Name: Jane Pauley's Watches All Of Dave's Shows | Letterman
Uploaded: 2022-02-01T16:01:49.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Jane Pauley's Watches All Of Dave's Shows | Letterman' from Letterman on Comedy Buff. Published 2022-02-01. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Jane Pauley's Watches All Of Dave's Shows | Letterman' from Letterman on Comedy Buff. Published 2022-02-01. Transcript available.

My first guest tonight, Jane Pauley, one of the hosts of NBC's Today show, seen
on this network.
Makes sense.
Aside from her early morning chore, she is also the weekend anchor person on
NBC's Nightly News.
A very charming and talented woman who also happens to be from, well, our
hometown.
Please welcome Jane Pauley.
Hello, Jane.
Thank you.
I know, it's just a sight.
We didn't really have time to tidy up, but thank you for being here.
I'm always pleased whenever you and I get to be on a show together, which is
not frequent,
but I always enjoy it.
Whenever you get a new one, I like to be here.
I like to come in and...
It's snowing heavily outside, and this, of course, brings to mind.
In your job, you've got to get up extra early.
America's counting on us.
That's right.
Neither rain, nor snow, nor dark of night.
The state's couriers and the delivery of bad news.
We've got to be there.
Has there ever been some sort of meteorological condition or other condition
that's prevented
you from showing up?
Oh, I've had some pretty bad nights that I tried to negotiate the next morning.
No, America doesn't need me today.
No, there have been...
Let's talk about those bad nights, Jane.
Ah, the mystery of life.
No, as far as I know, in the 30-plus years of the Today program, they've always
gone on
the air.
Can you remember a day it didn't?
Gee, I don't know.
I don't think so.
I wouldn't know you'd know about it.
There was the day when all of New York City was blacked out, and New York City,
of course,
doesn't remember this because their televisions weren't plugged in.
There was no power.
That's right.
But we were there the day of the blackout in spite of the fact that even this
building,
even Rockefeller Center, was shut down.
It was very dark here, and they had an emergency generator somewhere upstairs
that is used for
just such purposes when you plan on power outages.
And we climbed up six flights of stairs.
The elevators, of course, were not operable.
And broadcast the entire show from what, in effect, was a little broom closet.
It was a studio that, to my knowledge, had not been used in years.
And they had fired up an old mothballed camera in there and turned on a fan and
flipped on a light
from the generator.
And Gene, Charlotte, and Tom Brokaw, and I sat real close together.
Now, that was the only occasion, of course, America wouldn't have had any way
of knowing
this either, but there was no water in the buildings.
When the power goes off, the water goes off, too.
Could not so much as wash your face to present the news.
Yeah.
So was that fun?
Did it give you a feeling of adventure?
Adventures in broadcasting, absolutely.
There's another time.
We like to travel whenever we can.
And went to Mexico about a year and a half ago when it was not, we were told,
the rainy season.
Well, I got up about 3 o'clock in the morning and saw beautiful lights off in
the distance,
sort of like the northern lights.
They were real pretty off in the distance, a little closer, a little closer.
And the lights were accompanied by a sound that I knew to be thunder.
That's lightning and that's thunder.
Could the rain be far behind?
And about 10 minutes before 7, when New York time, we're on the air, it started
raining
at least as hard as I have ever seen it in my life.
We're standing under a tin roof.
And a tin roof makes a sound where you and I could not talk to each other.
It's that noisy.
Sure, corrugated tin.
Yes.
Well, someone, I guess, NBC, was late paying the bills or something and made a
last-minute
sacrifice to the rain god.
And the rain stopped just as we were going on the air.
And I looked a little damp.
And the mariachi band, probably it sounded better, but the show went on.
Yeah.
The show doesn't have a mariachi band anymore, does it?
We're taking auditions, guys.
Do you ever want to just sleep in?
Do you look toward a time in your life when you don't have to get up?
Unemployment?
No, I don't look forward to that time at all.
No, no.
But I mean, do you see this now for the rest of your life, rolling out around 4?
I am told that I'm maybe the only person in the history of the Today program
that sort
of likes the hours.
And I really do.
I don't look at the alarm clock in the morning, it says 3.45, but I'm never
happy to get...
3.45.
See, it's easy for you to say that, but when you actually think about waking up
at 3.45.
Yeah, that's grim.
You know anything about how the show is prepared?
You roll in about what time?
That's a mystery to me.
Yeah, is it?
No, you sleep way into 3.45, what time do you get to the studio?
Oh, Lord, I'll mosey on in around 5 o'clock in the morning.
About 5 in the morning?
Now, according to this clock, it's about 10 minutes of 1, real time.
I'm going to have to sleep fast tonight.
Now, what we thought would be interesting is at this time to take a camera to
your studio
to see what exactly goes on...
The hustle and the bustle of activity?
That's right, before the Today Show, how the Today Show is put together.
It's like Wonder Bread.
It's sort of baked while you sleep.
So, do we have the camera working now?
Let's take a look.
Let's take a look.
There's the lovely set.
I think, wait a minute, here's something.
Well, who would have guessed...
Happy a book, settle down, we've got work to do.
Yes, your producer.
There's Willard's weather map.
Oh, I guess this would be...
Mr. Willard, yes.
Those are the guys that put the jelly in the doughnuts.
In the doughnuts.
They load up the jelly doughnuts.
There's a little something for Mr. Shallot, I'm guessing.
Some more hair.
It's a nice touch.
Oh, the tending the plants.
Something for...
Something for Brian.
I'm not sure exactly what that was.
And here, of course, is...
Rather cryptic.
I don't know what that means.
Nobody does.
And...
Well, that's interesting.
Sort of a fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at the...
There they go.
That was Steve Friedman as our executive producer.
So, you know those guys.
Marty Ryan and Cliff Knotler were behind-the-scenes.
Those guys are actually members of NBC News, huh?
Yeah.
Yeah, that's interesting.
Kind of a rare glimpse there, behind-the-scenes.
In all of the time that you've been working on the show...
Now, the reason I ask this, Tom Brokaw was here a couple of nights ago.
And the indication from Mr. Brokaw was he would rather not interview
celebrities.
You know, he just doesn't feel comfortable with them.
Do you have that problem?
Well, not that it's a problem, but...
Seriously, actors tend to be the worst interviews.
For a logical explanation, I guess, is what's my part?
Where's the script?
What do I say?
It's always a little disappointing when you have seen a wonderful film,
something that's
been very provocative, that has generated some thought.
Presumably, that's what the filmmaker had in mind.
And the actor comes on, who may be in the role, played an artist or an
intellectual or whatever.
And you ask about these questions that have stirred up.
Gosh, I never really thought about it.
Yeah.
And you get that all the time.
Or people who can't put sentences together.
Occasionally, I'll interview...
I remember interviewing the author of a book one time.
And before we go on, I like to say things like, you know, could...
Would you say your name for me, just so I know I'm pronouncing it right?
She thought and thought.
Gosh, that name wasn't coming.
So I showed her the book.
Did that ring a bell?
You know that, but it turned out to be a fine interview.
Whatever gremlins had temporarily taken control, released custody of her tongue
by the time we...
Yeah, that's...
You feel like you're part of some sort of odd psychological test that you don't
fully understand and everybody else is aware of.
Jane Pauley is here and we were going to talk just briefly about your clothing.
Do you dress...
Do you...
Well, we sort of visited...
Where are they?
This came from...
No, clothes have become an issue, as you know, in television news.
What with Dan Rather's sweaters.
And I had suggested privately for a long time that Dan Rather and Roger Mudd
trade clothes.
Because Roger's sort of sloppy and his neat old tweeds and, you know, these are
used clothes he wears.
And Dan is always...
Roger Mudd wears used clothing?
Well, his own.
I mean, he used them.
Oh, he's used them.
Sure.
But Dan's clothes always look brand new and freshly tailored, like he wore them
once.
Well, that's the way Dan looks.
But if they changed, it would probably do wonders for each other.
Of course, Dan went ahead and wore the wool vest.
Now, Tom, was Tom by any chance when he was here the other night wearing a vest?
Tom Brokaw?
He did not have a...
In fact, he didn't have a shirt.
It looked stupid.
The sport coat, the tie, and no shirt.
We said, Tom, you're history.
Get a cab.