Name: The Reverse Image Show | Letterman
Uploaded: 2022-03-16T15:41:51.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'The Reverse Image Show | Letterman' from Letterman on Comedy Buff. Published 2022-03-16. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'The Reverse Image Show | Letterman' from Letterman on Comedy Buff. Published 2022-03-16. Transcript available.

The Reverse Image Show | Letterman

I'm Robert Bezell science correspondent for NBC News. I'd like to welcome you
to tonight's
historic telecast. In just a few moments late night with David Letterman will
present the first
nationally broadcast reverse image show. Reverse image television or RITV
represents more than a
decade of experiments and the combined efforts of thousands of RCA physicists,
researchers and
engineers. Tonight's history-making demonstration is expected to draw over 5
million kilowatts of
power and may momentarily dim lights along the eastern seaboard as far north as
Portland, Maine
and as far south as Savannah, Georgia. Ladies and gentlemen, reverse image
television is no longer
just a dream. Tonight, if this revolutionary experiment succeeds, it will
become a reality.
We at NBC fervently hope that this new technology will provide a better world
for the viewers
So sit back, relax, and watch television history in the making.
Ladies and gentlemen, you all right? Hi. No, no, no. Thank you very much.
Welcome to the
program, ladies and gentlemen. My name is David Letterman and you have tuned in
to history-making
television and we'll get into that a little bit later at great length. First of
all, this city, I have to tell you, they can't do anything.
For example, last week, huge embarrassing mix-up down at the Bureau of Licensing
here in New York City.
Through some kind of chaos, 300 people who thought they were legally married,
it turns
out now they are instead certified to cut hair in this city. So...
Oh, no, stop that. No, it's not necessary.
Don't worry about a thing. Tonight is pretty exciting. Let me give you a little
bit of background on what we're trying to accomplish here tonight.
In the last 30 years, the advances in television have been unbelievable. Of
course, first there was a videotape, then there was color videotape, then there
was home videotaping, and then now you can get yourself a complete home videotaping
and camera system.
Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, we are going to demonstrate to you the next step,
reverse image television. Now, you're saying to yourself, "It's very exciting,
Dave, but what exactly can I expect?" Well, let me tell you.
Through the miracle of electronics, we're going to flip the picture you're now
seeing essentially 180 degrees. Is that pretty much the description?
For example, the part in my hair will be on the other side of my head, the way
I button my jacket will be reversed, I will appear to be left-handed instead of
right-handed, Paul and the band will appear to be seated over there, and I will
appear to be seated over where Paul is.
It's a fascinating concept and we couldn't be more excited. Now, I know you and
the studio audience are saying, "Well,
watching this, will it make me dizzy or will I get headaches?"
Now, take a look at the monitors above you. Now, the monitors will show you the
image when it becomes reversed. If, for some reason, you feel disoriented,
lightheaded, or woozy,
simply look into one of the mirrors that we have mounted next to the monitor,
and you will that way be able to get your bearings back again.
Okay, so we've covered all of the possibilities of trouble here in the studio.
You folks at home are saying, "Well, Dave, how may I and my family best enjoy
this unbelievable experiment tonight?" All right, we've prepared this brief
videotape showing you how to best enjoy the wonderful effects of reverse image
television.
Watch those monitors now. Here's our own Al Frisch.
Good evening. Here are a few reflective surfaces suitable for viewing a
reversed image telecast.
A mirror, whether a wall mirror, a hand mirror, or pocket mirror, will yield
the truest image.
A window or pan of still water will also work, although resolution and color
may suffer.
The more adventurous of you can also try a toaster, a butter knife, or some
aluminum foil.
Highly polished rock, especially obsidian, will also work, and some scientists
speculate that super-heated gas plasma,
suspended in a powerful magnetic vacuum, or a cloud of water vapor filled with
ionized particles, could also be used for this purpose.
Whatever you choose, have fun watching the reverse image show, another example
of the contribution of science to the world of entertainment.
Ladies and gentlemen, we're just minutes away from reversing the image you're
looking at right now, and before we do that,
I'd like to introduce friends and dignitaries who have assembled here from all
over the globe to be with us tonight.
First, please welcome Mr. Bill Fanning and Ms. Cheryl Wolfe of Rockwell
International, the company responsible for the lunar walks and the space
shuttle flights.
Next, from the Texaco Corporation, Foster Morgan and Lois Johnson Texaco, where
you can trust your car to the man who wears the star.
Next, Dr. Ramish Mehta and associates from the Institute for Advanced Optic
Studies in Bombay.
Next to him, Dr. Toshi Toda and Dr. Thomas Ikata, founders of the Tokyo Conservatory
for Reversed Technology.
I wish I was there now.
Next, from the Defense Department, Lieutenant Colonel George Peters.
And from NBC Sales, Vice Presidents Bob Blackmore and Ron Dobson.
And ladies and gentlemen, finally, an observer from the United Nations
Ambassador-at-Large, Dr. Gunnar Lundquist.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for your participation and cooperation here
tonight.
Alright, let's now take a brief look into the nerve center for reverse image
television and we'll show you how this is going to happen.
Walk this way, if you will.
Of course, if you could, you wouldn't need the talcum powder.
Alright.
Here we are once again in the control room and this is where it will happen.
In a few minutes, the image you're now looking at will be completely reversed.
This is a big moment for all of us, isn't it?
Sure is.
We're almost ready for it.
Yeah, it's so exciting.
Many of us had to put on lab coats.
Alright, let's meet the man who was responsible for developing the system of
reverse image television
Fred, if you'll come in here, please.
This man is Fred Himelfarb, who is the principal senior staff engineer here for
NBC.
Fred, how long have you worked for NBC?
33 years.
And at what point did you begin working on the reverse image system?
Right at the beginning.
So this has been and will be the culmination of a long career for you?
I hope so.
Alright, Fred.
Electronically, tell us how this happens.
Well, in a normal camera, an electron beam scans the optical image from left to
right and produces an
electrical signal which is sent to your receiver in which an electrical
scanning beam, the electrical
signal is converted back to an optical image when the electrons strike the
phosphor in the picture tube.
In order to get reverse deflection, we take the signal from the camera and
store it in a digital
memory unit and instead of reading it out from left to right in synchronism
with the monitor,
we read it out from right to left.
So that information that's on the right side of the picture normally would
appear at the receiver
on the left side.
And this gives you a 180 degree reversal.
Fred, I'm beginning to understand why it took you 33 years.
Alright, now, Fred, show us the piece of equipment here on the control panel
that will actually
begin the reverse image process.
The digital effects unit is right here.
Right there.
This is the button, the illuminated button?
Yes.
Alright, that's the one that will be pressed.
Okay.
You folks all set in here?
We're all set.
I'll go back to home base.
Fred, thank you and congratulations.
You're welcome.
Good luck.
Godspeed, everyone.
Alright, stand by.
Alright.
Home base for today.
Stand by.
Really getting exciting now, isn't it?
All right.
In five, four, three, two, one.
Wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
Don't do it without me.
Hold it.
Hold it.
Okay.
Are you ready now, Dave?
Yes.
Okay, Hal.
Okay.
In five, four, three, two, one, go.
All right.
Ladies and gentlemen, please, please, thank you very much for your enthusiastic
response
and we certainly have reason to be excited, but let me caution you about being
overly optimistic.
We've only just begun here.
We have a full show to do, so let's just save our celebrating to the very end.
But again, thank you very much.
We're all quite excited.
Tonight, we have a wonderful show.
Carol Lalt will be here.
Also, a visit from the Peace Through Dramatization players.
The chief chef from La Cirque will be here and comedian Teddy Bergeron.
It's a special night here at NBC.
Wake the kids.
Phone the neighbors.
We'll be right back.
Thank you very much, Paul.
Welcome back to the show.
Once again, let me remind you of things look a little different tonight.
It's because we are experimenting with a brand new process known as reverse
image television.
The feeling here is it's kind of giddy, isn't it, Paul?
It's very exciting.
I don't really know what to think about it.
For one thing, this thing is in my other ear.
I know.
That's just one of the many wonders of this process.
I know.
It's very, very weird.
All right.
Well, we're taking it a step at a time, and we hope you at home are enjoying it
as much as we are here in the studio.
My next guest is one of the top models of the world.
Oh, boy, is she ever.
Here she is.
This was her cover two years ago on Sports Illustrated, and she also appears
currently in the present issue of the swimsuit 1984 issue of Sports Illustrated.
Let's see.
Where am I?
It's a pleasure to welcome, as I mentioned, one of the top models in the world,
Carol Ault.
Hi, Carol.
Nice to see you.
Thank you for being here.
This is a beautiful, beautiful cover of you.
This was two years ago, right?
In Kenya.
Yes.
It's even better in reverse.
Yeah.
Have you ever seen yourself backwards?
Yes.
Once I saw a picture that was flipped, only I didn't know it was flipped until
somebody told me.
Yeah.
I think the Russians experimented with that procedure a few years ago.
But it was photo.
It wasn't TV.
This is a very big deal here.
Oh, yeah.
We're on the cutting edge of technology tonight.
I'll tell you.
Back there, they're all going crazy.
You should have seen it when they flipped it.
The whole green room jumped up and cheered.
Did they really?
Oh, yeah.
Carol, how many covers have you appeared on?
How many covers have your picture been on in magazines?
Well, my father lost count at about 350 covers.
Wow.
And that was about a year ago.
In what period of time was that?
That was about three years.
Now, the cover, the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, does that generate more
attention than other covers?
This particular cover?
Yeah, it did.
I couldn't believe it.
At that point, I'd only been on about 200 and some odd covers.
And I never received one piece of fan mail.
That thing came out, and I was getting fan mail every week.
What kind of fan mail, Carol?
Wouldn't you like to know?
Was it regular guy kind of stuff?
You know, the usual.
Are you married?
Do you want to go out on a date?
I'll be in New York at this time.
Are you free?
What kind of dates were they interested in?
Oh, movies.
I mean, no, I know what they're interested in, obviously.
But did they have plans for you?
They wanted to?
Oh, they were asking for movies and for dinner and for Lazarium.
I got asked to go to Lazarium once.
Yeah.
Did you go?
No, I told them I just conveniently happened to be out of town at the time.
All right.
Now, tell me what this is, Carol.
This, of course, will also be backwards.
That is a portfolio.
All right.
Don't laugh.
That's my life in there.
Now, what do you do with this?
Is this how you get jobs?
Do you send this around?
No, I'm serious.
Look at them all laughing.
This is how a model gets jobs.
A lot of sweat and time goes into making one of these things.
What have they done here, Carol?
It's called a portfolio.
This here is just a lot of makeup and hair.
They just wanted to do something different.
These are publications from all over the world?
Yeah, Bizarre.
This was GQ.
Now, who is this guy?
You're going to put me on the spot.
I hope that g