will be joining us.
Charlie Watts will not be here.
Charlie Watts will not be here, ladies and gentlemen.
Later that night, I happened to go out with some friends to a bar,
and Charlie Watts was there, and he very kindly bought me a drink.
So it wasn't a total loss.
Prince was such an amazing performer.
We were so thrilled to have him on the show, but he had some idiosyncrasies.
He didn't want to be addressed by our staff.
He wanted you to go to his people, but I didn't know this.
So in the elevator on the way down,
I was telling him something about what was going to happen in the show,
and he just kind of looked up at me and looked to his person,
and then his person told him exactly what I had just said, and he nodded.
Okay.
There's some other, you know, silly things that have happened.
Carly Simon, beautiful voice, great singer, had notorious stage fright.
Getting her to perform in front of an audience at that time,
she hadn't for a long time.
She was really scared, nervous, and just before she was about to go on,
she turns to me.
We're in the wings before Dave's introducing her, and she said,
Hit me.
I said, What?
And she turns her butt to me, and she said,
Smack me on the ass as hard as you can right before I go out.
Come on.
I need it to help me forget that I'm nervous.
So I smacked her, and she went out and sang beautifully.
Lou Reed was always, I think he was a little tough on the sound guys,
but he always left happy, which is a credit to our audio department.
Lou was really into Tai Chi, and one of his last performances on the show,
he wanted to have his Tai Chi master, Master Ren, perform while he sang,
and, you know, we were open to it.
It was Lou.
Whatever Lou wanted to do, Lou could do.
It was a bit odd, but it was well-received.
But the writers, of course, thought they came up with a funny comedy idea.
The next day, there was a viewer mail letter, something,
asking Dave what he did during the musical performances.
What do you do in the dark when your guests are singing on stage?
Mary Goudry, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
This is a good question, because last night, downtown Lou Reed was on,
and while Lou was singing, he had a guy doing Tai Chi.
Remember that, Paul, just last night?
Sure, yeah.
It was fascinating, and I admit that sometimes I sit there,
and I enjoy the performance, but it was a little different.
Watch the tape from last night's show.
Sunday morning
Brings the dawn in
It's just a restless feeling
By my side
Early dawning
One of the most memorable performances, in my opinion,
was when the Beastie Boys did the show for the song Check It Out,
and they had a concept of what they wanted to do,
and it was pretty magnificent.
They emerged from the subway.
It was shot really well by our director,
and they had their creative input,
and it was a big success.
Oh, you checkies and TV addicts,
don't mean to this, don't mean to bring static,
all your Klingons in your grandma's house,
grab your back straight friend to get loud,
throwing doors off in tears,
and back there with the pictures,
and no, I didn't retire,
I'll snatch out with the needle nose pliers.
Like Beachwood or Omaha,
with the Imbro you've never seen before,
just gliding in the glades,
and like low green, you know I get paid,
like a fresh say with the bass,
so not groupie, not daring, I hate so,
I'm the whoo-ha, naked knight,
with dice rerunning, that you know, all right.
Green ain't calm, no more long,
cause the farm ain't bad,
so what's up with that?
I got friends and family that I respect,
when I think I'm too good,
they put me in check,
believe when they say I'm no better than you,
set when the rap, someone guess it ain't true,
like the actual engine, just don't stop,
we guarantee to make a party rock,
check it out,
whoop whoop whoop whoop,
what's it all about,
whoop whoop whoop whoop,
let's work it out,
let's turn this, turn this party out.
Future Islands, well I will say,
we didn't know Dave would be so taken,
with the performance,
we saw the rehearsal,
but he really gave it his all,
during the actual performance,
and Dave was so taken by that,
and amused by it,
that it did become a viral sensation,
we had no idea it would take off,
the way it did.
Buddy, come on!
Hey, thank you very much,
nice going,
how about that?
I'll take all of that you got.
Future Islands,
that was wonderful!
When Pearl Jam's song,
Black, was out,
Dave was really taken,
with that melody,
that,
da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da,
and he started doing it,
every night on the show.
Why?
We gonna hear a little Eddie better,
a little Pearl Jam,
a little Black?
-Got it. -Wah!
-Nee-nee-nee-nee. -Yeah, it's my favorite part of the song,
when Eddie does this. -Wah!
-I have no idea what Eddie's saying.
And then you do what? -Nee-nee-nee-nee-nee-nee-nee.
-That's right. It's a great song. -Wah!
-Nee-nee-nee-nee-nee-nee-nee. -Goes on for about an hour.
-Wah! -Nee-nee-nee-nee-nee-nee.
-Okay, I'm starting to get on my own nerves.
-But one day, I got a call, and it was Eddie Vedder saying,
"I just want to put this to rest. What can I do?
It's freaking me out that Dave's doing this every night."
And I said, "Well, you could come on the show."
So he agreed to come on. It was amazing.
I mean, that never happens, a huge star calling,
saying they want to come on the show.
It just-- and that was really fun.
And then Pearl Jam had subsequently did the show a couple times,
and we've had a great relationship with them.
-Why? -Yeah, cool.
-You know what? -Huh?
-Do you want to really know how that's done? -Yeah.
-Have it done right? -Do it for me. Do it for me.
-Okay, Eddie? -Huh? Wait a minute.
-Eddie? -No.
-That's what I'm doing.
-I know, Eddie? -I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-But why, why? -I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-But why, why? -I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-But why, why? -I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-But why, why? -I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-But why, why, why? -I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.
-Getting Paul McCartney on the show took probably years in the works.
He agreed to do the show.
He wanted to do something special.
To us, having Paul McCartney on the show was special,
but he wanted to make a big statement.
And since The Beatles had made their network television debut on Ed Sullivan,
it was appropriate for him to come to the theater.
But we put him up on the marquee, so he was performing on Broadway.
And it was just an amazing performance.
And just a wonderful celebratory event.
And he came and listened to the mix beforehand and afterwards.
And he was a joy to work with.
-Get back, not get back.
Get back the way you once belonged.
-Yeah, yeah.
Another band that we had a wonderful relationship with was the Foo Fighters.
Dave loved their music.
They were the nicest guys in the world.
Dave was out for a period he had heart surgery.
Of course, when he was able to come back, we wanted to do something special.
He had a request.
He wanted the Foo Fighters to perform the song Everlong.
He loved that song.
And I spoke with their managers and said Dave would really love for them to be
the first musical guest back.
The management was like, I know they'd love to, but you know, they're on tour.
They're going to be in South America, but let me see what I can do.
And really shortly thereafter, I got a call back saying, yep, they'll do it.
So they literally canceled some tour dates, flew in to be on Dave's return show.
That relationship continued because they were our choice for our final musical
guest in 2015.
We asked them to perform on our final show, to perform Everlong because it was
such an important song to Dave and we all loved it.
On our final show, we were going to have a montage of everyone who'd been on
the show, etc.
So basically I asked this huge band to be on the show performing, but they
would be performing behind a screen showing all the other guests on the show
with a couple shots of them at the beginning.
And once again, because they were such cool guys, they're like, yeah, no
problem.
We get it.
There was no like, oh, I need X amount of camera time.
And i